Comentário sobre Êxodo 12:8

את הבשר AND THEY SHALL EAT] THE FLESH — but not the sinews and bones (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:8:1).

AND UNLEAVENED BREAD, ‘AL’ (WITH) BITTER HERBS THEY SHALL EAT IT. The purport of the verse is as follows: And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and with unleavened bread with bitter herbs, they shall eat it. [The word al here thus means “with,” and not “upon,” as it generally does.] Similarly: ‘al’ unleavened bread and bitter herbs¹⁶⁹Numbers 9:11. Mentioned in connection with the Second Passover-offering. means “with”; And they came both men ‘al’ women¹⁷⁰Further, 35:22. [means “with” the women]; its head ‘al’ its legs ‘v’al’ the inwards thereof¹⁷¹Verse 9. [means its head “with” its legs “and with” the inwards thereof]. Scripture does not say im (with) [but instead uses al] in order to instruct that it is not obligatory to wrap them together, [i.e., insert the paschal meat and the bitter herbs between the unleavened bread], and eat them.¹⁷²Hillel in fact did wrap them together and eat them. The Sages, however, differed with him and held it not to be obligatory to eat them in that way (Pesachim 115a). As is known, nowadays at the performance of the Seder on the night of Passover, the wrapping together of unleavened bread and bitter herbs is observed “according to the custom of Hillel.” Thus [the word umatzoth (and unleavened bread)] is missing the letter beth, [which would make it ubematzoth (and with unleavened bread)], similar to the expressions: they shall wash ‘mayim’ (water)¹⁷³Further, 30:20. [the word missing a beth, which would make it b’mayim, (with water)]; And Seled died ‘lo’ (no) children,¹⁷⁴I Chronicles 2:30. [the word lo missing a beth, which would make it b’lo (without) children]. Thus Scripture teaches that there is no commandment for eating the bitter herbs alone, but only with the eating of the flesh of the Passover-offering.¹⁷⁵Thus nowadways when we have no Passover-offering, we are not obligated by law of the Torah to eat bitter herbs. It is by law of the Rabbis that we are now obligated to eat bitter herbs at the Seder (Mishneh Torah, Hilchoth Chametz Umatzah, 7:12). Concerning unleavened bread, however, Scripture repeated it by commanding, At even ye shall eat unleavened bread,¹⁷⁶Verse 18. even by itself [when there is no Passover-offering], as is the opinion of our Rabbis.¹⁷⁷Pesachim 120a.
A more correct interpretation is that we say that the word, umatzoth (and unleavened bread), is connected with the earlier part of the verse: And they shall eat the flesh … and unleavened bread. The verse then continues to command that the flesh mentioned be eaten with bitter herbs. Thus He commanded the eating of the flesh with the eating of the unleavened bread, but He did not command the eating of bitter herbs, except by saying that they should eat the meat with bitter herbs, thus hinting that there is no [separate] commandment regarding the bitter herbs. It is only that the meat must be eaten with them, and when there is no Passover-offering there is no specific commandment [of the Torah] regarding the eating of the bitter herbs. It also teaches us that the bitter herbs do not invalidate the meat. Thus, if one ate the meat of the Passover-offering and did not eat bitter herbs, he has [nevertheless] fulfilled his duty of eating the Passover-offering, since the commandment concerning the eating of the Passover-offering is like the commandment of eating unleavened bread, each one an independent commandment in itself.¹⁷⁸For further discussion of this topic, see “The Commandments,” Soncino, Vol. I, pp. 65-67.

"And you shall eat the meat": The verse begins with eating and concludes with eating "with bitter herbs you should eat it", hinting that eating is necessary twice; eating the Pascal lamb and the eating of the Chagiga offering.

ואכלו את הבשר, "and they will eat the meat, etc." Pessachim 83 states that the emphasis here on the Israelites eating the "meat" means that they were not to eat the horns, the hooves, the sinews, etc. This exegesis is strange since we have a rule that the expression את always means that something is to be included not excluded and the Torah here wrote את הבשר! Perhaps the addition alluded to by the word את can be traced to the Mishnah Pessachim 7,11 that "the parts of the lamb that are permitted to be eaten are those which are analogous to the parts of the ox that are permitted to be eaten." Ravah explains Pessachim 84 that what is meant are parts of the animals which become soft as a result of boiling them in water.

'ואכלו את הבשר בלילה הזה צלי אש וגו, every reference to the eating of this meal reflects the haste with which it had to be consumed.

