הלכה אויף שמות 1:14

And he brings the table back in front of him and says, "This Passover sacrifice that we are eating is for the sake of (to commemorate) that the Omnipresent passed over the homes of our ancestors in Egypt; as it is stated (Exodus 12:27), 'And you shall say, '"It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, etc."'" And [then] he lifts the bitter herbs in his hand and says, "These bitter herbs that we are eating are [to commemorate] that the Egyptians embittered the lives of our ancestors in Egypt; as it is stated (Exodus 1:14), 'And they embittered their lives.'" And [then] he lifts the matsa in his hand and says, "This matsa that we are eating is [to commemorate] that the dough of our ancestors did not have enough time to become leavened before the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself and redeemed them immediately; as it is stated (Exodus 12:39), 'And they baked the dough that they had taken out of Egypt, etc.'" And at this time, he says, "The Passover sacrifice that our ancestors were eating at the time when the Temple existed is [to commemorate] that the Omnipresent passed over the homes of our ancestors, etc."

These bitter herbs that we are eating, for the sake of what [is it]? For the sake [to commemorate] that the Egyptians embittered the lives of our ancestors in Egypt, as it is stated (Exodus 1:14); "And they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field; in all their service, wherein they made them serve with rigor."

And the verse stated here, “work of labor,” and it did not state, “all work” — since the needs of food for the soul were permitted to be done on the holiday; as Scripture comes in another place (Exodus 12:16), “but that which is eaten by every soul, that alone shall be done for you.” And this is the understanding of work of labor — meaning to say, work that is not for the needs of food for the soul, like the matter that is stated (Exodus 1:14), “labor in the field”; and so [too,] “Kain was a laborer of the field” (Genesis 4:2); “a king over a field that is labored” (Ecclesiastes 5:8); “labors his land” (Proverbs 12:11). But work that is for food for the soul like cooking and similar to it is work of enjoyment, not work of labor. So did Ramban, may his memory be blessed, explain. And he wrote further (Ramban on Leviticus 23:7) that this understanding is elucidated in the Torah [itself], since with the Festival of Matsot, [about which] it first stated, “all work shall not be done upon them” in the Order of Bo el Pharaoh, it was required to explain, “but that which is eaten by every soul, that alone shall be done for you.” But with all of the other holidays, it was brief and it stated, “all work of labor you shall not do,” to forbid all work that is not [for] food for the soul, and to inform that food for the soul is permitted on them. And Scripture did not ever state in one of the other holidays, “all work,” nor explain the permissibility of food for the soul — since “all work of labor” teaches about this. But in the section, Kol HaBekhor on the Festival of Matsot, it states (Deuteronomy 16:8), “and on the seventh day, it is a convocation to the Lord, your God; you shall not do work.” And the reason is because it already explicitly permitted food for the soul on this holiday in the Order of Bo el Pharaoh. And afterwards in this Order, it mentions “work of labor,” which also implies the permissibility of food for the soul. And therefore, when it repeated and mentioned it another time in the section of Kol HaBekhor, it was not needed for it to state a further explanation about it; and [so] it mentioned just, “work,” and relied on that which is known [from the earlier entries]. And nonetheless, it did not state, “all work,” as [it does] with Shabbat and Yom Kippur, but [rather just] stated, “work” — meaning to say, the work which I have warned you about.