Stranger Danger: The Purity of the Night of Pesach

Pesach

Stranger Danger

זֹאת חֻקַּת הַפָּסַח כׇּל־בֶּן־נֵכָר לֹא־יֹאכַל בּוֹ

בָּאוּ הַמִּצְרִים לֶאֱכֹל עִמָּהֶם, אָמַר לָהֶם הָאֱלֹהִים חַס וְשָׁלוֹם

The second half of Parshas Bo is dedicated to the various Tzivuyim that preceded Yetzias Mitzrayim , beginning with the words הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים. After HKBH tells Moshe and Aharon about Kiddush HaChodesh , they are given the first Tzivuy regarding the Korban Pesach: דַּבְּרוּ אֶל־כׇּל־עֲדַת יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר בֶּעָשֹׂר לַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה וְיִקְחו ּ לָהֶם אִישׁ שֶׂה לְבֵית־אָבֹת שֶׂה לַבָּיִת. Some of the Halachos taught in this series of Pessukim , such as וְלָקְחוּ מִן־הַדָּם וְנָתְנוּ עַל־שְׁתֵּי הַמְּזוּזֹת וְעַל־הַמַּשְׁקוֹף עַל הַבָּתִּים, were only relevant that first year but many are the Dinim of Korban Pesach that applied each and every year thereafter.

Later, the Torah tells us that Moshe passed on this important set of Tzivuyim : וַיִּקְרָא מֹשֶׁה לְכׇל־זִקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם מִשְׁכוּ וּקְחוּ לָכֶם צֹאן לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתֵיכֶם וְשַׁחֲטוּ הַפָּסַח. Moshe and Aharon spoke to the

Zekenim , and told them about the Mitzvos they had been given, so that the Zekenim could then pass these Dinim on to Bnei Yisroel. The message passed on by Moshe and Aharon was not meant only for those in Mitzrayim , however, as made clear be the words וְהָיָה כִּי־יֹאמְרו ּ אֲלֵיכֶם בְּנֵיכֶם מָה הָעֲבֹדָה הַזֹּאת לָכֶם וַאֲמַרְתֶּם זֶבַח־פֶּסַח הוּא. Indeed parts these Pessukim are included in the Haggada itself.

The Torah then describes Makkas Bechoros and begins to speak about Yetzias Mitzrayim itself, concluding with the words: וַיְהִי מִקֵּץ שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה וַיְהִי בְּעֶצֶם הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה יָצְאוּ כׇּל־צִבְאוֹת יְהֹוָה מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם.

Then, we find another set of Pessukim that discuss the Korban Pesach, including some Dinim that had not previously been taught. This Parshah begins with the words וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶל מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן זֹאת חֻקַּת הַפָּסַח כׇּל בֶּן נֵכָר לֹא יֹאכַל בּוֹ, but it is not immediately clear what a בֶּן נֵכָר is.

Rashi explains these words as follows: שֶׁנִּתְנַכְּרו ּ מַעֲשָׂיו לְאָבִיו שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם, someone who’s actions are foreign to HKBH, including a יִשְׂרָאֵל מְשֻׁמָּד or a non- jew . This Pirush is based on the fact the Torah later tells us about another requirement of those who wish to partake in the Korban Pesach, כׇל־עָרֵל לֹא־יֹאכַל בּוֹ, leading the Mechilta to conclude that the words כׇּל בֶּן נֵכָר לֹא יֹאכַל בּוֹ refer to a יִשְׂרָאֵל מְשֻׁמָּד.

According to Rashi, and the Mechilta , the words כׇּל בֶּן נֵכָר לֹא יֹאכַל בּוֹ teach us one of many Dinim related to the Korban Pesach—just as an עָרֵל is not allowed to eat from the Korban, so to someone in the category of נִּתְנַכְּרו ּ מַעֲשָׂיו לְאָבִיו שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם is excluded as well. If so, it is understandable that the Torah teaches this Halacha here: one may be tempted to include a יִשְׂרָאֵל מְשֻׁמָּד in his Korban, and the Torah therefore instructs us that this not to be the case.

There is, however, another Drasha related to these words that is not as easily understood.

