Rashi in His Own Words
שמות י"ב, ג': דַּ בְּ רוּ אֶ ל כָּל עֲדַּ ת יִ שְּ רָּ אֵ ל לֵאמֹ ר שר לַּחֹ דֶ שׁ הַּ זֶה וְּ יִ קְּ חוּ לָּהֶ ם אִ ישׁ שֶ ה לְּ בֵ ית אָּ בֹ ת שֶ ה לַּבָּ יִ תבֶ עָּ :שמות י"ב, ו': וְּ הָּ יָּה לָּכֶם דֶ שׁ הַּ זֶה וְּ שָּׁ חֲטוּ אֹ תוֹ כֹ ל קְּ הַּ ל עֲדַּ ת יִ שְּ רָּ אֵ ל בֵ ין הָּ עַּ רְּ בָּ יִ םלְּ מִ שְּׁ מֶ רֶ ת עַּ ד אַּ רְּ בָּ עָּ ה עָּ שָּ ר יוֹם לַּחֹ :
רש"י ד"ה והיה לכם למשמרת :זה לשון בקור שטעון בקור ממום ארבעה ימים קודם שחיטה ,ומפני מה הקדים לקיחתו לשחיטתו ארבעה ימים מה שלא צוה כן בפסח דורות ,היה ר 'מתיא בן חרש אומר הרי הוא אומר (יחזקאל ט"ז ,ח )'"ואעבור עליך ואראך והנה עתך עת דודים," הגיעה שבועה שנשבעתי לאברהם שאגאל את בניו ולא היו בידם מצות להתעסק בהם כדי שיגאלו ,שנאמר (שם ז )'"ואת ערום ועריה," ונתן להם שתי מצות דם פסח ודם מילה ,שמלו באותו הלילה ,שנאמר (שם ו )'"מתבוססת בדמיך," בשני דמים ,ואומר (זכרי 'ט ,' י"א .)"גם את בדם בריתך שלחתי אסיריך מבור אין מים בו ," ולפי שהיו שטופים בעבודה זרה אמר להם (פסוק כ"א )"משכו וקחו לכם," משכו ידיכם מעבודה זרה וקחו לכם צאן של מצוה :
Shemos 12:3: Speak to the entire community of Israel, saying, "On the tenth of this month, let each one take a lamb for each parental home, a lamb for each household. Shemos 12:6: You shall keep it for inspection until the fourteenth day of this month, and the entire congregation of the community of Israel shall slaughter it in the afternoon.
Rashi Heading: And you shall keep it for inspection: This is an expression of examination, that it (the animal) requires an examination for a blemish four days before its slaughter. Why was it to be taken four days before its slaughter, unlike the Passover sacrifice of later generations? Rabbi Masyoh ben Chorosh used to say, "Behold He says, 'and I passed by you and saw you, and behold your time was the time of love.' The time to fulfill the oath I swore to Avrohom that I would redeem his children has arrived. But they, the Jewish Nation, had no commandments in their hands to occupy themselves so that they be redeemed, as it is said, 'but you were naked and bare.' So, He gave them two Mitzvos, the blood of the Passover Sacrifice and the blood of circumcision. They circumcised themselves on that night, as it says, 'downtrodden with your blood,' with the two types of blood. Hashem also said, 'You too, with the blood of your covenant, I have freed your prisoners from a pit in which there was no water.' Moreover, the Jews were passionately fond of idolatry. Moshe said to them, 'Withdraw and take for yourselves.' (He meant to) withdraw from idolatry and take for yourselves sheep for the Mitzvoh."
Synopsis
This week's additional Torah portion, Parshas Hachodesh, tells us that Hashem told Moshe to tell the Jews to take a lamb and bring it into their houses on the tenth of Nissan. They were to keep it for inspection until the fourteenth of Nissan and slaughter it in the afternoon. Rashi cites the words from the verse, "and you shall keep it for inspection," and explains that the reason is that "it requires an inspection for a blemish four days before its slaughter."
