Komentarz do Wyjścia 12:11

מתניכם חגרים YOUR LOINS GIRDED — i. e. prepared for the journey (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:11).

מתניכם חגורים, ready to commence marching. We find a similar expression in connection with the prophet Elijah in Kings I 18,46 where he is described as וישנס מתניו, “he bound up his loins.” The expression reflects absolute confidence in G’d’s assistance of the undertaking one is about to embark on. This is displayed while the prisoner is still inside the walls of his jail, the door not having opened yet to let him out.

פסח הוא לה', to insure that G’d’s angel killing the firstborn will bypass the houses with the sign of the blood on their door-frames.

Ready to travel. Rashi means that they do not actually have to belt their waists; rather, they should hurry as though they want to leave to travel.

(Exodus 12:11) "And thus shall you eat it": as those going on a journey. R. Yossi Haglili says: Scripture is hereby teaching proper deportment to those going on a journey — that they do things with despatch. "and you shall eat it in haste": This is the haste of the Egyptians (to make them leave). You say this. But perhaps it is the haste of the Jews (to leave)? (Devarim 16:3) "for in haste you left Egypt" already speaks of the haste of the Jews. How, then, am I to understand "and you shall eat it in haste"? As referring to the haste of Egypt. R. Yehoshua says: "and you shall eat in haste": This is the haste of Israel. You say this. But perhaps it is the haste of the Egyptians? (Exodus 12:39) already speaks of the haste of the Egyptians. How, then, am I to understand "in haste"? As referring to the haste of the Jews. Abba Channan says in the name of R. Elazar: This ("in haste") is the haste of the Shechinah. And even though there is no proof for this, it is intimated in (Song of Songs 2:8) "the voice of my Beloved, behold, it comes," (heralding the redemption, etc.), (Ibid. 9) "Behold, (seeking to redeem us), He stands behind our wall, etc." I might think that this will be so in the future, too. It is, therefore, written (Isaiah 52:12) "But not in haste will you leave, and you will not go out in flight. For the L rd walks before you, and your rear guard is the G d of Israel." "It is a Pesach (offering) to the L rd": All of their acts (in respect to it) are to be for the sake of Heaven.

V. 11. וככה וגו׳: zum Ausdruck der Zuversicht, dass nun der Augenblick zum Auszuge da sei. — חפו ,בחפזון (verwandt mit חפשׂ suchen, חפץ, nach etwas streben) heißt überall eine unfreiwillige Eile, die nicht sowohl einen Gegenstand zu erreichen, als einer Gefahr zu entrinnen strebt.

ואכלתם אותו בחפזון, “you are to eat it in a rush;” the sages decreed that it must be eaten so that it is the completion of the meal, the item that satiates the person eating it. The Jerusalem Talmud, tractate Pessachim chapter 15, halachah 4 explains that this is why the Torah ordered us not to break any of its bones (verse 46) seeing that when a person is overly hungry he is afraid of breaking a bone in his haste and as a result would harm himself. The Babylonian Talmud, tractate Pessachim, folio 84 states that this is a prohibition that applies only to the consumption of the Paschal lamb. Throughout the year, when we eat meat there is no prohibition to break bones and eat the marrow.