The Medrash Rabba, here, tells us what happened as Bnei Yisroel prepared for Pesach Mitzrayim : כֵיוָן שֶׁבָּאוּ לָצֵאת וְגָזַר עֲלֵיהֶן הקב"ה לַעֲשׂוֹת פֶּסַח, בָּאוּ הַמִּצְרִים לֶאֱכֹל עִמָּהֶם. When the Mitzriyim heard about the Korban Pesach, they wanted to partake along with Bnei Yisroel, but HKBH said חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, and this was the purpose of the words כׇּל בֶּן נֵכָר לֹא יֹאכַל בּוֹ.

A short Medrash that leads to many questions.

First, according to this Medrash, the words כׇּל בֶּן נֵכָר לֹא יֹאכַל בּוֹ were meant to specifically exclude the Mitzryim who wanted to join in eating the Korban Pesach. Why would this be necessary—why would we assume that the Mitzriyim were allowed to partake of the Korban? Besides the fact that they would be excluded in any case by the words כׇל־עָרֵל לֹא־יֹאכַל בּוֹ, which family would welcome a Mitzri to eat from their Korban Pesach? Under what circumstance would we assume that the oppressed would welcome their tormentors to participate in this historic moment?

Even if we could explain the need to exclude the Mitzriyim , the words זֹאת חֻקַּת הַפָּסַח must be explained as well. This introduction makes it seem as though this is the most important of the Dinim that the Torah is about to teach—why? What sets this Halacha apart, such that the Torah uses these words as a preface? If anything these words seem to address an uncommon situation, why does the Torah assign them such importance?

The Medrash is particularly surprising if we take into account a Memrah that appears earlier, on the words מִשְׁכוּ וּקְחוּ לָכֶם צֹאן לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתֵיכֶם .

The Medrash, there, describes a particular aspect of the Shibbud : הָיָה הַמִּצְרִי הוֹלֵךְ בַּמִּדְבָּר וְתוֹפֵס אַיָּל אוֹ צְבִי וְשׁוֹחֲטוֹ, וְשׂוֹפֵת אֶת הַסִּיר וּמְבַשֵּׁל וְאוֹכֵל, the Mitzri masters would go off on a hunt, returning with fresh meat which they would then cook and eat. All the while, יִשְׂרָאֵל רוֹאִין וְלֹא טוֹעֲמִין , the Yidden in their midst would sit by and behold the aromas, but not be allowed to eat. It was this experience that Bnei Yisroel referred to with the words found in Parshas Beshalach : בְּשִׁבְתֵּנוּ עַל סִיר הַבָּשָׂר בְּאָכְלֵנוּ לֶחֶם לָשׂבַע, they sat near the pots cooking meat, but only ate bread.

The Medrash continues, telling us that this evil behavior was repaid מִדָּה כְּנֶגֶד מִדָּה . Hashem said to the Mitzriyim : אַתֶּם זִנַּקְתֶּם אֶת בָּנַי בַּבָּשָׂר שֶׁהֱיִיתֶם אוֹכְלִין וְלֹא הֱיִיתֶם נוֹתְנִין לָהֶם, you cause my children to drool with hunger, taunting them with food, אַף אֲנִי אֶעֱשֶׂה לְבָנַי שֶׁיִּשְׁחֲטוּ אֶת הַצֹּאן שֶׁאַתֶּם מִשְׁתַּחֲוִים לָהֶן וְהֵן אוֹכְלִין וְאַתֶּם נְמֵסִים, I will therefore cause Bnei Yisroel to bring the very sheep that you worship, as a Korban and you will be disgusted.

It emerges that one of the purposes of the Korban Pesach was to repay the Mitzriyim for the way they tormented Bnei Yisroel during the Shibbud . It was not incidental that the Korban was brought from the the

Avodah Zarah of Mitzrayim —it was meant to disgust them as a punishment for the way they used food as a means of torture. If this is the case, why does the Torah have to go out its way to exclude the Mitzriyim from the Korban Pesach? Even it happened that some wished to join Bnei Yisorel , as the Medrash seems to suggest occurred, why would anyone think they could do so?

Another interesting detail about the words כׇּל בֶּן נֵכָר לֹא יֹאכַל בּוֹ is the point at which they were said. Rashi tells us: בְּי"ד בְּנִיסָן נֶאֶמְרָה לָהֶם פָּרָשָׁה זוֹ, these words were said on the day of י "ד נִיסָן, Erev Pesach, when the Korban was to be brought. Most of the Dinim of Korban Pesach were taught earlier, starting at Rosh Chodesh Nissan, yet we find that this Halacha, כׇּל בֶּן נֵכָר לֹא יֹאכַל בּוֹ was said much later. Why? If this is indeed an important detail of the Halchos that apply to the Korban, as indicated by the words זֹאת חֻקַּת הַפָּסַח, why were they not taught earlier.

