The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, preserves a question from Rabbi Nathan that captures the emotional texture of the Exodus. The Torah describes the Israelites carrying their remnants of matzoh "bound up in their clothes on their shoulders" (Exodus 12:34). Rabbi Nathan finds this strange. Why carry food on their shoulders? Were there no animals available?
The verse itself confirms they had plenty of livestock. Just four verses later, the Torah reports: "And also a great multitude went up with them, and flocks and herds" (Exodus 12:38). The Israelites had donkeys, cattle, pack animals — more than enough to carry leftover bread. There was no practical reason to burden themselves.
Rabbi Nathan concludes that the Israelites carried the matzoh on their own shoulders deliberately, not out of necessity but out of love. They bore the remnants of the Passover meal physically, personally, because they cherished the mitzvot (commandments)h — the commandments. Loading sacred food onto a donkey was not enough. They wanted to carry it themselves.
This small detail reveals something profound about the Israelites at the moment of the Exodus. They were not merely following orders. They were not grudging refugees obeying Moses out of fear. On the night of their liberation, the people of Israel embraced the commandments with such affection that they shouldered the physical weight of the mitzvoth, refusing to delegate even to their animals. Love made the load lighter than any beast could carry.