Rashi then quotes a Midrash, which asks a question. The Jews were to take the first Pesach Sacrifice on the tenth of the month; however, they offered it on the fourteenth. Why is there no such obligation for future Pesach Sacrifices?
Rashi explains Rabbi Masyoh ben Chorosh's name that the time had come for Hashem to redeem the Jews from Egypt. The problem was that the Jews lacked the merit to bring the Redemption. Therefore, G-d gave them two Mitzvos to occupy themselves with: the blood of Bris Milah and the Pesach Sacrifice's blood.
At first glance, Rabbi Masyoh ben Chorosh does not seem to answer this question! The question is why the commandment of taking the lamb four days before offering it applied only to the first Pesach Offering; his answer does not explain that. Furthermore, what does Bris Milah have to do with a commandment to take the first Pesach Sacrifice on the tenth of Nissan?
Rashi concludes his words by saying that the Jews were passionately fond of idolatry, and Moshe told them to withdraw from idolatry and take for themselves sheep for the Mitzvoh. It would seem from Rashi that this is the continuation of Rabbi Masyoh ben Chorosh's words; however, it is not. A different Sage, Rabbi Eliezer Hakafor, said them. Yet Rashi does not mention that!
The answer comes from Rabbi Masyoh Ben Chorosh's words and Rabbi Eliezer Hakafor's
The Jews were passionately involved in idolatry, and we had to uproot that passion before bringing the offering. We had to become occupied (as in the words of Rabbi Masyoh ben Chorosh) with two Mitzvos. These needed to be general Mitzvos, one which would show the Jew's allegiance to Hashem and another to demonstrate restraint from the negative.
The Mitzvoh of Bris Milah is general. The Torah calls it "a sign of a covenant between you and Me." This covenant with Hashem aligns us with Him regarding the performance of Mitzvos. Secondly, by bringing one of the idols of the Egyptians into our homes for four days, it became clear that they removed the passion for evil. The fact that it was four days demonstrated that it was a decision that the Jews made with great composure, not on the spur of the moment.
Rashi's Explanation
This week's additional Torah portion, Parshas Hachodesh, tells us that Hashem told Moshe to "Speak to the entire community of Israel, saying, 'On the tenth of this month, let each one take a lamb for each parental home, a lamb for each household.' " G-d continues, telling Moshe to tell the Jews to "keep it for inspection until the fourteenth day of this month, and the entire congregation of the community of Israel shall slaughter it in the afternoon." In other words, Hashem is commanding the Jews, who were preparing to leave Egypt, to take a lamb on the tenth of the month of Nissan. They were to slaughter it as an offering on the fourteenth of Nissan. Rashi cites the words from the verse, "and you shall keep it for inspection," and explains that the reason is that "it requires an inspection for a blemish four days before its slaughter." Rashi then quotes a Midrash. "Now, why was it to be taken four days before its slaughter, something not required in the Passover sacrifice of later generations? Rabbi Masyoh ben Chorosh used to say, 'Behold He says, and I passed by you and saw you, and behold your time was the time of love.' The time to fulfill the oath I swore to Avrohom that I would redeem his children has arrived. But they, the Jewish Nation, had no commandments in their hands to occupy themselves so that they be redeemed, as it is said, 'but you were naked and bare.' Therefore, He gave them two Mitzvos: the blood of the Passover Sacrifice and the blood of circumcision. They circumcised themselves on that night, as written, 'downtrodden with your blood (in Hebrew, blood is in the plural),' meaning with the two types of blood. Hashem also said, 'You, too, with the blood of your covenant, I have freed your prisoners from a pit where there was no water.'
Moreover, the Jews were passionately fond of idolatry. Moshe said to them, 'Withdraw and take for yourselves.' (What he meant was,) withdraw from idolatry and take for yourselves sheep for the Mitzvoh.
Difficulties in Understanding Rashi
At first glance, Rabbi Masyoh ben Chorosh does not seem to answer the question! The question is, why was the obligation to take the lamb four days before offering it applied to the first Pesach Sacrifice, and why did this commandment not apply in subsequent years? He answered that Hashem wanted us to occupy ourselves with Mitzvos. How does that answer the question? It does not explain why we kept the animal for four days, not five or three days. Also, if Hashem wanted to give us Mitzvos as a merit, why give us two Mitzvos? Why would one not be enough? If it is because we were "naked and bare" of Mitzvos, why not give us many Mitzvos?