צלי אש ומצות על מרורים יאכלוהו, “roasted on the fire together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.” The meaning of the word על in the phrase על מרורים, is “with,” just as in the construction ראשו על כרעיו ועל קרבו, “its head together with its legs and its innards.” The reason why the Torah employed the word על here in preference to the more common word עם for “with,” was to indicate that it is not mandatory to make a “sandwich” of all thee three ingredients and to eat them all simultaneously. As long as all three ingredients are eaten during the same meal that is satisfactory. The verse also teaches that the bitter herbs do not need to be eaten with the unleavened bread, as long as they are eaten in conjunction with the meat of the sacrifice. Concerning the eating of the unleavened bread the Torah repeats (verse 18) that it is to be eaten during the course of that evening, i.e. the repetition meaning that this is mandatory even if for one reason or another –such as the absence of the Temple- we cannot eat the Passover lamb. I believe it is more correct to explain the word ומצות in our verse as belonging to what has been written immediately prior to it, i.e. ואכלו את הבשר בלילה הזה צלי אש ומצות, so that the eating of the bitter herbs is not part of the Biblical commandment, but is a Rabbinic injunction. In practice this means that when there is no Passover meat the commandment to eat bitter herbs is no longer Biblical. Not only that, if for some reason no bitter herbs are at hand, this does not invalidate the commandment to consume the sacrificial meat. Anyone who has consumed the meat of the Passover even without the bitter herbs, has fulfilled his Biblical duty. Eating unleavened bread on that evening and eating the meat of the Passover are two separate and independent Biblical commandments.

But not the sinews or the bones. [Rashi knows this] because otherwise Scripture should have written, “They shall eat it,” without mentioning “the meat.” (Gur Aryeh) The sinews referred to here are the ones so tough that they are not [normally] eaten.

ואכלו את הבשר, “they are to eat the meat;” this is the reason why the people established the custom to take three unleavened loaves of bread on the evening when the meat of the Passover would be consumed. It was a reminder of the three measures of flour Avraham told Sarah to use when baking cakes for what turned out to be the three angels, one of whom predicted when she would give birth to Yitzchok. (Genesis 18,6) The date happened to be that of the first day of Passover, (in the future) as we know from the fact that on the same evening Lot welcomed two of these angels and served them unleavened bread. An alternate version of the significance of the three matzot on our seder dish is that they are to remind us of the three patriarchs. The reason why we break the middle one of these three matzot in half is that it symbolises G–d having split the sea of reeds in half to enable the Jewish people to cross it and escape the pursuit of Pharaoh and his army. We pronounce the special blessing over one half of this middle matzah, as related in the Talmud tractate Pessachim folio 115, as a reminder that it is called the “bread of the poor,” meaning that a poor man does not have a whole loaf of bread at his disposal. The reason why we perform two “dippings” on that night is to serve as a reminder that when becoming officially Jewish after performing the circumcision, both the people themselves and their slaves immersed themselves in a ritual bath. An alternate interpretation is that we had to dip the blood of the Paschal lamb and sprinkle it on the lintel and upright posts, mezuzot, of our homes, to insure that the firstborn Jews would not be killed on that night, as were those of the Egyptians. We recite a further reminder of this by quoting from the Book of Ezekiel, that our redemption was linked to our being kept alive by offering that blood (Ezekiel 16,6). One of the reasons why this ritual is performed on that night is to encourage the children at the table to ask why we perform so many strange acts during that evening instead of proceeding from kiddush to Motzi, breaking bread, directly. Normally, vegetables used to be eaten as a kind of dessert, whereas on this evening we commence with them. We never drink two cups of wine before eating bread, whereas on this evening we make a point of drinking two cups of wine before eating any bread (matzah). As soon as the child sees us pouring the second cup of wine he begins asking questions. The concoction known as charosset that we dip the bitter herbs in, is a reminder of the mortar that was used in the bricks, i.e. its colour. It is composed of ground apples, commemorating an apple in Song of Songs 8,5, in which G–d is described allegorically as having overturned an apple tree at Mount Sinai, at the time when the Jewish people accepted the Torah, having thus aroused the Jewish people to respond with their famous נעשה ונשמע, “we will perform the laws of the Torah as soon as we will hear what they are.” It also contains different spices, resembling in appearance the straw that the Egyptians had withheld from them after Moses had asked Pharaoh for a short vacation to celebrate a religious festival. Our author cites different interpretations of the various items on the seder plate nowadays when we cannot celebrate the real thing, one being the egg the other a roasted bone, the one symbolising the chagigah offering, offered by each pilgrim who came to Jerusalem on that festival, the other symbolising the Paschal lamb, unfortunately also not available while we are in exile. The four cups of wine drank on that night are in commemoration of the four stages of the redemption. The respective words on the Torah are:והוצאתי, והצלתי, וגאלתי, ולקחתי אתכם לי, “I will take you out, I will save you, I will redeem you, and I will acquire you as My people.” (Exodus 6, 6-7.) The fifth expression there, i.e. והבאתי אתכם אל הארץ “I shall bring you to the land, etc.” is actually the purpose of the whole redemption. As per the proverb “when a master releases his slave into freedom, and he gives him a cup of wine to drink, unless he also brings him to a house where he can enjoy that wine as a free man, the whole exercise was in vain.” While we have been deprived of our land being in exile, we do not drink the fifth cup indicating that we look forward, to doing so, the sooner the better. Another way of looking at the ritual of drinking the four cups: They symbolise four different redemptions. Each “cup” has been mentioned in our Scriptures as such, in Psalms 16,5: ה' מנת חלקי וכוסי, “the Lord is my allotted share and portion;” also in Psalms 23,5:כוסי רויה, “my cup is abundant.” The third time we find this reference to our “cup” in Psalms 116,13: כוס ישועות אשא, “I raise my cup of deliverance.” In that verse the reference is not to a single deliverance, but to multiple deliverances. Both refer to the deliverance in the days of the messiah and the world to come respectively. (Compare Jerusalem Talmud, tractate Pessachim, chapter 10, halachah 1. Yet another interpretation about why we drink four cups of wine on the night of the seder. It is a reminder of the four cups that Pharaoh’s chief of the butlers told Joseph about that he had seen in his dream (Genesis 40, 11-13). Still another interpretation sees in the four cups a reference to the four cups of poison that G–d will force the gentile nations to drink in the future, which the prophet Jeremiah has spoken about in Jeremiah 25,15-18. These cups are also referred to in Psalms 75,9 as well as in Jeremiah 51,7 and in Psalms 11,6 as pointed out in the section of the Jerusalem Talmud we quoted earlier.

