[Avodah] Pesach mitzvos at night

[Akiva Miller]

.
R' Sholom Simon asked:

> Most mitzvos are done by day. Most Pesach mitzvos are done at
> night.  Are there any deeper reasons for this (beyond halacha
> and/or "the geula started at night")?

We need to start by being more specific about which mitzvos we're
discussing. I presume that you are talking about the Seder. IOW, the eating
of the Korban Pesach when there *was* a Korban Pesach, and also the related
mitzvos, such as matzah, haggada, and others. I hope we can agree that the
zmanim of these "related mitzvos" are all tied to the eating of the Korban
Pesach (as it is written, "Baavur Zeh").

Okay, now to answer your question. If these mitzvos would be assigned to
the daytime, which day would you suggest that they be done on?

Keep in mind that prior to Matan Torah, nights came *after* the days. In
Mitzrayim we had not yet switched to the current system. Thus: The original
Korban Pesach was shechted on the afternoon of the 14th and eaten on the
night of the 14th; Makas Bechoros was even later on the night of the 14th,
and we finally left in the daytime on the 15th.

So, if the Seder would be in the daytime, which day? We can't have the
Seder on the day of the 14th, because the re-enactment of eating the Korban
Pesach would end up being done PRIOR to the anniversary of shechting it. We
can't have the Seder in the daytime of the 15th either, because then we'd
be doing it at a time when the original was already nosar.

But the way Hashem told us to do it is a perfect re-enactment: We have our
Seder during the nighttime that is between the day of the 14th and the day
of the 15th, *exactly* as it originally occurred. Only in this manner can
one "see himself as if he had left Mitzrayim personally."

(According to my presentation above, it turns out that Makas Bechoros
occurred at midnight on the 14th, and we re-enact it on the night of the
15th. I do concede this to be a weakness in my answer. However, we don't
really re-enact Makas Bechoros at the Seder at all. We do *mention* Makas
Bechoros at the Seder, but in the very same sentence we mention the other
nine makos too, and those dates are even farther away. One could argue that
if we commemorate Makas Bechoros at all, it is done not at the Seder
itself, but by Taanis Bechorim on the 14th, the exactly correct day.)

Akiva Miller
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