Comentário sobre Êxodo 12:26

מה העבודה הזאת לכם?, which is performed on a day that does not even bear the appellation מקרא קודש, “holy convocation? All the other mandatory communal offerings are offered on days designated as festivals. Not only that, but the whole day is available for slaughtering those offerings whereas the offering known as Passover is only accepted from noon until sunset [roughly, in fact even less time than that. Ed.] Besides, why does not a single communal offering serve as this memorial of the Exodus? Other public offerings serve each for the whole community.

מה העבודה הזאת?, which is so different from all other festivals in so many respects?

What is this service. The Pesach sacrifice is singled out for the scoffer’s derision because it serves no practical purpose, unlike other sacrifices which at least serve as appeasement or atonement. And if it is to serve as an expression of gratitude for the redemption it should not have been made to coincide specifically with the striking of the first born, for in no other instance are we commanded to commemorate miracles. The only exceptions are the festivals of Chanukah and Purim and even in those cases the intention of the Sages was to call to mind the deeper concepts connected with the miracles, not the miracles themselves.