Berakhot 9a (ט.) — the Talmud in English

among the mitzvot whose mitzva is the entire night—and this implies that even according to Torah law, the time for eating it does not extend throughout the entire night [and it is not included among “those eaten for one day,” because its mitzva is during the day].

The Gemara resolves:

Rav Yosef said: This is not difficult:

when

this

Mishna holds in accordance with

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya,

that the time for eating the Paschal offering is only until midnight, whereas

this

beraita holds in accordance with

Rabbi Akiva,

that its time extends throughout the entire night.

As it was taught

that Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya and Rabbi Akiva disputed this matter: With regard to the Paschal offering, it is stated [Exodus 12:8],

“And they shall eat the flesh on this night,”

and concerning this

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya says: Here it says “on this night,” and elsewhere

in the plague of the firstborn [ibid. 12],

“For I will pass through the land of Egypt on this night,”

and it is derived by means of a gezera shava:

Just as there

with regard to the plague of the firstborn, “the night” is understood

to extend until midnight, so too here

“the night” mentioned with regard to eating the Paschal offering is

until midnight.

Rabbi Akiva said to him: But it has already been stated [ibid. 12:11], “And you shall eat it”

at night,”

“in haste,”

which means

until the time of haste,

which is dawn, for at that time they hurried to leave Egypt. It follows that the time for eating the Paschal offering extends throughout the entire night.

If so, what is the meaning of

the phrase in the verse, “And you shall eat it

at night,”

whose meaning is that one may not eat it during the following day? They already knew that its time extends only until “the time of haste,” which is at the end of the night. Why, then, was this verse necessary? It was necessary because

it might have entered your mind that

the Paschal offering

could be eaten like

the other sacred offerings,

during the day

on which it was slaughtered. Therefore,

the verse states, “at night,”

teaching that it is eaten only

at night

that follows,

and is not

eaten

during the day

on which it was slaughtered [end of the beraita].

It follows that our Mishna is in accordance with Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya, who holds that the time for eating the Paschal offering extends until midnight, whereas the beraita [above] maintains that its time extends until dawn, in accordance with Rabbi Akiva.

The Gemara discusses the statements of Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya and Rabbi Akiva:

Granted, according to Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya, who has the gezera shava

“this, this,” teaching that the time for eating the Paschal offering extends until midnight, it is understandable why

it was necessary to write “this.” But according to Rabbi Akiva,

who did not expound the gezera shava,

what does he do with this “this”?

The Gemara explains: “This”

serves to exclude

eating it on

another night, which is what it comes to teach.

This was necessary because

it might have entered your mind to say: Since the Paschal offering

is

a minor sacred offering, and peace-offerings

are

minor sacred offerings,

we should derive the law of the Paschal offering from that of peace-offerings and say:

Just as peace-offerings are eaten for two days and one night, so too

the time for eating the

Paschal offering

should extend like that of peace-offerings. And since its eating time begins at night, it should be

eaten on two nights in place of the two days,

and it should be eaten for two nights and one day.

The verse therefore teaches us, “on this night,”

only

on this night

—the night of the fourteenth of Nisan—

is it eaten, and it is not eaten on another night.

And

the Gemara explains, on the other hand, from where

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya

learned this law, that the Paschal offering is not eaten on the second night

From

the verse [Exodus 12:10],

“You shall not leave any of it until morning,” it follows.

And

the Gemara returns to explain why

Rabbi Akiva

required a gezera shava and did not learn this law from the verse:

For if it were derived from there,

from “You shall not leave,”

it might have entered your mind to say: What is the meaning of “morning”? The second morning.

That is, leaving it would be prohibited only after the morning of the second day of Passover, but after the first day it would be permitted, since its time would extend until the end of the second night. Therefore, a gezera shava was necessary to exclude the second night.

And

the Gemara explains, on the other hand, that

Rabbi Elazar ben

Azarya

was not concerned that “morning” might be interpreted as “the second morning,” because

he would say to you: Every

occurrence of the expression

“morning”

in the Torah

refers to the first morning.

— to the dispute of these tannaim, Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya and Rabbi Akiva [and therefore they disagreed in explaining the following verse]

And

the Gemara compares the dispute between

these tanna'im

below

to

the dispute between

these tanna'im, Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya and Rabbi Akiva [and therefore they dispute the interpretation of the following verse]

and “at the appointed time of your leaving the land of Egypt” you burn

As it was taught:

They disputed the interpretation of the verse [Deuteronomy 16:6],

“There you shall slaughter the Paschal offering, in the evening, when the sun sets,

at the appointed time of your departure from Egypt.”

There are three times mentioned with regard to the Paschal offering: (1) “In the evening,” after midday; (2) “When the sun sets,” when darkness falls at sunset; (3) “At the appointed time of your departure from Egypt,” meaning in the morning. The tanna'im disputed at which time each law concerning the Paschal offering applies:

Rabbi Eliezer says: “In the evening” you slaughter it, and “when the sun sets” you eat it

until midnight,

and “at the appointed time of your departure from the land of Egypt” you burn

the remainder, and it is reasonable that his view accords with Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya.

Rabbi Yehoshua says: “In the evening,” you slaughter it. “When the sun sets,” you eat it. And until when may you continue eating it? Until the appointed time of your departure from the land of Egypt,

that is, until dawn. It follows that his view accords with Rabbi Akiva.

The Gemara explains the reason for the dispute between Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya and Rabbi Akiva:

Rabbi Abba said: Everyone agrees,

even Rabbi Akiva,

that when Israel was redeemed from Egypt, they were redeemed only in the evening,

when the Egyptians had already given them permission to leave,

as it is stated [Deuteronomy 16:1]:

[Deuteronomy 16:1]:

“The Lord your God brought you out of Egypt at night,”

and certainly by midnight there was already “the haste of the Egyptians.”

And

on the other hand, Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya also agrees that in actual fact,

when they departed, they departed only during the day, as it is stated [Numbers 33:3],

[Numbers 33:3]:

“On the day after

the offering of

the Paschal offering, the children of Israel went out with an exalted hand.”

Over what did they disagree? Over the time of “haste”

mentioned in the verse, “And you shall eat it in haste.”

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya held: What is the meaning of “haste”

mentioned with regard to eating the Paschal offering? It is

the haste of the Egyptians,

that is, midnight, when they hurried to send Israel out. Therefore, the Paschal offering is eaten only until midnight.

And

whereas

Rabbi Akiva held: What is the meaning of “haste”? The haste of Israel,

which occurred only in the morning. Therefore, he held that the Paschal offering is eaten until dawn.

It was taught likewise

that there were two stages in the redemption, occurring at two different times. For the beraita interpreted the apparent contradiction between the verses. It is stated:

“The Lord your God brought you out of Egypt at night,”

but this is apparently difficult:

Did they leave at night? They left only during the day, as it is stated: “On the day after the Paschal offering, the children of Israel went out with an exalted hand.” Rather, this teaches that their redemption began in the evening.

The Gemara expounds verses from the account of the Exodus:

It is stated [Exodus 11:2],

“Please speak in the ears of the people

that each man should ask from his fellow and each woman from her fellow silver vessels and gold vessels.”

The school of Rabbi Yannai said: “Please” is only an expression of entreaty,

and the intention of the verse is that this is what

the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: “Please, go and tell Israel, ‘Please,

go and ask” the Egyptians for silver vessels and gold vessels,