Parsha Mitzvot: BeHaalotecha: Mitzvah 381 – Concept 409: Working In Tandem

“God spoke To Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the Children of Israel, saying: If any man will become contaminated through a human corpse or a distant road, whether you or your generations, he shall make the Pesach-Offering to God in the second month, on the fourteenth day, in the afternoon, shall he make it; with Matzot and bitter herbs shall they eat it.” (Numbers 9:9-11) There is a Mitzvah to eat the Pesach Sheini offering with Matzah and Maror. (Rambam, Hilchot Korban Pesach – The Laws of The Pascal Offering)

Even when we eat the Pesach Sheini, we add Matzah to remember how we rushed out of Egypt. The Pesach offering celebrates what God, the Redeemer, did for us. The Matzah recognizes that we, the redeemed, did our part as well. The Maror reminds us of what happens when both, God and us, do not work in tandem.

This is especially appropriate for the Pesach Sheini, when we demanded an opportunity from God, and He responded. This offering began with the redeemed instigating the process. It is the reverse of the exodus, when the Redeemer began the process.

The Pesach Sheini not only celebrates that we respond to God, but that He responds to us as well.