Eating the Passover in Haste as an Offering for the LORD

Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben Yochai 12:11

"And thus you shall eat it" (Exodus 12:11): "and you shall eat it in haste," in the alarm of people setting out on a journey. I would know only that its eating must be in haste. From where to include the receiving of its blood and the sprinkling of its blood? The verse says "and thus." One might think I should include its roasting and the rinsing of its entrails; the verse says "thus," "thus" [restricting it]. "It" (Exodus 12:11): it is eaten in haste, but the Passover of later generations is not in haste. Another interpretation: it is eaten in haste, but the matzah and bitter herbs are not in haste. "A Passover" (Exodus 12:11): that all its actions be for the sake of the Passover. "It is": this excludes one who slaughtered it not for its own sake. "To the LORD": for the sake of the One whose Name is unique.

Themes