KORBAN PESACH

The Essence of the Korban Pesach

Why should the Korban Pesach not be brought on behalf of a single individual, and why isn’t the korban invalidated if this halachah is not observed? Is the Korban Pesach an individual offering or a communal one? What is the rationale behind the prohibition to remove the meat of the Korban Pesach from the house where it is eaten? *

וזאת חקת הפסח... כל עדת ישראל יעשו אותו )שמות יב, מג-מז(. This is the statute of thePesach offering… The entire congregation of Yisrael shall do it (Shemos 12:43-47).

Korban Pesach [23] יחיד ששחט את הפסח לעצמו כשר, והוא שיהיה ראוי לאכול את כולו, ומשתדלין שלא ישחט לכתחילה על יחיד שנאמר, "יעשו אותו" )רמב"ם פ"ב מהלכות קרבן פסח ה"ב(. If an individual slaughters the Pesach offering for himself, it is valid, provided he is capable of eating the whole thing. Ideally, we endeavor not to slaughter it for a single individual, for the pasuk states, They shall do it (Rambam, Laws of the Pesach Offering, 2:2). Rambam derives this ruling from a Gemara in Maseches (95a), where cite a pasuk (Bamidbar 9:12) that states, with regard to the Pesach Sheni offering, Like all the laws of the Pesach they shall do it. Chazal infer from the pasuk’s use of the plural form that it is preferable that the Korban Pesach be brought on behalf of a group of people, rather than on behalf of a single individual. According to Yosi in the (ibid. 91a),1 if the korban is brought on behalf of an individual it is still valid. Rabbi Yehudah (ibid.), however, maintains that this halachah even affects the status of the offeringbedi’eved , meaning that the Korban Pesach is invalidated if it is brought by a single individual instead of by a group. Regardless of whether this requirement affects the validity of the korban, it represents a most unusual aspect of the Korban Pesach; no other sacrificial offerings that are not offered on behalf of a congregation are subject to such a requirement. What makes the Korban Pesach so different from otherkorbanos that it has the unique requirement to be offered on behalf of a group rather than an individual?

An Individual Offering That Is Similar to a Communal Offering Rambam describes this unique characteristic of the Korban Pesach in his introduction to Seder Kadshim, where he enumerates the various types of sacrificial offerings, including theKorban Pesach. There, Rambam describes theKorban Pesach as “an individual offering similar to a communal offering…for it overrides Shabbos and tumah, as does a communal offering.” This comparison relates not only to the laws that apply to the korban but also to the manner in which it is brought. The Gemara (Yuma 51a) states that this korban is “brought in a gathering,” which makes it be considered similar to a korban tzibbur,

1. See Kesef Mishneh on Rambam, ibid., and the teshuvah of Rabbi Avraham, the son of Rambam, which is printed on the margin of Rambam (in the Frankel edition).

[24] DORASH DOVID a communal offering. For this reason, it takes priority over the restrictions of both Shabbos and tumah.2 On the other hand, Tosafos (Yuma 6b) state that since the Korban Pesach is not a korban that is brought jointly by the entire nation together, it is not considered a full-fledged communal offering, and as a result, even according to the Talmudic opinion that maintains that tumah is “hutrah” (i.e., the restrictions on performing the sacrificial service in a state of tumah are entirely lifted) for a communal offering, when the Korban Pesach is brought in a state of tumah, one should endeavor to join a group whose members are tahor.3 (Even though communal offerings may be brought in certain situations of tumah, there is a dispute among the Amora’im regarding the exact parameters of this halachah. One school of thought maintains that tumah is merely dechuyah, “pushed aside,” but one should still do whatever is possible to minimize one’s exposure to tumah. The other school of thought maintains that tumah is hutrah, completely permitted, under such circumstances and that there is no need to make any effort to avoid it at all. In fact, the itself, in its commandment to bring the Korban Pesach, indicates the dichotomy that characterizes this offering. The Torah instructs us (Shemos 12:3), They shall take, each man a lamb for a father’s house, a lamb for a household. In this pasuk, the word ish, “each man,” implies that acquiring the Korban Pesach should be an individual act performed by every man on behalf of himself and his household. At the same time, the Torah goes on to state (ibid. v. 6), They shall slaughter it, the entire congregation of the community of Yisrael, implying that the korban should be slaughtered by the entire nation as one. This is a detail of thePesach offering that does not apply to other korbanos.4

2. If the majority of the nation is tamei, or even if exactly half of the people are tamei, the Korban Pesach is brought even by those who are tamei. Similarly, even if only the kohanim or the vessels of the Beis Hamikdash are tamei, the Korban Pesach is still brought. 3. In fact, if the Korban Pesach is brought when exactly half of the people – not the majority – are tamei, it is forbidden to create a group that includes both pure and impure members (Pesachim 79a-b). 4. The Shemos( Rabbah 19:2) cites the pasuk (Tehillim 119:80), May my heart be perfect in Your statutes, and makes a puzzling statement: “This refers to the statute of thePesach [offering] and the statute of the adumah…for they are similar to one another. About one the Torah states (Shemos 12:43), This is the statute of thePesach [offering], and about the other it states (Bamidbar 19:2), This is the statute of the Torah. On the surface, this midrash is difficult to comprehend; in what way are these twomitzvos similar to each other? Based on our discussion, we can explain that the similarity lies in the fact that each of these two mitzvos embodies a seeming contradiction. Theparah adumah purifies those who aretamei , but at the same time it causes those who are tahor to become tamei. TheKorban Pesach also has its own dichotomy, since it is brought both as a communal and as an individual korban.

