Inviting Non-Jews to the Seder: Balancing Boundaries and Inclusion Shabbat Hagadol 5778

(43) The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: This is the law of the passover offering: No foreigner shall eat of it. (48) ... But no uncircumcised person may eat of it.

(16) You shall celebrate a sacred occasion on the first day, and a sacred occasion on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them; only what every person is to eat, that alone may be prepared for you.

(4) לכל נפש BY EVERY BEING — even by cattle. One might think that also food may be prepared for non-Israelites! Scripture however states, (in this verse) לכם (i. e. לכל נפש לכם) for every being that belongs to you (the responsibility for feeding which belongs to you) (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:16:4).

As it is taught in a baraita: It is written: “Only that which every soul must eat, that alone may be done for you.” By inference, from that which is stated: “Every soul,” I might derive that even the soul of an animal is included, similar to that which is stated: “And he that kills the soul of an animal shall pay it” (Leviticus 24:18), indicating that the life force of an animal is also called a soul. Therefore, the verse states and emphasizes: “For you,” indicating for you, but not for dogs; this is the statement of Rabbi Yosei HaGelili. Rabbi Akiva says: When the verse states “every soul,” it comes to teach that even the soul of an animal is included. If so, what is the meaning when the verse states “for you”? It means for you, but not for gentiles. The Gemara asks: And what did you see that led you to include dogs among those on whose behalf one is permitted to perform a labor on a Festival, and to exclude gentiles? The Gemara explains: I include dogs because the responsibility for their sustenance is incumbent upon you, as one is obligated to feed the animals in his possession; and I exclude gentiles because the responsibility for their sustenance is not incumbent upon you. of food for him,

As Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: One may invite a gentile for a meal on Shabbat, as he will certainly not cook for him on Shabbat, and it is permitted to give a gentile food that was prepared the day before. But one may not invite a gentile for a meal on a Festival; this is prohibited as a preventive measure lest he come to cook more for the gentile’s sake. This indicates that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi holds that one may not prepare more for a gentile, even if the meal is primarily meant for Jews. ...In summary of this halakha, the Gemara states that Rava authorized the Sage Mar Shmuel, from the house of the Exilarch, to deliver a public lecture, and the latter taught: One may invite a gentile for a meal on Shabbat, but one may not invite a gentile for a meal on a Festival as a preventive measure, lest he come to cook more for his sake. It is related about Mareimar and Mar Zutra that when a gentile would happen to come to their house on a Festival, they would say to him: If you are satisfied with the food that we have prepared for ourselves, good; and if not, we will not go to any extra trouble on your account.

We may not bake and cook on a holiday in order to feed gentiles or dogs, as [indicated by Exodus 12:16]"This alone is permitted for you" - i.e., [the leniency is] "for you" and not for gentiles, "for you" and not for dogs.

For this reason, it is permitted to invite a gentile [to share one's meal] on the Sabbath, but not on a holiday, lest one add [more food] for him. If, however, a gentile comes [to a Jewish household on a holiday] on his own initiative, he may eat [the food] they eat together with them, for it has already been prepared..

One may not cook for non-jews on Yom Tov. It is therefore forbidden to invite him (a non-jew) lest he cook more on his account. The prohibition only applies to an invited guest but with regards to a slave, a maidservant, a [non-jewish] emmisery who was sent to him, and a non-jew who showed up on his own, it is permitted to feed him and we are not worried that the Jew will cook more because of him. Hagah (Rabbi Moshe Isserlish): It is only permitted to increase the food for the slave and maidservant in the same pot that the Jew uses for himself. But when it comes to other non-jews (i.e. invited guests) it is forbidden in any way (even in the same pot).

One who gives an olive-sized portion of a Paschal sacrifice - whether the first Paschal sacrifice or the second - to an apostate who worships false deities, to a resident alien, or a gentile worker, violates a negative commandment,...

The term "foreigner" mentioned in the Torah refers to one who worships alien deities. One may not give a portion of the Paschal sacrifice to a gentile, even a resident alien or a worker, as Exodus 12:45 states: "Neither a resident, nor an alien should partake of it."

(13) And the blood on the houses where you are staying shall be a sign for you: when I see the blood I will pass over you, so that no plague will destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

When the Jews realized that uncircumcised males could not eat the Pesach Sacrifice, they immediately circumcised their sons…the blood of the Pesach sacrifice and the blood of Circumcision were mixed together. G-d then went and kissed each one and blessed them. as it says, “And I passed over you and saw you wallowing in your bloods and I said to you, ‘Through your blood you shall live,’ and I said to you, ‘through your blood you shall live (Ezekiel 16:6) This means Live with the blood of Pesach and Live with the Blood of Circumcision.

"And numerous" - as it is stated (Ezekiel 16:7), "I have given you to be numerous as the vegetation of the field, and you increased and grew and became highly ornamented, your breasts were set and your hair grew, but you were naked and barren;" "And I passed over you and I saw you wallowing in your blood, and I said to you, you shall live in your blood, and I said to you, you shall live in your blood" (Ezekiel 16:6).

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said to Rav Ḥiyya bar Avin: What is written in the phylacteries of the Master of the world? Rav Ḥiyya bar Avin replied: It is written: “Who is like Your people, Israel, one nation in the land?” (I Chronicles 17:21). God’s phylacteries serve to connect Him, in a sense, to the world, the essence of which is Israel... the Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Israel: You have made Me a single entity [ḥativa] in the world, as you singled Me out as separate and unique. And because of this, I will make you a single entity in the world, and you will be a treasured nation, chosen by God. You have made Me a single entity in the world, as it is stated that Israel declares God’s oneness by saying: “Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One” (Deuteronomy 6:4). And because of this, I will make you a single entity in the world, unique and elevated with the utterance: “Who is like Your people, Israel, one nation in the land?” Consequently, the Holy One, Blessed be He, is glorified through the glory of Israel whose praises are written in God’s phylacteries.

"And he became there a nation" - [this] teaches that Israel [became] distinguishable there. "Great, powerful" - as it is stated (Exodus 1:7), "And the children of Israel multiplied and swarmed and grew numerous and strong, most exceedingly and the land became full of them."

...And there they became a great nation – this indicates that the Israelites were distinguishable there: How did they become distinguishable from the Egyptians? According to the Midrash, they did not adopt the Egyptian language, food or the Egyptian way of dress.

Who knows one? I know one: One is our God in the heavens and the earth.

(7) And I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God. And you shall know that I, the LORD, am your God who freed you from the labors of the Egyptians.