Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Deuteronomio 16:3

חמשה דברים חייבים בחלה – We draw a conclusion by analogy of [the word] חלה from [the word] "פסח"/Passover. It is stated concerning “Passover” the commandment of the bread of affliction (Deuteronomy 16:3): “[You shall not eat anything leavened with it;] for seven days thereafter, you shall eat unleavened bread, bread of distress – [for you departed from the land of Egypt hastily – so that you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt as long as you live].” And it is stated [the word] "לחם" /”bread,” with regard to Hallah (Numbers 15:19): “And you eat of the bread of the land…” Just as “bread” that is stated on Passover, a matter that comes to be leavened/soured, so too “bread” that is mentioned with Hallah- something that comes to be leavened/soured and you have nothing that comes to be leavened/soured other than only these five species.

יצא ידי חובתו – As it is written (Deuteronomy 16:3): “You shall not eat anything leavened with it; for seven days thereafter you shall eat unleavened bread….,” things that come to be leavened, a person fulfills through them his religious obligation of [eating] Matzah/unleavened bread; things that do not come to be leavened, a person does not fulfill through them the religious obligation of [eating] Matzah.

The Exodus from Egypt: Remembrance and Self-Expression: “…I have not succeeded in offering a proof for mentioning the Exodus from Egypt”. (Page 61a) It is difficult to understand this controversy since the Talmud explicitly implies that one should recall the Exodus at all times. We have two passages which suggest that one should recall the Exodus from Egypt: “Remember this day on which you came forth from Egypt out of the house of bondage,” (Exodus 13:3) and “…In order that you may remember the day of your going forth from Egypt all the days of your life. ” (Deuteronomy 16:3) Everyone would appear to agree that one is always obligated to remember our Exodus from Egypt, both day and night. So what exactly do Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah and the sages disagree about? The first Tanna and Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah differ over whether one must apply verbal expression to this memory or not. According the first Tanna in the Mishnah, the Mitzvah is to simply to remember the Exodus; in order to strengthen our memories it is a good idea (but not obligatory) to mention the Exodus. Thus, a scholar of Torah who is deeply cognizant of the teachings of Judaism would not have to make verbal mention the Exodus in order to think about it or remember it. Rabbi Elazar, on the other hand, was of the opinion that the main way we remember the Exodus is by speaking about it. That is why we have two verses in the Torah: One is to remember and the other to teach us the obligation to explicitly mention the Exodus. Rabbi Elazar follows this point of view; he would say that a knowledgeable person has an obligation to mention the Exodus. There are many citations in the Torah which tells us to remember the Exodus. Why did the sages differ about whether we recite the passage dealing with tzitzit at night? Tzitzit is a ‘daytime’ commandment. Everyone agrees that the commandment of wearing fringes is commanded during the day. On the night of Passover, however, our tradition claims that the night was “bright like the day. It raises the question about tzitzit on this particular night. This is a theme we find throughout the Bible and later literature. In Psalm 139:12 we read, “But the night shines like the day…” In the Zohar we are taught that on the night of the Exodus the night was as bright as a day in the month of Tammuz so that the Israelites could experience God’s judgment.” That is why Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah taught that we should remember the Exodus day and night since the night was like day! When Ben Zoma says that “In order that you may remember the day of your going for from Egypt all the days of your life,” includes the nights, it is because the night was like daytime on this miraculous night. The sages disagreed with this interpretation and suggested that in the Messianic times the night will be like day so we will be commanded to remember the Exodus at night as well as in the day. Just as our ancestors lived in a time of darkness in the time of the Exodus and experienced a great light of redemption, so too, we are in living in the darkness of exile now but through our faith in god we will again experience the great light of redemption. Then, as in the past, the night will become bright as the day!! The sages, therefore, understood the expression “All the days of your life” as a reference to Messianic times. This world is not a place of wholeness and completeness. The expression, “all the days” implies a time of wholeness; the world to come is a place and a time of “All-ness.” In one of his poems, the Ari, Rabbi Isaac Luria speaks of the world to come a place which is filled with the “life of all. ” By telling the story of the Exodus, you will become worthy of making your soul cling to the “Bundle of Life ,” through the aspect of “All” in the days of your life and you will bring the end closer and the coming of the Messiah.