It should be pointed out that that these Pessukim are written after the Torah discusses Yetzias Mitzrayim itself, which took place on the night of the fifteenth, but Rashi applies to the rule of אֵין מֻקְדָּם וּמְאֻחָר בַּתּוֹרָה in explaining that they were said on the fourteenth. Interestingly, even the Ramban , who generally hold יֵשׁ מֻקְדָּם וּמְאֻחָר בַּתּוֹרָה, agrees that these words were said on י"ד נִיסָן, and explains why they are still written later.

It seems that these words, כׇּל בֶּן נֵכָר לֹא יֹאכַל בּוֹ, about which the Torah says זֹאת חֻקַּת הַפָּסַח, but which seem to have such limited practical application, were specifically said on י"ד נִיסָן. Why? What do these words teach us and why were they said at that particular junction ?

Perhaps we can answer these questions, and explain the Medrashim , based on a new understanding of Geulas Mitzrayim .

The Gemara at the beginning of Brachos speaks about the Halachos of סְמִיכַת גְּאֻלָּה לִתְפִלָּה teaching that although all agree that this is a necessary component of Teffilas Shachris , there is a Machlokes whether it is required at Maariv. The Gemara there, suggests one possible explanation for the Shita that it is a requirement: גְּאוּלָּה מֵאוּרְתָּא נָמֵי הָוֵי, אֶלָּא גְּאוּלָּה מְעַלַּיְיתָא לָא הָוְיָא אֶלָּא עַד צַפְרָא. The Gemara seems to be saying that the Geulah took place in two parts, with some part occurring at night and the completion the next day, and so there is a requirement of סְמִיכַת גְּאֻלָּה לִתְפִלָּה at Maariv as well as Shacrhis .

There is another Gemara at little later in the same Perek brings a Machlokes regarding the Korban Pesach: R’ Yehoshua holds that one may eat the Korban until the morning, while R’ Yehoshua holds that it may only be eaten until Chatzos . In explaining this Machlokes , the Gemara tells us that it is not rooted in a disagreement as to when the Geulah took place, rather: הַכֹּל מוֹדִים כְּשֶׁנִּגְאֲלוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְרַיִם, לֹא נִגְאֲלוּ אֶלָּא בָּעֶרֶב...וּכְשֶׁיָּצְאוּ לֹא יָצְאוּ אֶלָּא בַּיּוֹם. Everyone agrees that the Geulah took place at night and the Yetziah was the next day. Here too we see something of a dichotomy, suggesting that Geulas Mitzrayim took place in two steps, one during the night and one in the morning.

How can we understand this? Why does the Gemara , in two places, seem to split the Geulah into two parts?

Rav Hutner, in Pachad Yitzchok on Pesach, explains the process of Geulas Mitzrayim using these Gemarahs to draw an important contrast.

The Rosh Yeshiva notes that Galus Mitzrayim was unique among all the other instances of Galus in that it began, and indeed it was Nigzar , before we were a nation. The Passuk at the beginning of Sefer Shemos tells us אִישׁ וּבֵיתוֹ בָּאוּ, the children of Yaakov were a family, and each came to Mitzrayim as a family unit. It was only later, after the Shibud began, that that Bnei Yisroel became a nation, as the Passuk in Parshas Habikurim tells us: וַיְהִי־שָׁם לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל עָצוּם וָרָב.

This was the central feature of Galus Mitzrayim : גוֹי בְּקֶרֶב גּוֹי, one nation entrenched within another, and the Galus could therefore only conclude when HKBH removed us from that situation, לָקַחַת לוֹ גוֹי מִקֶּרֶב גּוֹי. Rav Hutner points out that there was another feature of the Galus, as related by the Passuk in Parshas Bo: וְגַם־עֵרֶב רַב עָלָה אִתָּם. By the time Bnei Yisroel left Mitzrayim , there was an עֵרֶב רַב, members of the nation itself that would seek to do it harm.

Rav Hutner explains that these two aspects of the Galus are repeated throughout history: during Galus we become entrenched in our host nations, but this is not our greatest threat. The real danger to Klal Yiroel comes from within, as Rashi in Parshas Bechukosai tells us: שֶׁאֵינִי מַעֲמִיד שׂוֹנְאִים אֶלָּא מִכֶּם וּבָכֶם, the ultimate enemies, the ones that threaten us most, are מִכֶּם וּבָכֶם.

