THE PESACH SACRIFICE
by Rav Yisrael Ariel
(from Yibane HaMikdash, issue 18 and Beit Hashem Nelech, issue 1)
The Pesach (Passover) Sacrifice is different from all other sacrifices. Its obvious distinction is that, with all other sacrifices, the part that is offered upon the Alter is the most important part, and the part eaten is considered the leftover part. This is true even with consumption by Kohanim, even though the Kohanim's consumption brings an atonement to the one bringing the sacrifice. With the Pesach Sacrifice, however, the most important aspect is the owners' consumption. Since the sacrifice is brought to be eaten, if the meat or the owners become defiled before the blood- throwing, the blood is not thrown onto the Alter, even if the fats to be offered on the Alter remain.
Most of the mitzvot regarding the Pesach Sacrifice revolve around its consumption -- e.g. not to eat it raw, not to eat it cooked in water, not to remove some meat from its group, that an apostate should not partake of it, that a non-Jew or uncircumcised Jew should not partake of it, not to break one of its bones, not to leave it over until the morning, etc. There is also the positive commandment to eat it with matzah and bitter herbs, in order to dignify its consumption.
One explanation is that such a meal brings forth closeness and a feeling of partnership. The eating of the Pesach Sacrifice is, therefore, the meal of those that enter the Covenant of Hashem.
On this night the families of the nation gather on Hashem's table and hence express their family and national ties present in entering the Covenant of Hashem and their dedication to it.
The family is the path that the covenant is inherited. Hence, a big part of the mitzvah of the Seder is to arouse the children's curiosity in this special meal and to teach them that Hashem took us out of Egypt so that we should be His nation.
This explains why only someone who had registered for the sacrifice beforehand could partake of it. This meal should not be a spontaneous occurrence. Therefore no stranger or uncircumcised male can partake of it, as a male who is not circumcised is not completely within the covenant.
For this reason, this sacrifice has the shortest time to eat it -- until midnight (or until the morning), since only then is the right time for this meal. This sacrifice is worthless if it is not eaten within the framework of this meal. The time for this meal is at night, when there is a natural loneliness and a desire to gather among friends.
With this in mind, we can think about another aspect of the Pesach Sacrifice -- protection. The meal of the covenant with Hashem is held, as if it were, around Hashem's table and therefore in Hashem's house. Every house which it is eaten in becomes then the House of Hashem and therefore gets special protection.
In the Pesach Sacrifice in Egypt, the houses served as the Alter itself -- the blood was thrown onto the door posts. Even with the subsequent Pesach sacrifices, there is a special sanctity to the place it is eaten. The holiest sacrifices have their boundary that they cannot leave -- the walls of the Courtyard. Other sacrifices have their boundary that they cannot leave -- the walls of Jerusalem. The boundaries of the Pesach sacrifice, however, are the walls of the group it is eaten in. The halacha is, "Meat of the Pesach Sacrifice that left its group, whether intentionally or not, is forbidden to eat, and it is like the holiest sacrifices which left the Courtyard or less sacrifices with left Jerusalem -- treif, and one who eats it is liable to receive lashes."
The implication is that each group has its own sanctity. Every house
becomes the House of Hashem. Every seed of attachment and connection
is an additional expression that every cell of relationship within
the People -- the life and soul of them -- is the way to be the
Nation of the Covenant of Hashem.
HaTenu'ah LeChinun HaMikdash
Gathering en masse to arouse consciousness among the People,
its rabbis, and its leaders to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash
and return the Kohanim to their Service
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