ואכלו את הבשר בלילה “they are to eat the meat during this night;” at the time when most people are at home.

ומצות על מררים AND UNLEAVENED BREAD WITH מררים — Every bitter herb is called מרור. He commanded them to eat something bitter as a reminder of: (Exodus 1:14) “And they made their lives bitter” (Pesachim 116b).

2: "You shall eat it": And it is juxtaposed to "Do not eat" to say that you shall eat it specifically for the sake of Pesach and not for the sake of unrefined eating.

Any bitter herb is called מרור . [Rashi knows this] because it is written, “Matzos and bitter herbs,” comparing one to the other. Just as any seed-plant that turns to leaven may be used for matzah, so too with מרור : any seed-plant that is a bitter herb may be used for מרור .

There is also a disagreement between Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish (folio 84 Pessachim) about the permissibility of sinews which though soft after boiling revert to becoming hard when taken out of the water. Rabbi Yochanan feels such sinews are not permissible as food as they are not analogous to "meat," whereas Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish feels that the sinews are sufficiently analogous to flesh to be included under the heading בשר.

בלילה הזה, “during this night.” (On the night between the 14-15^th of Nissan.)

3: "You shall eat it": There are four of this word in the mesora tradition, and two of them are concerning the topic of Pesach.

ומצות על מרורים, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The plain meaning of the verse seems to be that the roasting of the lamb whole is a symbol of freedom. Freedom means wholeness. The requirement to eat bitter herbs with it is natural; Egyptians used to eat roast meat with something pungent as this enhanced the taste of the meat and enabled the person who ate it to thoroughly enjoy his meal. Letting the bitter herbs precede the meat in his mouth made one more conscious of the contrast and of how something which by itself had tasted bitter would suddenly transform the whole meal into an enjoyable experience. The unleavened bread also contributed to that feeling. We therefore find that there were three components which combined to make the meal enjoyable.

צלי אש, “roasted on the fire;” so that the fragrance of the meat will assail the noses of the Egyptians and they will reflect on what is happening to their deity.

