לעילוי נשמה לאה בת יצחק ולינדה
In the Torah, the first-born child (of humans or animals) was to be dedicated to the service of God. For humans, this meant working in the Temple. For kosher animals, this meant being sacrificed. For non-Kosher animals, who could not be sacrificed, they were “redeemed” - that is, their owners regained possession of them in exchange for payment to the Temple of the value of the animal. If a person chose not to “redeem” their non-kosher animal, they were effectively not giving the money which their culture required of them to the Temple. Cheating their responsibility like this was very much looked down upon, and came with a severe penalty.
(יא) וְהָיָ֞ה כִּֽי־יְבִאֲךָ֤ ה' אֶל־אֶ֣רֶץ הַֽכְּנַעֲנִ֔י כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר נִשְׁבַּ֥ע לְךָ֖ וְלַֽאֲבֹתֶ֑יךָ וּנְתָנָ֖הּ לָֽךְ׃
(יב) וְהַעֲבַרְתָּ֥ כׇל־פֶּֽטֶר־רֶ֖חֶם לַֽה' וְכׇל־פֶּ֣טֶר ׀ שֶׁ֣גֶר בְּהֵמָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר יִהְיֶ֥ה לְךָ֛ הַזְּכָרִ֖ים לַה'׃ (יג) וְכׇל־פֶּ֤טֶר חֲמֹר֙ תִּפְדֶּ֣ה בְשֶׂ֔ה וְאִם־לֹ֥א תִפְדֶּ֖ה וַעֲרַפְתּ֑וֹ וְכֹ֨ל בְּכ֥וֹר אָדָ֛ם בְּבָנֶ֖יךָ תִּפְדֶּֽה׃
(יד) וְהָיָ֞ה כִּֽי־יִשְׁאָלְךָ֥ בִנְךָ֛ מָחָ֖ר לֵאמֹ֣ר מַה־זֹּ֑את וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֵלָ֔יו בְּחֹ֣זֶק יָ֗ד הוֹצִיאָ֧נוּ ה' מִמִּצְרַ֖יִם מִבֵּ֥ית עֲבָדִֽים׃
(טו) וַיְהִ֗י כִּֽי־הִקְשָׁ֣ה פַרְעֹה֮ לְשַׁלְּחֵ֒נוּ֒ וַיַּהֲרֹ֨ג ה' כׇּל־בְּכוֹר֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם מִבְּכֹ֥ר אָדָ֖ם וְעַד־בְּכ֣וֹר בְּהֵמָ֑ה עַל־כֵּן֩ אֲנִ֨י זֹבֵ֜חַ לַֽה' כׇּל־פֶּ֤טֶר רֶ֙חֶם֙ הַזְּכָרִ֔ים וְכׇל־בְּכ֥וֹר בָּנַ֖י אֶפְדֶּֽה׃
(טז) וְהָיָ֤ה לְאוֹת֙ עַל־יָ֣דְכָ֔ה וּלְטוֹטָפֹ֖ת בֵּ֣ין עֵינֶ֑יךָ כִּ֚י בְּחֹ֣זֶק יָ֔ד הוֹצִיאָ֥נוּ ה' מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃ {ס}
(11) “And when ה' has brought you into the land of the Canaanites, as [God] swore to you and to your fathers, and has given it to you,
(12) you shall set apart for ה' every first issue of the womb: every male firstling that your cattle drop shall be יהוה’s.
(13) But every firstling ass you shall redeem with a sheep; if you do not redeem it, you must break its neck. And you must redeem every male first-born among your children. (14) And when, in time to come, a child of yours asks you, saying, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall reply, ‘It was with a mighty hand that ה' brought us out from Egypt, the house of bondage.
(15) When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, ה' slew every [male] first-born in the land of Egypt, the first-born of both human and beast. Therefore I sacrifice to ה' every first male issue of the womb, but redeem every male first-born among my children.’ (16) “And so it shall be as a sign upon your hand and as a symbol*symbol Others “frontlet.” on your forehead that with a mighty hand ה' freed us from Egypt.”
Instructions for redeeming the ______ - _____ after the Jews enter Israel;
an answer to a curious ________ asking about these redemptions;
and an instruction to remember God’s strength in freeing us from ________ through placing a sign (אוׂת) and symbolׂ(s) (טוׂטָפׂת) on our hands and our heads.
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Why is the instruction about explaining to our children what we do and why we do it so important? What might happen if we didn’t do this?
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Why do you think that God freeing our ancestors from slavery is so important for us to remember?
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How can thoughtful physical items help us remember other things?
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לעילוי נשמה לאה בת יצחק ולינדה