186) “And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘This is the statute of the Passover.” This commandment is to slaughter the Passover [offering] during twilight on the fourteenth of Nissan [7th month of the Hebrew calendar], as a memory of the Passover in Egypt. This is mandatory for all, as it is written, “And the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at dusk.”
187) This Passover should be kept for ten days or more, as it is written, “In the tenth day of this month.” This is because then the moon begins to shine, from ten days onwards, until it is completed on the fifteenth. And it is slaughtered on the fourteenth, when the judgment is over the world, at dusk.
188) The matter is to remove the foreskin from over the holy covenant and to enjoy the scent that spreads from the roast. In other words, the commandment is essentially to enjoy its scent, which is why it comes only over satiation, when he does not need to eat any longer. This is why it is written, “Anyone who is uncircumcised will not eat it, and one in whom there is the holy covenant will eat it.” This is so because one who is from the sons of the covenant breaks the force of the Sitra Achra and removes the foreskin from the covenant. This is why it should be done in the sons of the covenant and not in the uncircumcised.
189) When the Creator came to Egypt, he saw the Passover blood written on the door, and the covenant blood—how they were standing at the door—as it is written, “And you shall take a bundle of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the doorposts and the two Mezuzahs.” Hyssop removes evil spirits, and it removes each side, each evil spirit with its awakening for the sublime redemption of Israel.
190) In the future, the Creator will come to the evil inclination and slaughter it. And now, with this redemption of Egypt, it is written, “The whole of the congregation of Israel slaughters it,” which is a reminder from the future of the upper redemption from Egypt.
191) “On the two side-posts [Mezuzahs] and on the lintel.” This is the record of the letter Yod in the Mezuzahs and on the lintel, to show the record of the holy covenant in them, which is the Yod. And the foreskin broke because of the blood of the covenant, which is written on all, and blood came upon blood, that is, the blood of Passover over the blood of the covenant. When the destroyer passed, he saw the blood and moved away from the house.
192) If the Creator alone was doing the killing, why is it written, “And will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you”? This means that the destroyer was walking, and not the Creator. It was certainly the Creator who was killing, but the destroyer was walking to find libel against Israel, with which to accuse them. Since he saw the breaking of the foreskin in two discernments, in the Passover blood and in the circumcision blood, he fled and parted from them.
193) For the Creator’s killing of all the firstborn of that side, He gave and obliged the firstborn of Israel to redeem themselves, so the Sitra Achra would find no libel against them. Indeed, the Creator was keeping them from everything like a father over sons.
194) “It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house.” This commandment is to eat the Passover [offering]. It is written, “They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The word Matzot [unleavened bread] is written without a Vav. The writing also obliges that the Matzot and bitter herbs will be eaten together, to show the exile of the Shechina with Israel in this bitterness of theirs, as it is written, “And they made their lives bitter with hard service.” And when they eat the Passover with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, it is to show all that had been done to them in Egypt, in that exile and in that enslavement.
195) It is written, “Nor are you to break any bone of it,” to show contempt in it, and in all the gods of Egypt. This is because the bones were thrown to the street and dogs would come and drag them from place to place, and this was the most difficult for them, for the bones are the correction of the body, and they are similar and correspond to the other side, meaning to their other gods. And Israel threw them on the street scornfully. This is why it is written, “Nor are you to break any bone of it.” You will not break, but the dogs were coming and breaking them.
196) The Egyptians would come and see the bones that the dogs were carrying from place to place and breaking them, and they would put them in the ground so the dogs would not find them. This is the greatest cancelling of idolatry on their part. By that, the Creator Himself is elevated and all the other forces of idolatry surrender, for they surrendered completely when the cancelation came from themselves, when they hid the bones of their gods in the ground. This is why Israel did not cancel them, as it is written, “Nor are you to break any bone of it.”