[Avodah] The night of Makas Bechoros

[Akiva Miller]

.
I had cited Shemos 12:39:

> They baked the dough that they took out of Egypt into loaves
> of matzah, because it did not become chametz, for they were
> driven out of Egypt and could not delay. Nor did they prepare
> any provisions for themselves.

R' Zev Sero suggested:

> ... my understanding is that they did not leave with unbaked
> dough but with dough that had been swiftly baked into matzos.
> I am positing that one may still call dough "dough" after it
> has been turned into bread, if one is speaking from the
> perspective of before it was baked.

It is my opinion that this totally ignores the plain meaning of the
pasuk. But that's just my opinion. If RZS wants to force those words
to have that meaning, that's okay.

But there's another pasuk we need to deal with, and that is Shemos 12:34 -

> They picked up their dough before it would become chametz,
> their leftovers wrapped in their garments on their shoulders.

This pasuk is not reminiscing about "the dough that they took out of
Egypt". The narrative is being told in real time. This pasuk is
unequivocal: Whenever it was that they packed up to leave, the stuff
they picked up was unbaked dough. Furthermore, the pasuk tells us that
the dough was not yet chametz, yet still had the potential for it.

Hence my question: If they didn't leave until morning (and I thank RZS
for reminding me that this might mean "not until noon"), then why
didn't it become chametz? I really don't understand.

The only answer I can think of is that all night long, they did not
make any dough, for whatever reason. (And if they left at noon, then
they didn't make any dough in the morning either.) But then, just
before they left, at some point between 1 and 17 minutes prior to
departure, THAT'S when they decided to mix the flour and water
together. ... Ummmm, no, I don't think so.

Akiva Miller