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(Exodus 12:19) "Seven days se'or (leavening) shall not be found in your houses": This tells me only (that the transgression) against finding (it). Whence do I derive (the same for)...
The Torah specifies in (Exodus 12:19) that the laws of Passover apply to both "the proselyte and the citizen of the land." The Mekhilta explains why this explicit mention of the co...
The Torah states in (Exodus 12:20), "All leavening you shall not eat." The Mekhilta asks why this verse is needed at all — since the Torah has already forbidden chametz in an earli...
The Mekhilta records Rabbi Yishmael's ruling on which types of dough qualify for the matzah obligation on Passover — and the answer is far more restrictive than one might expect. T...
Rabbi Yossi raised a deceptively simple question about the Passover laws that reveals how carefully the rabbis read every word of the Torah. The commandment says, "Seven days shall...
"Draw forth and take for yourselves": "Draw forth"—he who possesses his own; "and take" (i.e., acquire)—he who does not possess his own. R. Yossi Haglili says (The meaning is:) "Dr...
"and slaughter the Pesach (Passover): It is a mitzvah to slaughter it as a Pesach offering. If he does not offer it as such, he transgresses the mitzvah. I might think that in the ...
The Torah instructs in (Exodus 12:22), "And you shall take a bunch of hyssop," referring to the bundle of hyssop used to apply the blood of the Paschal lamb to the doorposts in Egy...
The Torah describes the blood ritual of the first Passover in Egypt: the Israelites were to apply the blood of the Paschal lamb to the lintel and the two doorposts of their homes. ...
The Mekhilta, the great halakhic midrash on the Book of Exodus compiled in the 2nd century CE, raises a deceptively simple question about the Passover blood ritual. The Torah comma...
"and you shall not go out, a man from the door of his house: We are hereby taught that once permission has been given to "the destroyer" to destroy, he does not distinguish between...
"and the L–rd will skip over the blood": Now does this not follow a fortiori, viz.: If of the blood (on the door) of the Pesach (Passover) of Egypt, the less "formidable," which ob...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus dating to the 2nd century CE, zeroes in on a single phrase from the Passover laws to clarify exactly who was obligated to perform the ...
The Mekhilta, compiled around the 2nd century CE as a halakhic commentary on Exodus, addresses a critical question about when the Passover laws took effect. The verse states plainl...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, explores a striking rhetorical pattern found throughout the Hebrew Bible: moments where a prophet says God "has spoken," and the rabb...
The Mekhilta, the halakhic midrash on Exodus from the tannaitic period, continues its investigation of a recurring biblical formula: when Scripture says God "has spoken," where exa...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus compiled in the 2nd century CE, traces another instance of the Bible's "as He spoke" formula — a device the rabbis use to link later p...
The Mekhilta reveals a breathtaking symmetry in the covenant between God and Israel. The verse in Deuteronomy says, "And the Lord has affirmed this day to make you His chosen peopl...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic commentary on Exodus, addresses a verse with massive implications for the Exodus narrative. Moses tells Israel in Deuteronomy: "And the Lord said to you...
When God instructed Israel about the Passover observance, He included a forward-looking phrase: "And it shall be, when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as He has s...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, offers a remarkable insight into the nature of obedience. The Torah says of the Israelites: "and they did" — referring to the Passove...
"And it was in the middle of the night" (Exodus 12:29). The tenth plague — the slaying of the firstborn — struck at midnight. But the Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, rai...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, discovers a hidden connection between two events separated by centuries — the plague of the firstborn in Egypt and Abraham's nighttim...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, addresses a question that cuts to the heart of the Passover story: who actually killed the firstborn of Egypt? The verse states simpl...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, probes the geographic scope of the tenth plague with meticulous care. The verse states: "And the Lord smote every firstborn in the la...
"from the first-born of Pharaoh sitting on his throne": Scripture hereby apprises us that Pharaoh (himself) was a first-born, (the throne passing in succession to the first-born). ...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, asks a devastating question about the plague of the firstborn. The verse says God struck down "until the captive firstborn" — includi...
Variantly: "And he called to Moses and to Aaron": What is the intent of this? Pharaoh had said to him (Ibid. 10:28) "Go from me." (29) "And Moses said: "True have you spoken" (and ...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, captures the moment when Pharaoh finally broke. After the tenth plague — the death of every firstborn in Egypt — Pharaoh summoned Mos...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, turns its attention to a small but revealing detail about the night of the Exodus. The Torah states that the Israelites carried "thei...
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...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, examines a verse that seems to state the obvious: "And the children of Israel did as Moses had bid them" (Exodus 12:35). The rabbis a...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, pauses on a detail in the Exodus narrative that seems redundant: "And they asked of Egypt vessels of silver and vessels of gold and r...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, preserves a teaching from Rabbi Yossi HaGlili that explains why the Egyptians willingly handed over their treasures to the departing ...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, records a teaching from Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov about how the Israelites knew exactly what to ask from the Egyptians — and how the E...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, records Rabbi Nathan's interpretation of one of the most loaded words in the Exodus narrative. The Torah says the Egyptians "vayashil...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, takes up a question about the Israelites' first stop after leaving Egypt: a place called Succoth. "And they traveled from Rameses to ...
R. Akiva says: "succoth" refers to the clouds of glory, as in (Isaiah 4:5) "And the L–rd will create on the entire base of Mount Zion and on all of its branchings a cloud by day an...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, records a debate among three sages about the size of the "great multitude" (erev rav) that accompanied the Israelites out of Egypt. T...
The word ugoth in the phrase "ugoth matzoth" (Exodus 12:39) refers to thin wafers — flat cakes of unleavened dough. The Mekhilta establishes this meaning by cross-referencing two o...
"This is the statute of the Paschal offering." Scripture speaks of (both) the Pesach (Passover) of Egypt and the Pesach for all the generations. These are the words of R. Oshiyah. ...
The Torah states a blunt exclusion about the Paschal lamb: "No stranger may eat of it." The Mekhilta explains who "stranger" includes, and the answer is broader than it first appea...
"and you shall circumcise him; then shall he eat of it": his master. We are hereby apprised that (non-) circumcision of his servants prevents him from eating the Pesach (Passover) ...
R. Eliezer says: The (non-) circumcision of one's servants does not prevent him from eating the Pesach (Passover). And what is the intent of "and you shall circumcise him, etc."? I...
R. Eliezer says: What is the intent of "toshav and sachir"? (i.e., Is it not already written [(Exodus 12:43)] "No stranger may eat of it"?) To reason from Pesach (Passover) to teru...
Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai tackled a puzzle in the laws of the Passover sacrifice. The Torah states: "In one house shall it be eaten" (Exodus 12:46). Does this mean literally one phys...
Having established that the Pesach (Passover) sacrifice could be eaten "in two places" by a single group, Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai was asked the obvious follow-up question: how exac...
(Ibid. 46) "Do not take from the house outside": outside of the group. But perhaps (the intent is) outside of the house? It is, therefore, written (Ibid. "of the flesh) outside"—ou...