וככה תאכלו אותו, “and this is the manner in which you are be dressed when eating it;” you will not sit at a table all ready to enjoy a feast, but will act in haste. Other sacred portions of the sacrifice must always be consumed by treating the meal as a gift from G-d with great respect and with evident enjoyment. Some commentators understand the word בחפזון, “in haste,” as applying to the manner in which the whole meal, including the leavened bread and the bitter herbs is to be consumed. It is to be wolfed down indicating that the person consuming this meal is in a great hurry. The reason that the bitter herbs are to be eaten as an integral part of the course is to enable the consumer to eat it faster. The three constituent items to be consumed symbolize: slavery redemption, and freedom. The bitter herbs symbolize the slavery; the unleavened bread symbolizes freedom and the meat of the Passover symbolizes the act of redemption,being saved. At the time when the Passover lamb was being consumed the firstborn Egyptians were being killed. אל תאכלו ממנו נא “do not eat any part of it while not thoroughly roasted;” by eating meat that has not been thoroughly roasted or boiled, a person is liable to disgorge it involuntarily, resulting in some of it remaining uneaten until morning. ובשל מבושל במים, “nor thoroughly boiled in water;” boiling meat takes longer than roasting it; on that night speed was of the essence. The expression: ויבשלו את הפסח, in Chronicles II35,13, does not refer to “boiling;” this is why the word: במים is not mentioned there. It merely means that the meat of the Passover had been thoroughly roasted and made fit to eat. כי אם צלי אש, “but only roasted on the fire;” the reason that roasting meat is faster than boiling it, is that there is no other element separating it from the fire, such as water or another liquid. It must not be boiled in water or any other liquid even after having been roasted on fire; this is the reason why the expression כי אם צלי אש, has been repeated. (in verse 9) It must not be boiled in a pot (its own juices) even if no other liquid has been added. All of these details have been spelled out in the Talmud in tractate Pessachim folio 41. The manner in which the Torah writes these prohibitions is not analogous to the manner in which the type of woman a High priest must not marry is described in Leviticus 21,12, as here only negative commandments are listed, whereas there the negative commandment is linked to the positive commandment of the High priest marrying a virgin. [I am abbreviating here a little, as I feel the author digressed a little, his remarks being addressed only to Torah students of an advanced level. Ed.] At this point the Torah does not again repeat the words: ”do not eat.” The Torah’s point here is to forbid dividing preparation of the meat of the Passover meal into two or more courses, as this would negate the condition that it be eaten in haste. It does not mean that the entire entrails must be consumed They must only be roasted together with the rest of the meat in order to ensure that there would not be edible parts of the animal left by morning. It is not the custom of people who plan to undertake a journey on the following morning, as did the Israelites, to plan to leave over part of it to be consumed on the next day. This is why the Torah demands that in the event of there being such leftovers at the morning, they have to be burned to ash immediately. If that were not done, these leftovers of a sacred meal would be consumed by dogs, a most unfitting treatment for meat of a sacrifice. Alternately, the leftovers would be thrown into the garbage, an equally demeaning treatment of sacrificial meat. Concerning the Torah writing the words: עד בקר, “until morning” twice, Rashi writes that this means (concerning Passover meat for subsequent years) that seeing that morning would be part of a festival day on which burning other than for the purpose of eating the result is forbidden, the leftover must not be burned until the morning thereafter. There is no reason to raise an objection by saying “why did the sages of the Torah not apply the principle of the positive commandment to burn the leftover to override the negative commandment not to light a fire, so that the leftovers could be burned without delay? Answer: we know that the observance of the festival is itself also rated as a negative commandment in Leviticus 23,39 ,ביום הראשון שבתון, “the first day of the festival is a day that includes work prohibition” (similar to that of the Sabbath)? We have a rule that a positive commandment cannot override a negative commandment when that negative commandment is accompanied by a positive commandment in addition.

בחפזון — This is an expression denoting hurry and haste, similar to, (I Samuel 23:26) “And David made haste (נחפז) to get away”; (2 Kings 7:15) ”which the Arameans had cast away in their haste"

The korbon is called “Pesach” on account of the skipping. . . Rashi is explaining [the verse in light of the following:] “It is a Pesachoffering to Hashem” comes to give the reason why “You must eat it in haste,” [the reason being that haste emulates Hashem’s skipping].

פסח: ,verwandt mit ,פשה ,schreiten, sogar, wie es scheint, rüstig schreiten אפשעה בה (Jes. 27, 4. chald. פסיעה ,פסע überhaupt schreiten, Schritt. (Auch פשה: weiterschreiten, sich ausbreiten). Wenn demnach פסח hinken und פִסֵחַ lahm bedeutet, so scheint hier wiederum, wie in נוע und עלה ,נוח und חלה usw. das ח die Hemmung des Begriffs zu bezeichnen, welchen die Wurzel mit ע ausdrückt. Ähnlich wie umgekehrt צלע hinken und צלח ungehemmt, d. h. mit Beseitigung des צלע bewirkenden Hindernisses, fortschreiten bedeutet. Jedenfalls heißt פסח, da es ganz entschieden hinken und פִסֵםַ ganz entschieden lahm bedeutet, nur ein gehindertes, langsames, zögerndes Dahinschreiten. פסח על heißt daher: zögernd über etwas hinschreiten.

ומקלכם בידכם, “with your walking staffs held in your hands.” These staffs were used to urge on the donkeys as we find in Numbers 22,27: ויך את האתון, “Bileam struck the sheass.”

פסח הוא לה IT IS THE PASSOVER OF THE LORD — The offering is called פסח in allusion to the springing and passing over — because the Holy One, blessed be He, passed over the houses of the Israelites in between the houses of the Egyptians and sprang from Egyptian to Egyptian, whilst the Israelite who was between them escaped. The words “And ye shall eat it in haste for it is a 'springing’-offering to the Lord” imply: Ye, therefore, do every act of sacrificial service connected with it (with the Paschal lamb) in honour of Heaven (God) by way of springing and leaping over (i. e. hastily), as a reminder of its name, which is called, the “springing”-offering. In old French, (Provencal) too, Pascua (the term for the Passover festival) signifies stepping over.

