## Sifrei Devarim Paragraph 128

###### Sifrei Devarim 128:1
[Sifrei Devarim 128:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/128:1)

(דברים טז א) **וְעָשִׂיתָ פֶּסַח**, שֶׁתְּהֵא עֲשִׂיָּתוֹ לְשֵׁם פֶּסַח; שֶׁאִם שְׁחָטוֹ שֶׁלֹּא לִשְׁמוֹ – פָּסוּל.

**Trans. by Marty Jaffee, 2015:**
**Pisqa’ 128**⁴⁰⁸
1. “To celebrate the *Passover* (*pesakh)* for HASHEM your God” (Dt. 16:1)—
**so that its preparations should be entirely**
**for the sake of [slaughtering and eating] the Paschal lamb (*pesakh*).**
**For if he slaughtered it**
**under a different name [e.g, as a Communion-offering]**
**it is disqualified.**

footnotes:
⁴⁰⁸ H:172-173; JN1:315-316.


###### Sifrei Devarim 128:2
[Sifrei Devarim 128:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/128:2)

אֵין לִי אֶלָּא שְׁחִיטָתוֹ; מִנַּיִן לְרַבּוֹת קִבּוּל דָּמוֹ וּזְרִיקַת דָּמוֹ? תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר: **וְעָשִׂיתָ**. יָכוֹל שֶׁאֲנִי מְרַבֶּה צְלִיָּתוֹ וַהֲדָחַת קְרָבָיו? תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר (דברים טז ב): ״וְזָבַחְתָּ״. זְבִיחָה בִּכְלָל הָיְתָה, וְלָמָּה יָצְאָה? לְהַקִּישׁ אֵלֶיהָ: מָה זְבִיחָה מְיֻחֶדֶת, שֶׁהִיא לְשֵׁם עֲבוֹדָה – יָצְאוּ אֵלּוּ, שֶׁאֵינָן לְשֵׁם עֲבוֹדָה.

**Trans. by Marty Jaffee, 2015:**
**I might infer only that**
**one who [intended to] slaughter it under a different name**
**[disqualifies the Paschal lamb from being eaten].**
**On what basis do I know to include**
**[a change of intention while]**
**receiving its blood and sprinkling its blood?**⁴⁰⁹
**The Teaching states:**
**“To *celebrate*” (*`asita;***⁴¹⁰ at *Pisqa’* 129.1 ****Dt. 16:1)—**
**[to perform the rite with full mindfulness].**
Is it possible that I should include [as disqualifications]
roasting it and rinsing its innards [under a different name]?
The Teaching states:
“And you shall *slaughter*” (Dt. 16:2)—
[only acts intrinsic to sacrifice⁴¹¹ disqualify the offering
if they are performed under a different name].
**Now, slaughtering [the lamb] could have been incorporated**
**[under the rule of other sacrificial rites].**
**So why is it singled out for special mention?**
**To use it for comparison:**
**Seeing that slaughter is distinctive,**
**in that it must be done for the sake of the correct service—**
**these other acts [like rinsing the meat] are excluded,**
**for they need *not* be done for the sake of the correct service.**⁴¹², 11. F:186, n.4 offers a list of tannaitic passages that share the form and substance of M. Pes. 5:2. See also *Pisqa’* 129.1, which is virtually identical to 128.1 but for key shifts in the focus on sacrificial rites.

footnotes:
⁴⁰⁹ Cf. M. Pes. 5:2.
⁴¹⁰ Cf. the translation of `asita
⁴¹¹ There are four sacrificial procedures which must be properly executed for a sacrifice to be valid: slaughtering, collecting the blood, conveying the blood to the altar, and sprinkling the blood on the altar. During any of these, a change of intention regarding the purpose of the sacrifice disqualifies the animal (M. Zev:2:3).
⁴¹² Cf. Mechilta Ishmael, paskha’


###### Sifrei Devarim 128:3
[Sifrei Devarim 128:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/128:3)

**לַה׳ אֱלֹהֶיךָ** – לַשֵּׁם הַמְיֻחָד.

**Trans. by Marty Jaffee, 2015:**
**“For HASHEM your God” (Dt. 16:1)—**
**[only the acts intrinsic to slaughter must be performed]**
**for the sake of the Unique Name!**⁴¹³

footnotes:
⁴¹³ Cf. Sifre Nu. 143.


###### Sifrei Devarim 128:4
[Sifrei Devarim 128:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/128:4)

**כִּי בְּחֹדֶשׁ הָאָבִיב** – חֹדֶשׁ שֶׁהוּא כָּשֵׁר: לֹא חַם וְלֹא צוֹנֵן, וְכֵן הוּא אוֹמֵר (תהלים סח ז): ״אֱלֹהִים מוֹשִׁיב יְחִידִים בַּיְתָה מוֹצִיא אֲסִירִים בַּכּוֹשָׁרוֹת״.

**Trans. by Marty Jaffee, 2015:**
2. **“Since in the month of *Aviv*” (Dt. 16:1)—**
**an *appropriate* (*kasher*) month,**
**neither too hot nor too cold!**
**And so He says:**
**“God houses the lonesome in a home, and liberates prisoners at the *right moment*” (*kosharot;***⁴¹⁴ as “prosperity.” My translation attempts to capture in English the assonance with *kasher*, which the midrashist surely has intended to exploit. ****Ps. 68:7).**⁴¹⁵, 16.

footnotes:
⁴¹⁴ BDB renders kosharot
⁴¹⁵ //Mechilta Ishmael, paskha’


###### Sifrei Devarim 128:5
[Sifrei Devarim 128:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/128:5)

**הוֹצִיאֲךָ אֱלֹהֶיךָ מִמִּצְרַיִם לָיְלָה**, וְכִי בַלַּיְלָה יָצְאוּ? וַהֲלֹא לֹא יָצְאוּ אֶלָּא בַּיּוֹם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (במדבר לג ג): ״מִמָּחֳרַת הַפֶּסַח״! אֶלָּא מְלַמֵּד שֶׁנִּגְאֲלוּ בַּלַּיְלָה.

**Trans. by Marty Jaffee, 2015:**
“HASHEM your God delivered you from Egypt *at night*” (Dt. 16:1).
Now, did they go out of Egypt *at night*?
Didn’t they actually go out during the *day*?
For it is said:
“On the *day* following the Passover the Israelites left.” (Nu. 33:3)
This teaches that they were liberated at night
[but left the next day].