פרשת בא תש"ל - ליל שמורים

"It was a night of watching unto the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt; this same night is a night of watching unto the Lord for all the children of Israel throughout their generations."

S.v. It was a night of watching unto the Lord: According to its simple understanding, since it mentioned, "it was a night of watching unto the Lord," and at the end, "watching... for all the Children of Israel throughout their generations" – it appears that the explanation is that because the Lord watched them and did not let the destroyer come to their homes to attack, He commanded that this night be preserved by all of the Children of Israel throughout their generation. And [this is by way of] eating the Passover sacrifice, according to its statute, and matsah and bitter herbs on that night. But some understand its explanation to be like the explanation of "the watchmen of the [city] walls" (Song of Songs 5:7), such that they not sleep, but rather give thanks and recount the powerful acts of the Lord upon their leaving Egypt. And the Sages, may their memory be blessed, hint to this – "the time of reading Shema in the morning has arrived" (Passover Haggadah).

S.v. It was a night of watching unto the Lord for bringing them out from the Land of Egypt: As He watched the thing from the moment that He decreed the exile upon them, that He would take them out on this night immediately when the end [of the exile] would come. For 'in its moment, I will hasten it.' Or its explanation is that it is a night of watching unto the Lord, in that He watches and looks forward to the night that He will take them out from the Land of Egypt. As the Holy One, blessed be He, looks forward to the moment that they will be fit to take them out from there...

S.v. This same night is a night of watching unto the Lord for all the Children of Israel throughout their generations: As this night that was watched by the Lord to bring them out of Egypt is for the Lord, meaning it is consecrated to His name. "Watching for... the Children of Israel" – that they should watch it, to serve Him before Him, by the eating of the Passover sacrifice and the remembrance of the miracles [of that time], and by the giving of praise and thanks to His name; as it is stated (13:10), "You shall watch (observe) this precept," and [as] it stated (Deuteronomy 16:1), "Watch the month of Spring." And R. Avraham [Ibn Ezra] said that the explanation of "a night of watching unto the Lord" is that the Lord watched them and did not let the destroyer come to their homes. But it is not correct, since it stated, "to bring them out of the Land of Egypt."

Watching (or “guarding”) for Hashem. Afterwards it is written that the night was, “guarded … for all the B’nei Yisrael.” This can be likened to two companions who said to one another, “You hold my lamp and I will hold yours.” The two “lamps” are that of the mitzvah (see Mishlei 6:23) and that of the human soul (see Mishlei 20:27). Thus Hashem told B’nei Yisrael that if they would guard the “lamp” of the Pesach sacrifice, He would guard their souls by not allowing the destroyer to enter their homes. And about this guarding , it stated, "a night of watching for Hashem to bring them out of the Land of Egypt." And corresponding to Israel's guarding the mitzvot, it stated, "watching for all of the Children of Israel throughout their generations."

"But every man’s servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof."

S.v. And once you have circumcised him: Of his [own] will; that he repent to the faith of Israel, if he is [of age to be obligated to perform] the commandment.

A Slave that was purchased from an idolater, we tell him: Do you wish to enter and join the slaves of Israel and become acceptable, or not? If he agrees we inform him of the fundamentals of the faith, some of the minor commandments and some of the more severe ones and punishments and rewards, like we do with a convert. Then we immerse him like we do with a convert... [And the slave recites the blessing over the immersion, not the master.])

The nineteenth purpose is regarding prohibitions. And it is to remember that which we were prohibited that an Israelite apostate not eat from the Passover sacrifice. For we were commanded the Passover sacrifice in order to make us acquire perfect faith in the Lord, may He be blessed. So it is not fitting for who has not perfected this to eat from it. And for this reason, we were prohibited that a resident alien and a hired hand may not eat of it, as they have not entered into our faith. Likewise one uncircumcised, as he has not fully entered into our faith. For [it is] the first commandment that someone who is of our faith will seize upon, to be commanded by it. And it is also the commandment that Abraham was commanded in order to come to perfection in such a way that [his descendants] would receive the Torah and inherit the Land, as we explained in Parshat Lech Lecha. And this is the reason that the Torah is stringent about this here. And for this reason we were also prohibited regarding one upon whom there are [others] that require circumcision – such as his small sons or slaves that are purchased by money or born within his household – that have not been circumcised; [such a one] may not eat from or perform the Passover sacrifice. [This is] because they have not fully entered into our faith, as they have already treated this first commandment lightly.

S.v. But every slave: The circumcision of slaves is an obligation on the master, from Abraham (Genesis 17:12) and onward. We are also commanded about the resting of slaves on Shabbat and holidays. And all of this raises the status of the slave, that it be slightly less than his master. And therefore when he is circumcised, he immediately eats from the Passover sacrifice, like his master. But at the end of the Second Temple [period], when character traits became corrupted through the kings of the House of Herod, and Israel learned the ways of the gentiles, and the kings and ministers and wealthy ones particularly loved to copy the Romans – and we know that the Romans were cruel to their slaves – there were Israelite masters that did not want to circumcise their slaves in order that [the slaves] should not think of themselves as Israelites or [even] as people. The Sages of Israel then arose and decreed that whoever would not circumcise his slaves would not eat from the Passover sacrifice. And in my opinion, their intention was that one who does not consider his slaves to be like people is not fit to be among those that celebrate the festival of freedom. This is the position of most of the Sages, and it is taught anonymously in the Mekhilta (and according to Rashi's textual variant, it is the opinion of R. Yehoshua; and according to Tosafot's variant, it is the opinion of R. Akiva). But R. Eliezer says, "The circumcision of his slave does not prevent him from eating from the Passover sacrifice"... As he did not want anything that was not in the Torah or in the tradition to be innovated, and he never said anything that he did not hear from the mouth of his teacher. But the rest of the Sages of Israel would innovate ordinances according to the needs of the times. And they had to excommunicate R. Eliezer, as he would protest against everything that veered from that which was passed on to him from his teachers.