Korban Pesach [25] This duality is unique to theKorban Pesach, and it is a phenomenon that begs explanation. Why is this specific korban a cross between a communal and an individual offering?5

The Rationale for the of thePesach Offering In order to explain this, let us first understand the underlying rationale of the mitzvah of Korban Pesach, as it is set forth by the Torah and the . There is one reason for this mitzvah that is stated explicitly in the Torah, in the pasuk (Shemos 12:27), You shall say, ‘It is a Pesach offering to Hashem, Who passed over the houses of Bnei Yisrael in Mitzrayim when He smote Mitzrayim, and He saved our households.’ According to Seforno’s explanation of these pesukim, this explains why the Korban Pesach is brought on an individual level rather than on a communal level: In Mitzrayim, Hashem saved each individual Jewish family from destruction; as a result, the Jewish people were commanded to bring a Korban Pesach on behalf of each household. Seforno sees this requirement in the pasuk (ibid. v. 26), When your sons will say to you, ‘What is this service to you?’ He comments on this pasuk, “Why isn’t a single korban sufficient for all of Bnei Yisrael, as is the case for other communal offerings? [The answer is that]it is a Pesach offering (ibid. v. 27) – this offering is brought because of the ‘passing over’…and everyone must bring this offering, because the miracle occurred to every person individually, not to the people as a whole.” This idea is likewise reflected in the Torah’s choice of words in a laterpasuk (ibid. 13:8), in which it states that when the Korban Pesach is brought, a person should tell his son, “Because of this Hashem acted for me when I left Mitzrayim.” The singular form implies that there is an inherent obligation for each individual to bring his own korban as an expression of gratitude to Hashem for both his physical liberation from bondage in Mitzrayim and his release from the spiritual defilement of that land. At the same time, Sefer Hachinuch teaches us (mitzvah 13) that the Korban Pesach is “a sign and a commemoration of the fact that we came at that time into the shelter of

5. See Zera Avraham (sec. 4 and sec. 6), where both Harav Menachem Ziemba and Harav Avraham Luftbier explain, based on theMefaresh on Mechilta (Beirurei Hamiddos on Mechilta, Parshas Bo, Masechta d’Pischa, ch. 5, sec. 34), that there are, in fact, two distinct requirements to bring the Korban Pesach: a personal requirement that applies to every individual, and a communal requirement. Since the individual korban is brought by groups of people, it serves as a communal offering as well. (See ibid., sec. 6, where proof of this idea is brought from , Pesachim ch. 4, based on the text as it appears there.) Zayis Raanan (on Mechilta, by the author of Magen Avraham), however, explains this passage in Mechilta differently, and Zera Avraham itself (sec. 4) expresses some hesitation about this approach. See also the words of Seforno cited below, which also imply that there is a communal obligation to bring the Korban Pesach, in which case Seforno would be in agreement with the cited above.

[26] DORASH DOVID the Wings of the Shechinah, and we entered into the covenant of the Torah and faith.” This korban, then, commemorates not only our salvation from Mitzrayim but also our inauguration as Hashem’s chosen people. This idea is echoed in Chazal’s comment on the pasuk (ibid. 12:21), Draw and take for yourselves for your families, in which we were instructed to procure animals to be brought for the Korban Pesach. The midrash (Mechilta, Parshas Bo, Masechta d’Pischa, ch. 5) comments on these words, “Draw your hands away from avodah zarah.” Again, we see that with the Korban Pesach the Jewish people renounced any connection they may have had with Egyptian idolatry and entered willingly into a covenant that made them Hashem’s unique nation. This aspect of the Korban Pesach would make it more appropriate for it to be brought as a korban tzibbur, a communal offering, since the entire nation together accepted the Torah and made an everlasting commitment to Hashem as a single, unified people. Because of this dichotomy in the korban’s nature, Chazal decreed that the Korban Pesach should be brought in such a way that it combines aspects of both a korban yachid, the offering of an individual, and akorban tzibbur, a communal offering. The individual dimension of the Korban Pesach alludes to our salvation from the plague of the firstborn and our liberation from slavery in Mitzrayim, while the communal dimension signifies the fact that thiskorban inaugurated us as Hashem’s chosen nation.

