ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף דברים 16:6

A Story of Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Joshua... Why were these five sages together on Seder night? They sages got together to discuss the Exodus but when they reached midnight they began to debate the controversy regarding when the Passover offering should be consumed. This controversy was between Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah and Rabbi Akiva; a similar controversy can be found in the Talmud between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Joshua. The question is about what time the Passover sacrifice must be consumed – by midnight or by day break. Since we now eat the Afikomen in lieu of the sacrifice, this question influences the time by which we must eat the Afikomen.
According to Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah (and Rabbi Eliezer) the sacrifice must be eaten before midnight; according to Rabbi Akiva (and Rabbi Joshua) the sacrifice can be consumed all night long. Each brings a different proof for his point of view. According to Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, we learn that the sacrifice must be eaten by midnight based on a gezerah shavah.²⁷A hermeneutic rule in which we compare two verses in the bible and deduce the principle in one of them to the other based on similar language. We find two verses: “You shall it the meat on this night,”²⁸Exodus 12:8 and, “I passed through the Land of Egypt on this night.”²⁹Exodus 12:12 Just as God passed through the land at midnight so the Passover offering must be consumed by midnight. Rabbi Akiva interprets the verse: “You shall eat it in haste”³⁰Exodus 12:11 as a proof text for consuming the offering all night. Just as the Israelites ate the Passover offering ‘in haste’ that is, all night long, so we can eat the sacrifice all night long. Rabbi Akiva understands b’chipazon as a reference to the way the Israelites were supposed to eat the offering, with their loins girded, sandals on their feet and their staff in hand. B’chizpazon means they were ready to go at any minute. Rabbi Elazar Ben Azariah, on the other hand, understands ‘in haste’ to refer to the Egyptians. At midnight, as the God passed through the land of Egypt, the Egyptians came and pressed the Israelites to leave. The Israelites ate in haste because the Egyptians were pushing them to leave as quickly as possible – this would have occurred at midnight
Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Joshua bring other proof texts but the controversy, based on the verse: “You shall slaughter the Passover sacrifice in the evening, the time of day when you departed from Egypt.”³¹Deuteronomy 16:6 Rabbi Eliezer understands this verse to mean that you shall offer the sacrifice in the evening and burn the remains in the morning – following the opinion of Rabbi Elazar Ben Azariah. Rabbi Joshua understands the verse to mean you shall offer the sacrifice and eat it all night, following the opinion of Rabbi Akiva.
When the sages were together, the time for the eating of the afikomen³²The matzah which we eat for the Afikomen replaces the Passover sacrifice, It must therefore conform to the laws which applied to the sacrifice and had to be eaten at the same time. arrived and the sages began to debate the correct time by which the matzah had to be consumed: Was it by midnight or could they eat it all night long? Each of the rabbis wanted to follow his approach to the law. As a general matter, Jewish law follows the opinion of Rabbi Akiva when his colleagues disagree with him; therefore the law should have been that the Passover offering could be eaten all night long. However, in order to distance us from transgression we say that we should still eat the Afikomen by midnight.
Rabbi Tarfon was among the sages in B’nai Brak and refused to allow a compromise in this matter; as the teacher of Rabbi Akiva, he felt a compromise in this matter was wrong and as a result this argument continued all night long. Elsewhere in the Talmud when Rabbi Tarfon took the more stringent point of view he was criticized by the other sages.³³In a well known story in Berachot, Rabbi Tarfon brags that he followed the opinion of Beit Hillel regarding the recitation of the evening Sh’ma and insisted on reciting it while lying down even though he was in a dangerous place. The Rabbis chided him and Rabbi Nachman went so far as to say that he deserved to be killed for endangering himself. Rabbi Rabinowitz points out that the other rabbis were critical of Rabbi Tarfon even though Beit Hillel does not exclude the possibility of leaning during the even Sh’ma. Apparently Rabbi Tarfon concluded from this one when possible the lenient point should be adopted. As a result he was uncompromising in this matter and insisted that the sacrifice could be consumed all night long, taking a more lenient opinion. Rabbi Tarfon’s name appears last in the list of sages in B’nai Brak since he was the oldest of the group and apparently as a result he had the greatest influence in this discussion.