You perform all its service for the sake of Hashem. . . The correct version is [as it appears in this book]: “You perform all its service for the sake of Hashem in a manner of skipping and springing as a remembrance of its name. . .” I.e., the phrase דבר אחר should not preface the words, “In a manner of skipping. . .” (Maharshal)

Jes. 31, 5 werden vier Weisen der Jerusalem zu Teil werdenden göttlichen Beschützung und Rettung bezeichnet: גנון והציל פסוח והמליט, bald Umfriedigung (גנון), dass ihm die Gefahr von keiner Seite nahekommt; bald Rettung (הציל), dass es bereits von der Gefahr ergriffen ist und Gott es der Gefahr aus der Hand schlägt; bald Überschreitung (פסח), dass es mitten in der Gefahr sich befindet und, während ringsum alles der Gefahr zur Beute wird, es allein völlig unangegriffen, von der Gefahr übergangen bleibt; bald Entrinnung (המליט), dass es am Orte der Gefahr mit zu Grunde gegangen wäre, allein Gott ihm zum Entfliehen geholfen. Indem dort גנון und פסוח im Infinitiv, הציל und המליט im tempus finitum ausgedrückt sind, so ist damit gesagt, dass die gewöhnliche, stete Gotteswaltung über Israel גנון und פסוח charakterisiert, הציל und המליט in besondern Fällen notwendig werden. Indem nun ferner פסוח nur ein zögerndes Hinüberführen der Gefahr bedeutet, so ist damit gesagt, dass jederzeit, wenn "zur Rechten Tausend und zur Linken Zehntausend fallen", die Rettung wartet, bis das zu Rettende sich ihrer würdig gemacht. Und dies ist hier vollständig das Peßach. Durch die in diesem Namen zusammengefassten Handlungen sollte sich Israel erst würdig machen, dass das die ägyptischen Häuser treffende Verderben über ihre Häupter hinüberschritte. In diesem Bewusstsein sollen sie das Peßachopfer genießen, sollen sich der auch über ihren Häusern schwebenden Gefahr wohl bewusst sein, der sie nur durch das bewusstvolle Genießen des ihren Hirtenbund mit Gott schließenden Peßachopfers entgehen konnten. Diese Stimmung des Eilens, um einer drohenden Gefahr zu entgehen, drückt vollständig חפזון aus, und es begreift sich der Zusammenhang: ,ואכלתם אותו בחפזון פסח הוא לד׳ nur langsam und zögernd schreitet die Gefahr über eure Häupter hinweg (פסח); darum zögert nicht, euch des Entrinnens würdig zu machen (חפזון).

ואכלתם אותו בחפזון, “you are to eat it in haste.” You were slated to leave Egypt in a hurry.”

Wenn ר׳ עקיבא (Berachoth 9 a.) das חפזון auf die Eilfertigkeit des erst am Morgen stattgehabten Auszugs bezieht und damit den Satz begründet, der das Essen des Peßachs bis zum Morgen gestattet: עד שעת חפזון, so kann damit wohl schwerlich gemeint sein, es beziehe sich dies חפזון nur auf die dringende Eile des Auszuges; es heißt ja בחפזון und nicht עד חפזון, und würde ja daraus zu folgern sein, dass Peßach sei nur am Ende der Nacht, oder gar erst mit beginnendem Morgen zu essen. Vielmehr dürfte ר׳׳ע nur haben sagen wollen, die ganze Nacht bis zum anbrechenden Morgen sei eine Zeit des חפזון's gewesen, und wenn nach Mitternacht das חפזון der Todesgefahr vorübergewesen, so habe eben da das חפזון des Auszugs begonnen und es sei daher die ganze Nacht bis zum Morgen das Peßach zu essen gestattet. ראב׳׳ע setzt gar keine Unruhe bei Israel voraus, da es ja, wie in der מכילתא diese Ansicht begründet wird, לא יחרץ כלב לשונו heißt, und bezieht das חפזון lediglich auf die mit der Mitternacht über Ägypten gekommene Bestürzung und wäre dann der Zusammenhang ואכלתם וגו׳ פסח וגו׳ der: während draußen über Ägypten die drängende Bestürzung kommt, esset ihr ruhig euer Opfermahl, es ist eben ein "die Gefahr über euch hinwegführendes" Mahl. Schwierig bleibt dann aber immer das ב, welches nicht die Begrenzung der Zeit, sondern die Dauer derselben bedeutet.