Primarily a Korban Yachid Nevertheless, we posit that, despite the communal nature of the Korban Pesach, its primary status is that of an individual offering.6 We believe that there is a fundamental lesson to be learned from this. When the Jewish people were designated as Hashem’s chosen nation and assumed the responsibility of keeping the Torah and remaining faithful to Hashem, every individual was given his own unique task to fulfill in serving Hashem. Each person has his own mission to perform in his own way, in the context of his own individual life circumstances and with the use of the unique abilities with which Hashem has endowed him. This is what makes it possible for our covenant with Hashem to be actualized in its ideal form and for the ultimate purpose of the Jewish nation – to carry out the will of our Father in Heaven – to be fulfilled.7 Perfection in

6. See Zera Avraham (cited in footnote 5, above), which states that even according to the view that there is a communal obligation to bring the Korban Pesach, this obligation is essentially fulfilled in any case by virtue of the fact that the korban is brought in groups, even though that is not exactly the same as a korban being brought jointly by the entire nation together. 7. On this topic, it is apropos to quote Rabbi Akiva Eiger’s explanation (quoted in Toras Emes by Harav Leibel Eiger, vol. 2, Tu B’Av) of Chazal’s teaching (Taanis 31a), “In the future, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will make a circle for the tzaddikim, and He will sit in their midst in Gan Eden, and each of them will point with his finger, as thepasuk states (Yeshayahu 25:9), He shall say on that day: Behold, this is our G-d…

Korban Pesach [27] our service of Hashem can come about only when every individual follows his own unique path in serving Hashem; the service of every individual then merges into the ultimate communal avodah, which creates the perfect fulfillment of Hashem’s plan for the Jewish people. This, then, is the symbolism in the fact that theKorban Pesach is fundamentally an individual offering, yet it also encompasses, by its very essence, the status of a communal offering. We can now understand Rabbi Yosi’s position regarding a Korban Pesach that is brought on behalf of a single individual. Rabbi Yosi maintains that it is preferable that one not bring this korban as a single individual, since the status of a communal offering is a fundamental aspect of the Korban Pesach. At the same time, since the Korban Pesach incorporates the symbolism of the covenant of Torah even when it is brought by an individual, it is not invalidated if this is done.

Keeping the Pesach Offering in the House Based on our approach, we can also explain why the Torah commands us (Shemos 12:46), You shall not take any of the meat out of the house outside. Why is it prohibited to remove the meat of the Korban Pesach from our homes? Perhaps this alludes to the proper way for us to observe all of the dimensions of the mitzvah of Korban Pesach. The proper observance of this mitzvah does not take place outdoors, in a public setting; rather, it should be observed in a private venue, inside one’s home. A person’s home, his private domain, is the place where he can follow his own individual path in avodas Hashem. It is only in that context that every individual – or group – can carve out his own niche. The proper setting for expressions of our individuality is not the public sphere, where we must function as part of the conglomerate whole of the Jewish nation; rather, it is within the privacy of our own homes. Within the Jewish nation there are many subsets of world Jewry, many communities and sects of that have their own unique customs and traditions. The only way for these traditions to be preserved and maintained is for them to be observed within the context of family life, for the members of a household to unite in the shared desire to cling to the customs and traditions that are their unique heritage. These traditions

This is Hashem; we have hoped for Him. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.” Rabbi Akiva Eiger explains the significance of the circle thatChazal describe. When many people dance in a circle, they all dance around a single central point. Similarly, even though every tzaddik serves Hashem in his own way, in the future everyone will recognize that the actions of every tzaddik revolve around the same central focus – the will of Hashem – and that all of the tzaddikim in the world are equally committed to serving Him, each of them in his own distinct way.

[28] DORASH DOVID must be preserved specifically in the home and not in a public context, since if the entire Jewish nation were to observe the same practices, then the diverse family traditions that characterize our people would cease to exist. At the same time, if every Jew were to conduct himself in accordance with his own traditions and disregard the practices of others, a dangerous divisiveness would be created among our people. In fact, the Torah tells us, “Lo sisgodedu,” which the Gemara interprets to mean, “You shall not divide into factions” (see Yevamos 13b). Therefore, in public settings we must maintain a degree of homogeneity, while guarding our diverse customs in the context of our personal lives at home. The home plays yet another important role in the transmission of values from one generation to the next. At home, between parents and their children and among other family members, the barriers that separate individuals often melt away. There is a greater sense of closeness and openness between family members at home, and the home atmosphere fosters more powerful interpersonal bonds. Such an environment is all the more conducive to passing on a tradition from generation to generation, and to inculcating the fundamentals of emunah and avodas Hashem in the younger generation. Perhaps it is for this reason that the Torah commands us to eat the meat of the Pesach offering in our homes on the very night that we are also enjoined to teach our children about Yetzias Mitzrayim (Shemos 13:8). Regarding this mitzvah, the Torah speaks about four different types of children and instructs us to educate each one in accordance with his own unique abilities to absorb our teachings. The best place to do so is within the confines of our homes, in the place where our children’s ears are the most open to our words and their hearts are the most receptive to our messages.

Korban Pesach [29]