The Torah permits certain food preparation on festival days with the phrase "only what is to be eaten by all souls." The Mekhilta records a debate about exactly how far this permission extends — and the answer turns on the meaning of a single word.
Rabbi Yishmael reads "all souls" and immediately sees a problem. Taken literally, "all souls" could include the souls of animals and the souls of non-Jews. Would a person be permitted to cook food for their livestock on the festival? Could they prepare meals for gentile guests? If "all souls" truly means all souls, the permission is vast.
But the verse continues with the word "for you" — lakhem in Hebrew. Rabbi Yishmael reads this as a double restriction. "For you" means for the people of Israel — not for animals, and not for non-Jews. The expansive phrase "all souls" is immediately narrowed by "for you" to mean only Jewish souls.
This interpretive move — casting a wide net and then pulling it tight — appears throughout rabbinic literature. The Torah first states a broad principle, then qualifies it. The rabbis' task is to identify exactly where the qualification draws its line.
The practical consequence was significant for daily festival life. A Jewish household could prepare food for its own members on the holiday, but could not cook specifically for animals or non-Jewish guests. Food preparation, like the festival itself, was bounded by the covenant between God and Israel.