'פסח הוא לה, “it is a Passover offering for the Lord.” The reason that the offering is called “Passover,” is because G-d passed over the houses of the Israelites marked with the blood of the lamb when killing the respective firstborn inside them. The fact that you had performed all the activities He had demanded of you, enabled the attribute of Justice to skip your homes. We encounter something similar in a prayer composed by Moses in Deuteronomy 26,15: השקיפה ממעון קדשך מן השמים, “look down (benignly) from Your holy residence, from heaven;” (recited by the farmer who announced that he had complied with all the tithes applicable to his harvest)

And thus you should eat it: your loins girded, your shoes on your feet... and your staff in your hand, and you should eat it in haste... and that day will be a remembrance for you... seven days... One should pay attention to the reason for this mitzvah, why the eating should be hasty specifically. For wasn't the eating of the paschal lamb before midnight, and they couldn't leave their homes until the morning? We can consider further based on what is said in the Haggadah - "this matzah that we eat, what is it for? For there was not enough... as it is said... 'and also they had not prepared any provisions for the way' (Shemot 12:39)". And this reason still needs explanation. It's possible to explain according to what we said earlier, regarding the verse "from every tree of the garden you may eat, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat..." (Bereishit 2:16) And our rabbis were devided on which tree Adam haRishon ate. One could have asked, how did Adam know which tree was the tree of knowledge of good and evil, if not for the fact that Hashem Yitbarach showed him it. And this isn't according to the sense of the verse, but it's possible to say that the principal of God's commandment is not to be drawn after his cravings to eat food, since it is delicious and good to look at. And the thorn in its lowliness, this only will be your food to sustain your body alone. Since God has not separated in Their eyes between that which is good to look at and that which is not - rather, one's eating should be to satiate themself so they can be established for their service of their Creator. And this is the statement of the verse "from every tree of the garden you may surely eat..." meaning, you are permitted to eat from all of them, just so long as there is no difference in your eyes between eating from this one because you crave it since it is delicious, or the thorn in its lowliness which is disgusting. This difference is forbidden to you, and this is "from the tree of knowledge of good and evil" you shall not eat - it wishes to say that you shouldn't distinguish in your eating between this which is tasty and the thorn which is evil in your eyes. And we can say that "the tree of knowledge" isn't a specific tree, but rather Adam was commanded equally regarding all of them not to distinguish between good and evil with regard to his appetites. And our rabbis of blessed memory were divided on which species he craved with a bodily craving. And for this reason our fathers went down to Egypt, to purify their material selves and to break their appetites by means of the yoke of subjugation, in order to right the sin of Adam haRishon. And for this, we are commanded to eat on Pesach bread of affliction, which is tasteless and without salt or preparation. This is for this intention: to teach that a person should not be drawn after human pleasures, which are illusory. And for this reason the matzah is called 'bread of affliction/poverty' - because the poor person isn't able to choose food that they crave or enjoy, and is forced to eat whatever comes to their hands even if it isn't delicious. So too with us: we eat matzah from dough with no seasonings. It would be the same to us if it were sweet, but there isn't sweetness - it's just to sustain ourselves to serve God and to sanctify ourselves by means of eating matzah for seven days. These correspond to seventy years, a lifespan, to show us that by means of from the need to cast away from opposite all worldly delights and from one's desires. [?] And this is alluded to in the statement "this matzah which we eat, why?... 'for they did not have enough... and they had also not prepared provisions...'". Meaning, we receive instruction from our ancestors who were on this level, that they were not drawn after their cravings to prepare flavourful and pleasant provisions. They ate at their exodus only cakes of matzah, without flavour. So we act according to their deeds. And the explanation of his words is, "this matzah that we eat", meaning, our intent when we eat matzah and say "this matzah which we eat, why?... 'for they did not have enough... and they had also not prepared provisions...'" is that we should intend that, just as our ancestors cast away their bodily cravings, so too we must trend [?] to act thus: by means of eating the matzah, we accustom ourselves to purify our material selves and to break the strength of this craving. And it is for this reason that Hashem Yitbarach commanded us to eat the paschal lamb "in haste" - it's known that even if the food is tasty, hasty eating won't allow one to derive pleasure in the same way as slower eating at a set table. To teach us again, as I have explained, that one should not eat to fulfil their cravings - only in order to sustain life in order to serve Hashem Yitbarach. And it finishes and says, "This day will be a remembrance for you" (Shemot 12:14) - meaning, you should remember this forever, why we're commanded to eat the paschal lamb in haste. For this is to break the strength of craving, and also "seven days matzot you shall eat" (ibid.) - that this should be on your heart forever.