Furthermore, Rabbi Masyoh ben Chorosh does not even mention the taking of the lamb, and he only discusses the lamb's blood, which seems unrelated to our question. Aside from that, Rashi's question has nothing to do with Bris Milah! Why does he even mention that particular Mitzvoh?
Additionally, why does Rashi mention the name of the Sage who made this statement? It is very uncommon for Rashi to quote a specific Sage by name, and when he does, it's to shed additional light on his explanation. What do we add by saying Rabbi Masyoh ben Chorosh said this teaching?
Rashi concludes his words by saying that the Jews were passionately fond of idolatry, and Moshe told them to withdraw from idolatry and take for themselves a sheep for the Mitzvoh. It seems from Rashi that this is the continuation of Rabbi Masyoh Ben Chorosh's words. However, they are not. They are the words of a different Sage, Rabbi Eliezer Hakafor. Yet Rashi cites all of their words together as one teaching!
The Explanation
The explanation is that Rabbi Masyoh ben Chorosh's words do not answer the question. The question is answered by the words of Rabbi Eliezer Hakafor, that the Jews were passionately involved in idolatry. They were steeped in idolatry, and it was something that they had to undo before the Redemption. They needed to be occupied (as in the words of Rabbi Masyoh ben Chorosh) with two Mitzvos. Why specifically two? These needed to be general Mitzvos, which would encompass the entire being of a Jew. One would demonstrate allegiance to Hashem by performing positive actions, meaning Mitzvos. The other would show restraint from sinning.
Bris Milah is a general Mitzvoh, and the Torah calls it "a sign of a covenant between you and Me." This covenant with Hashem certainly aligns us with Him regarding the performance of Mitzvos.
The taking of the lamb helped rid us of our passion for idolatry. Four days before offering the Paschal Lamb, we took the animals, one of the Egyptian gods, and brought them into our homes. This uprooted our passion for idolatry.
What is the significance of four days? Had the Jews taken the lambs and immediately slaughtered them, it would appear to be something done "on the spur of the moment" without giving it much thought. Keeping the animals for four days, with the self-sacrifice it entailed, meant they had given up their passion for idolatry with total equanimity.
Where do we find that four days signifies composure? When Hashem commanded our forefather Avrohom to bring his son up on a mountain as an offering, G-d wanted to avoid giving the impression that he did it immediately, out of a confused mind. Hence, He arranged matters so that the (supposed) time to slaughter Yitzchok was on the fourth day after receiving the command. Therefore, a "cooling-off period" of four days demonstrates that one behaves with total tranquility.
This also explains the need for mentioning the blood of the Pesach. Blood is analogous to excitement or a burning desire. The blood of the sacrifice helped rid us of our passion for idolatry. We prepared ourselves for Redemption by ridding ourselves of the love for idolatry and evil and bonding ourselves to G-d with an eternal covenant!
A Deeper Lesson from Rashi
Telling us this teaching in the name of Rabbi Masyoh ben Chorosh adds to our understanding of Rashi's words. The Talmud tells us that Rabbi Masyoh ben Chorosh's Yeshivah – Talmudic Academy was in Rome. Rome was the epitome of exile, and it is the final exile in which we find ourselves now. Was this an appropriate place to house a Torah Academy? There were other Yeshivos in his time, including Academies located in Israel. His Yeshivah, the largest in his day, was established in Rome! This caused many students to flock to Rome to study under his tutelage.
Nevertheless, he consoled his students by telling them that even in a bitter exile like Rome, when coming across those "naked and bare" of Mitzvos, we can bring Redemption by making a Yeshivah there! Even in exile, we can be occupied in performing Mitzvos, bringing the Ultimate Redemption!
(Adapted from a talk given on Shabbos Parshas Bo, 5737)
I hope you gained as much by reading this as I did by translating and adapting it.
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