Little Lamb (Bo)

I don’t like lamb. I think I initially had this thought when I was a kid and the idea of a cute, little lamb for dinner was more upsetting than a not-so-cute cow. But it was a dislike solidified numerous times in adulthood. I don’t like the taste of it, and I really don’t like the smell of it.

This may seem an odd way to start a Dvar Torah, but there are some people out that for whom the thought of the aroma of all that lamb on the mizbayach (altar) is a bit terrifying and who are delighted that the laws of the Paschal lamb require us to eat is as a group. Whatever one’s feelings are toward the eating of lamb, the description of the Paschal lamb in this week’s parsha, Bo, is fascinating.

The Paschal lamb is the second mitzvah given to Bnei Yisrael and the first one given in-depth (the first mitzvah is to mark this month as the first of months). In quick summary (Exodus 12:3-13), God tells Moshe to tell the people that on the 10^th of the month they should take an unblemished male lamb or kid for each household and keep it in their homes until the 14^th, when the lamb would be slaughtered, its blood used to mark the lintels, and its flesh prepared to be eaten that night with matzot and bitter herbs. Then God gets really specific: “You shall not eat it partially roasted or cooked in water, only roasted over fire – its head, its legs, with its innards. You may not leave any of it until morning, any of it that is left until morning you shall burn in the fire. This is how you shall eat it – your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is a Passover offering to the Lord” (ibid 12:9-11).

Within these details provided for the fulfillment of mitzvot delineated in just three interesting verses, perhaps there is something more.

On a natural level, Hashem is describing the Exodus. Bnei Yisrael were left in Egypt even as they cried out from their suffering. Hashem could have struck with just one plague, but the situation had to be completed. The Egyptians had to be ready to send them on their way, and Bnei Yisrael had to be really ready to go. Those who weren’t ready – spiritually – were completely lost to the Jewish people. They needed to be ready to go in every way, both spiritually and physically so as not to be leftover.  

These verses can also be interpreted on a similar personal message that we can learn from even today. Hashem does not want us to be “partially cooked” – partially committed to Torah and mitzvot – or boiled in water – diluted by the world around us (er um distracted by media/technology). The roasted lamb is a reminder that we must find real passion in fulfilling our mitzvot. Thus Hashem states that the leftover – the things we are all working on ourselves to improve – must be burned in the morning, meaning that we must find a way to stop ourselves from going backward. Thus we must “gird our loins” and be ready to escape the different slaveries of our yetzer harah.

I don’t know if there are any commentaries like this or if, indeed, my remarks make sense to anyone else but myself. The Paschal lamb is an essential mitzvah, and one who does not (when possible) fulfill the mitzvah is eligible for the punishment of kareit (being cut off from the Divine source). Such a significant mitzvah is well worth some extra exploration.