BONUS VBM The Uniqueness of the Korban Pesach By Rav Amnon Bazak
a. What is the Nature of the Korban Pesach?
The parasha containing all the details of the "pesach offering" gives rise to a number of questions:
1. Is the Torah speaking about a sacrifice? Among the laws of the pesach we find some which are familiar to us from the halakhic realm of sacrifices, alongside others which represent significant deviations from that which we find elsewhere, as will be explained below.
2. What is the significance of eating the matzot together with this sacrifice, as stipulated in the command: "Roasted over the fire, it shall be eaten with matzot and bitter herbs" (verse 8)? Attention should be paid to the fact that the matzot are mentioned even before the description – "And they baked from the dough... matzot cakes, for it was not leavened, for they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait" (39). This being so, the significance of the matzot in the context of the korban pesach is not connected with the events of the exodus!
3. A similar question arises concerning the prohibition of chametz, which is already mentioned in verse 19 of chapter 12 ("For anyone who eats of chametz – that soul will be cut off from the congregation of Israel"), i.e., prior to the exodus. The prohibition of eating chametz with the korban pesach is mentioned several times elsewhere in the Torah (see Shemot 23:18, 34:25, and Devarim 16:3), and its significance therefore requires some explanation.
a. What is the Nature of the Korban Pesach?
The parasha containing all the details of the "pesach offering" gives rise to a number of questions:
1. Is the Torah speaking about a sacrifice? Among the laws of the pesach we find some which are familiar to us from the halakhic realm of sacrifices, alongside others which represent significant deviations from that which we find elsewhere, as will be explained below.
2. What is the significance of eating the matzot together with this sacrifice, as stipulated in the command: "Roasted over the fire, it shall be eaten with matzot and bitter herbs" (verse 8)? Attention should be paid to the fact that the matzot are mentioned even before the description – "And they baked from the dough... matzot cakes, for it was not leavened, for they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait" (39). This being so, the significance of the matzot in the context of the korban pesach is not connected with the events of the exodus!
3. A similar question arises concerning the prohibition of chametz, which is already mentioned in verse 19 of chapter 12 ("For anyone who eats of chametz – that soul will be cut off from the congregation of Israel"), i.e., prior to the exodus. The prohibition of eating chametz with the korban pesach is mentioned several times elsewhere in the Torah (see Shemot 23:18, 34:25, and Devarim 16:3), and its significance therefore requires some explanation.
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