These three components symbolised three things. 1) The exile which had embittered the Israelites' lives; 2) The suddenness of the Exodus so that even their dough did not have time enough to rise. 3) The fact that G'd "passed over" the houses of the Israelites which was a major element of the redemption. This "leap-frogging" severed Israel's previous dependence on the Egyptians which had appeared as incapable of separation. I have explained the nature of the good being inextricably intertwined with the evil in my commentary on Exodus 11,5. Redemption meant the tearing asunder of these bonds between good and evil. These three phenomena had to be experienced simultaneously otherwise the whole redemption would not have been possible. If a single element had been lacking the other two would not even have been miraculous at all by themselves. Without the exile experience no other refining process could have been effective and could have borne fruit. We have explained in our commentary on Genesis 46,3 how the descent into the immoral environment of Egypt was a necessary prelude to "rescuing" the souls that had been taken captive by the forces of the קליפה at the time Adam had eaten from the tree of knowledge. This is also the mystical dimension of Kohelet 8,9: "there is a time when one man rules over another to his detriment." Had the Exodus not occurred as abruptly as it did, the Israelites might well have returned to Egypt to become ever more deeply mired in that moral morass. This idea is best expressed by the author of the Haggadah shel Pessach who claims that: "if G'd had not taken us out of there (at the time), then both we and our forefathers would have remained subservient to Pharaoh in Egypt." This is what the Torah means in 12,39 when it testifies that "they could not tarry any longer." The principal element of the redemption was the פסיחה, "the skipping over." Hillel (Pessachim 115) symbolised the importance of the simultaneous occurrence of these three elements when he insisted that we must consume the meat, the bitter herbs and the unleavened bread as a single "sandwich."

על מרורים, “together with bitter herbs.” This was to drive home the memory of the many years their lives had been embittered by the Egyptians. This is why they were not to eat it with something sweet.

That is that He commanded us to eat the lamb of the Pesach-offering on the night of the fifteenth of Nissan according to the stipulations mentioned - and that is that it is roasted, that it is eaten in one house and that is eaten with matzah and bitter herbs (maror). And that is His saying, "They shall eat the meat that night; they shall eat it roasted with fire, with matzah and with bitter herbs" (Exodus 12:8). And perhaps a questioner will challenge me and say, "Why do you count the eating of the Pesach-offering, matzah and the bitter herbs as one commandment and not count them as three commandments?" I would [then] answer him that it is true that the eating of matzah is a separate commandment, as I will explain later (Sefer HaMitzvot, Positive Commandments 158); likewise is the eating of the meat of the Pesach-offering a separate commandment, as we have mentioned. However the bitter herbs are an extension of the eating of the Pesach-offering and are not counted as a separate commandment. And the proof of the matter is that the meat of the Pesach-offering is eaten to fulfill the commandment, whether bitter herbs are available or whether they are not available. But bitter herbs are only eaten with the meat of the Pesach-offering - as His saying, "upon [...] bitter herbs shall they eat it" (Numbers 9:11). But [if one ate] bitter herbs without meat, he has not done anything; and we do not say that he has already fulfilled a commandment. And the language of the Mekhilta (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:8:3) is, "'They shall eat it roasted with fire, with matzah and with bitter herbs' - tells [us] that the commandment of the Pesach-offering is roasted meat, matzah and bitter herbs." This means that the commandment is the combination of these. And there, they said, "From where [do we know that] which you say, that if they do not have matzah and bitter herbs, they fulfill their obligation with the Pesach-offering? [Hence] we learn to say, 'shall they eat it'" - meaning the meat by itself. "I might think that if they do not have a Pesach-offering, they [do not] fulfill their obligation with matzah and bitter herbs. Behold you argue: The Pesach-offering is a positive commandment and matzah and bitter herbs are a positive commandment. Behold you have learned that if they do not have matzah and bitter herbs, they fulfill their obligation for the Pesach-offering; so too, if they do not have the Pesach-offering, they fulfill their obligation for matzah and bitter herbs. ([Hence] we learn to say, 'upon matzah and bitter herbs shall they eat it.')" And there, they [also] said, "'They shall eat it' - From here, [we know] that the Pesach-offering is to be eaten in a state of satiety, but matzah and maror are not [necessarily] to be eaten in a state of satiety." That is because the essence of the commandment is the eating of the meat - as He said, "They shall eat the meat that night," whereas the bitter herbs are an extension of the eating of the meat; and their obligation is explained from these verses, for those that understand them. And the obvious proof of this is the [following statement] in the Talmud - and that is their saying (Pesachim 120a), "Bitter herbs in our days is rabbinic." For there is no obligation from the Torah to eat them by themselves. Rather they should be eaten with the meat of the Pesach-offering. And that is a clear proof that they are from those things that are extensions of the commandment [of the Pesach-offering], and that their eating is not a separate commandment. And the regulations of this commandment are also explained in Tractate Pesachim. (See Parashat Bo; Mishneh Torah, Paschal Offering 1.)