ויקרא משה לכל זקני ישראל ויאמר אלהם משכו וקחו לכם צאן למשפחתיכם ושחטו הפסח
“Moshe called to the all the elders of Yisroel, and said to them ‘draw or buy a for yourselves a sheep for the family, and slaughter it for Pesach’”. (Shemos 12:21)
When Moshe called the elders of the nation to teach them the halachos of the Korban Pesach, he began by telling them to draw or buy an animal from the flock and slaughter it for the Korban Pesach. Rashi explains that a person who owned animals was to take one from his existing flock, while someone who did not have any should purchase one in the marketplace. This is difficult to understand, as Rashi writes (Bereishis 46:34) that sheep were considered deities in Egypt, making it likely that they had been worshipped, thereby invalidating them to be offered as sacrifices. How then could Moshe mention the option of buying a sheep from the Egyptians to bring as their Korban Pesach?
The Panim Yafos resolves this difficulty based on Rashi’s interpretation (Shemos 12:6) of the term משכו - draw – as a command to pull their hands away from avodah zorah (idolatry) prior to acquiring a sheep for the Korban Pesach. What is the connection between these two seemingly unrelated concepts?
The Gemara (Avodah Zorah 53a) rules that although an object that was worshipped as an idol is forbidden for use by a Jew, it can become permitted through a process called bitul (nullification). Bitul takes place when a non-Jewish idolater demonstrates that he no longer views the item as a god through an act of degrading it. In addition to physically breaking the avodah zorah, nullification can also be done by giving it someone who does not acknowledge its alleged powers, which shows that the owner no longer sees the object as a deity. This removes its previous status and renders it permissible.
Accordingly, if an Egyptian sold a sheep to a Jew who could kill it and eat it, this would constitute bitul and allow the Jew to have benefit from it. However, a sale is only an act of nullification if the buyer does not intend to worship the item he is acquiring. If he accepts it as a deity like the seller, the transaction is in no way demeaning and is not deemed bitul. Therefore, Moshe stressed that before obtaining their sheep for the Korban Pesach, they must first relinquish their idolatrous beliefs so that the purchase would nullify the animal’s status and enable it to be offered as a sacrifice.
Rav Yisroel Reisman adds that this directive created tremendous responsibility for the Jews. Between the time they were instructed and the time they procured the sheep, they had to detach themselves from avodah zorah not only internally in their minds, but to the extent that it would be externally clear to every Egyptian who saw them that they had completely rejected all idolatrous practices. Even if in their hearts they no longer had faith in avodah zorah, if the sellers were unaware of this and assumed that they planned to worship the sheep, the transaction would not cause bitul, which only occurs when an idolater knowingly sells his avodah zorah to a nonbeliever. (R’ Ozer Alport)
