TheHaggadah continues this discussion of when we can discuss the laws of Passover in the next passage: “You shall tell your child…” Does this mean from Rosh Hodesh? It teaches us⁶⁴ a common expression in rabbinic literature when offering a retort or an answer to a challenge or a question.: ‘On that day.’ Now if it says ‘on that day,’ it could also mean in the daytime! It teaches us, ‘Because of this.’ ‘Because of this’ means, that we only tell the story of the Exodus when the Matzah and Maroris laid in front of you.” This statement is not only a discussion of when we celebrate the Seder but when we expound on the laws of Passover. First the Haggadah presumes that we can discuss the laws of Passover from Rosh Hodesh, following the opinion of Rabban Shimon Ben Gamliel. The text then says: No, we follow the opinion of the tana kama, who bases his point of view on the expression bayom hahu⁶⁵ appears both in Exodus 13:8 and in Numbers 9:6 – “There were some men who were impure and could not offer the Passover sacrifice on that day” The author understands the discussion in the Haggadah as a discussion of when we can expound on the laws of Passover as well as a discussion of when we are obligated to tell the story of the Exodus on Passover., and concludes that this is actually also a reference to the story of the Second Passover. Now, having said we have to do it on that day – we raise another question with regard to Passover itself. If we are obligated to tell the story of the Exodus ‘on that day,’ does this mean we can even do so during the daytime – the fourteenth of Nisan, (and not at night)? The Haggadahanswers this question: No, it must be done when we can have the Matzah and Maror laid before us! This controversy brings us back to an earlier discussion: to what extent are the laws of Passover which we observe (Pesach Dorot) similar to or different from the laws of the Egyptian Passover (Pesach Mitzraim)? We have already seen that when the Torah says to set aside the Passover offering on the tenth of ‘this month,’ it is talking about the Egyptian Passover and not Pesach Dorot. This raises and issue for Rabban Shimon Ben Gamliel, since he uses the word zeh, this, (as in ba’avur zeh) implies that the laws of this offering are more or less the same both for the Egyptian Passover and the Passover of the generations. We learn this from the verse: “You shall observe in this month this practice.”⁶⁶, the laws for the two offerings are the same. Therefore, since Moses gave the people two weeks to learn the laws of Passover we must do the same in our preparations for Passover. The tanna kama, on the other hand, bases his argument on Moses’ statement the following year as the people prepared for the first Passover after leaving Egypt. The original two week period only applied to the original Passover, notPesach Dorot. Since Moses gave those who were impure one month to prepare for the Second Passover, we too must take a full thirty days to prepare for Passover and to expound on the laws of Passover. If we do not connect the two Passovers as Rabbi Shimon Ben Gamliel did(?), we might conclude that we are allowed to eat the Passover offering even in the day time. Therefore the Haggadah adds the last bit to its argument: We can consume it ‘On that day’ but not in the day time; ba’avur zeh - only when matzah andmaror are laid before us which would be at night. Finally, according to the tana kama,one might conclude that the mitzvah for the Passover offering is separate from themitzvah of matzah andmaror; therefore, Matzah and Maror must consumed at night but the Passover offering can be consumed even in the day since our Passover offering is different from the Egyptian Passover offering. The tana kamawould therefore conclude that this is not so since the Torahsays: “They shall offer it in the second month on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight; with Matzah and Maror you shall eat them.”⁶⁷ rejected his interpretation of these verse, he needed another proof which he offers here. This verse implies that the Passover offering and the Matzah must be consumed at the same time – since the Matzah must be consumed at night so must the Passover offering! Thus we have given the one who does not know the halachahan answer. We must expound on the laws of Passover thirty days before Passover, just as Moses taught the people in the wilderness. Also, even if we say the laws of the Egyptian Passover are different from later celebrations of the Passover, the law is still that the sacrifice must be consumed at night.

footnotes: ⁶⁴ Literally the text says talmud lomar, ⁶⁵ This expression, bayom hahu, ⁶⁶ Exodus 13:5. Ginsburg repeatedly quotes this verse as a proof text for the fact that despite the differences between Pesach Mitzraim and Pesach Dorot ⁶⁷ Numbers 9:11 Rabban Shimon was able to argue from the Egyptian Passover offering that they must both be eaten at night; since the tana kama