On … the houses. The blood was to be placed on the inside because it was a sign for the B’nei Yisrael, not the Egyptians (see v. 13).

NEITHER SHALL ANY OF THE FLESH, WHICH ‘TIZBACH’ (THOU SACRIFICEST)³⁴⁰Ramban will give a new interpretation of the word tizbach. THE FIRST DAY AT EVEN, REMAIN ALL NIGHT UNTIL THE MORNING. The meaning thereof is that you are not to leave overnight until morning any of the meat [i.e., the Passover-offering] with which you celebrated the festival³⁴¹The word tizbach is not understood by Ramban in its general sense as “that which you slaughtered” or “sacrificed,” but as “that which you have eaten in celebration of the festival.” The reason for this interpretation will be clarified further in the text. on the evening of the first of the seven days mentioned. This [time of the celebration] was the night, as he stated, the Eternal thy G-d brought thee forth out of Egypt at night.³⁴²Above, Verse 1. [The word tizbach cannot mean “which thou slaughterest” or “sacrificest”] because he did not mention in this section the fourteenth day [of Nisan] and the slaughtering of the Passover-offering at all [which took place on the afternoon of the fourteenth]. Instead he mentioned the observance of the Passover³⁴²Above, Verse 1. at night, that is to say, the eating of the Passover-offering and the unleavened bread with it. The reason for [not mentioning the slaughter] is that the slaughtering of the Passover-offering and the burning of its sacrificial portion on the fourteenth day of Nisan are part of the commandment of the offerings, and these have already been mentioned in the law of the offerings; he did not repeat it here just as he did not restate the laws of the rest of the offerings. Neither did he mention here that [special] offerings are brought on the three festivals [because these relate to the laws of offerings], but he did mention to Israel [the laws] concerning the eating of the Passover-offering and the unleavened bread. So also, there ‘tizbach’ the Passover-offering at even, at the going down of the sun³⁴³Verse 6. means: “there you shall observe the feast of the Passover-offering at night, at the going down of the sun, for it is to be ‘eaten’ at night.” And he stated by way of explanation, And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the Eternal thy G-d shall choose; and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents.³⁴⁴Verse 7. I have already explained this in the section of This month shall be unto you the beginning of months.³⁴⁵Exodus 12:6 (Vol. II, pp. 125-127).
It is also possible that we explain [the verse before us], Neither shall any of the flesh, which ‘tizbach’ the first day at ‘erev’ remain until the morning as meaning: “of the flesh which you slaughtered at erev (the afternoon),” this being the afternoon preceding the morning [mentioned in the verse, i.e., the morning of the fifteenth day] which is thus the [afternoon of the] fourteenth day of Nisan. And he states, there ‘tizbach’ (thou shalt sacrifice) the Passover-offering ba’erev³⁴³Verse 6. [on the afternoon of the fourteenth day], for at the going down of the sun, at the season thou comest forth out of Egypt³⁴³Verse 6. — then thou shalt roast and eat it.³⁴⁶Thus Verses 6 and 7 are combined, since the final part of Verse 6 [at the going down of the sun …] refers to the time of eating the Passover-offering, which begins at nightfall. See Vol. II, p. 125, where Ramban’s first interpretation of the verses before us is identical with his second one here. He mentions just u’bishalta³⁴⁴Verse 7. [which literally means “and thou shalt boil” or “seethe” — a cooking process forbidden on the Passover-offering], since He has already explained there that it be prepared roast with fire and not boiled at all in water.³⁴⁷Exodus 12:9. If so, the expression here u’bishalta³⁴⁴Verse 7. means “and you shall cook it on fire according to the ordinance.”