The two parts of the Geulah alluded to in the Gemara , explains Rav Hutner, are related to these two features of the Galus. The Geulah took place at night—we were freed of our Shibud to the Mitzryim , and the reality of גוֹי מִקֶּרֶב גּוֹי took hold, but the Yetziah took place during the morning, when we left Mitzrayim along with with the עֵרֶב רַב. This is the meaning of the Gemarah , כְּשֶׁנִּגְאֲלוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְרַיִם, לֹא נִגְאֲלוּ אֶלָּא בָּעֶרֶב...וּכְשֶׁיָּצְאוּ לֹא יָצְאוּ אֶלָּא בַּיּוֹם.

The Rosh Hayeshiva continues, explaining that this dichotomy, לֹא נִגְאֲלוּ אֶלָּא בָּעֶרֶב לֹא יָצְאוּ אֶלָּא בַּיּוֹם, resulted in a unique situation on the night of Pesach Mitzrayim : וְנִמְצָא דְּרֵק אוֹתָהּ שָׁעָה שֶׁל לֵיל ט״ו הִיא הַשָּׁעָה הַיְּחִידָה שֶׁבָּהּ עֶמְדָּה כְּנֶסֶת-יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּיִחוּדָה ּ הַמָּלֵא, מִבְּלִי שׁוּם הוֹפָעָה שֶׁל תַּעֲרוֹבוֹת. This was the only time that Klal Yisroel exsited in its entirety, without any element of גוֹי בְּקֶרֶב גּוֹי or מִכֶּם וּבָכֶם. Before the Shibud , Klal Yisroel did not exist as a nation, during the Shibud we existed only in a status of גוֹי בְּקֶרֶב גּוֹי, and by the time morning came, the עֵרֶב רַב was forged. It was only on this one night, following the גְּאוּלָּה מֵאוּרְתָּא , that Klal Yisroel existed in a state of unadulterated entirety.

Perhaps this is the message of the words כׇּל בֶּן נֵכָר לֹא יֹאכַל בּוֹ.

As the Geulah approached, there may have been individual Mitzriyim

who recognized the error of their ways, and wished to partake in the Korban Pesach along with their former victims. HKBH had a two-word response to this plan: חַס וְשָׁלוֹם! This was to be a singular night, one in which Klal Yisroel existed in its purest form, free of the Shibud of גוֹי בְּקֶרֶב גּוֹי and not yet sullied by the reality of אֵינִי מַעֲמִיד שׂוֹנְאִים אֶלָּא מִכֶּם וּבָכֶם. This was the one night that we would share with HKBH, and there was no room for interlopers: כׇּל בֶּן נֵכָר לֹא יֹאכַל בּוֹ.

The Tzivuy of כׇּל בֶּן נֵכָר לֹא יֹאכַל בּוֹ is very different from that of כׇל־עָרֵל לֹא־יֹאכַל בּוֹ. The Issur of עָרֵל is a technical detail, and applies to Bnei Yisroel as well. The Tzivuy of כׇּל בֶּן נֵכָר לֹא יֹאכַל בּוֹ, however, is different: it is elemental to the night of Pesach Mitzrayim , to the reality that followed the גְּאוּלָּה מֵאוּרְתָּא .

This is why the words כׇּל בֶּן נֵכָר לֹא יֹאכַל בּוֹ were not said until "ד נִיסָן, as Rashi tells us. Before that point there would be no way to even understand the concept—we were stuck in the reality of גוֹי בְּקֶרֶב גּוֹי, and would not be able to comprehend the power of this one night. Only as we stood at the cusp, the Korban Pesach ready for Shechita, and the גְּאוּלָּה מֵאוּרְתָּא mere hours away, that Hashem told Moshe and Aharon what was in store.

And, as the Passuk tells us, זֹאת חֻקַּת הַפָּסַח. This is the message that we are to recall each year, as we sit at the Seder. We know that the Geulas Mitzrayim teaches us about the Geulah HaAsida , for which we wait with bated breath. Each year we must remember that there was a night on which we say together with HKBH, free of enemies of any kind, unencumbered by Shibud and unsullied by שׂוֹנְאִים מִכֶּם וּבָכֶם, and reaffirm our belief that another such moment awaits us, וְנֹאכַל שָׁם מִן הַזְּבָחִים וּמִן הַפְּסָחִים.