In Parshas Bo the Torah tells us all about the פסח מצרים, the קרבן פסח that the Yidden had to bring before they left Mitzrayim. Now generally, the פסח מצרים is the same korban as the פסח דורות, the same korban that the Yidden had to bring on Erev Pesach throughout all generations, which is the קרבן פסח, that same korban was brought by the Yidden in Mitzrayim before they left on the fourteenth day of Nissan. But nevertheless, we do find that in many things there is a difference between פסח מצרים and פסח דורות, between the קרבן פסח that was brought in Mitzrayim and the קרבן פסח that was brought throughout the later generations. It says in the Tosefta in פסחים פרק ח' ז' that פסח מצרים כל אחד ואחד שוחט בתוך ביתו. פסח מצרים, everyone shachated, slaughtered the קרבן פסח in his house. פסח דורות, but the Pesach of later generations, כל ישראל שוחטין במקום אחד. All Yidden had to shachat the קרבן פסח in the same place, which means in the Azarah, as the mefarshim explain there. Now the peshitut it seems that the Tosefta is telling us that this is a kula, a leniency in פסח מצרים over פסח דורות. Which means that פסח דורות, the Pesach of the later generations, the shechitah of the קרבן פסח must be davka only in the Azarah. And this is a chiddush that even at the time when you were allowed to have a bamah, which means you were allowed to have a private mizbeach and bring korbanot on that mizbeach, but you were not allowed to bring a korban Pesach on the bamah. The din is that a korban Pesach had to be brought only on a במת ציבור or a במה גדולה. As the Mishnah says in Megillah דף ט' עמוד ב' that the korban Pesach could not be brought on a bamah by an individual person, that had to be brought only in the במת ציבור or in the Beis Hamikdash or in the bamah of the community which was in the Mishkan Shiloh, etc., etc. So this shows how strict the korban Pesach is, that an individual person couldn't shachat the korban Pesach wherever he wanted, you had to shachat the korban Pesach only in one place. But the פסח מצרים every person was able to shachat in his own house. So it comes out that there is a kula in the korban Pesach of פסח מצרים.

But on the other hand, when we look a little bit deeper in this, it seems as if this shows a maalah in פסח מצרים over פסח דורות. This shows like a chumra, that there is something special in פסח מצרים over פסח דורות. Because this, that by פסח מצרים כל אחד ואחד שוחט בתוך ביתו, that everyone shachated the korban Pesach in his own house, is not only a heter that they were allowed to shachat it in their own house, not like the פסח דורות where you were not allowed to shachat it in a private place, but this is also a chiyuv. It was an obligation on every person to bring the korban Pesach. And since that there was no Beis Hamikdash then and there was no במת ציבור, so the obligation was to bring it in the house. So therefore, every house had to have a korban Pesach. Only thing is the Torah says, אם ימעט הבית מהיות משה, if there were not enough people in the house to be able to eat up a whole seh, so then you were allowed to combine yourself, connect yourself to another group. But even that, the Torah mentions that you should connect yourself to שכנו הקרוב אל ביתו, to your neighbor who is close to your house. So it comes out that by קרבן פסח of פסח מצרים there was like a special chiyuv that every house had to have a קרבן פסח, or almost every house. So this shows like a maalah of פסח מצרים over פסח דורות. פסח דורות, only one place had a קרבן פסח: the azarah or the במת ציבור. But by פסח מצרים, every single house had a קרבן פסח. And this inyan that you had to be makriv a korban in every house shows something very special. Because it's self-understood that even at the time when you were allowed to have a bamah and makriv korbanot wherever you wanted, as it says in the Tosefta Zevachim at the end that בשעת היתר הבמות עושה אדם במה על פתח חצירו ועל פתח גינתו, a person could make a bamah by the door of his yard, by the door of his garden, anywhere he wanted. But nevertheless, it makes sense to say that probably they tried to make bamot only in special places. Similar to what the Rambam says in הלכות בית הבחירה פרק ב' הלכה ב' concerning the mizbe'ach, that the mizbe'ach in the Beit Hamikdash was the same place where Avraham Avinu made a mizbe'ach, the same place where Noach made a mizbe'ach, this is the same place where Kayin and Hevel brought their korbanot, and this is the same place where Adam Harishon brought his korban. So it comes out that we see that throughout these generations they tried to bring korbanot in a special place. That's why when Noach brought the korban, he brought it in that place, because he knew that this was a special place, because Hevel already, Kayin and Hevel brought their korbanot, and Adam HaRishon brought their korbanot there. This was the place that Rambam says that Adam HaRishon was created from. So we see that they usually used to try to bring a korban on a special place. We find it concerning Yaakov Avinu, where it says he made a mizbe'ach in the place where נגלו אליו האלקים, as the pasuk says in וישלח, קאפיטל ל״ה פסוק ז׳, the place where Hashem revealed himself to him. So since Hashem revealed himself to him in that place, so he felt that this was an appropriate place for a korban. And it's self-understood that when you bring a korban to Hashem, so you would choose a place which is more fit to the השראת השכינה that the Shechinah should stay. But this is by all other korbanot. By פסח מצרים, השם said that every house has to shachat the korban only in the house. So this shows that even though not every house was fit for the השראת השכינה, nevertheless Hashem wanted that they should bring a korban in every single house. And not only that, in every single house they had to sprinkle the blood על שתי המזוזות ועל המשקוף, on the two mezuzot, on the two doorposts, and on the mashkof, which was a din of זריקת הדם על גבי המזבח, which was similar to the dinim of sprinkling the blood on a mizbe'ach by a korban. As the Chazal say in the Mekhilta, and also in Gemara in Pesachim דף צ״ו עמוד א׳, that שלשה מזבחות היו להם במצרים, that the Yidden in Mitzrayim had three mizbechot, the mashkof and the שתי מזוזות. Or according to another opinion, ארבעה היו: הסף, המשקוף, ושתי המזוזות. So we see that we refer to the doorposts as a mizbe'ach, which means that the putting the blood on the doorposts was like sprinkling the blood on the mizbe'ach. And nevertheless, it was not done by a real mizbe'ach, it was done in the house. So this shows that in the time of פסח מצרים, every house had the chiyuv of becoming a place for a korban, like a mizbe'ach for a korban.

And be'emet we find even more, we find another chidush, which is similar to this, in פסח מצרים לגבי other dinim. By פסח מצרים the pasuk says, ואתם לא תצאו איש מפתח ביתו עד בוקר, that Moshe Rabbeinu warned that you should not walk out of the door of your house till the morning. Now the simple peshat, the reason for this was in order to protect them from the mashchit, as Rashi says, because the mashchit, the one that was going to destroy, only had the right to destroy outside of the house, but not in the house. So it seems like the reason that they had to stay in the house was just to be protected. Nevertheless, it says in the Tosefta, that this is considered a chumra, strictness, in פסח מצרים over פסח דורות. Because the Tosefta says, פסח מצרים נאמר בו ואתם לא תצאו איש מפתח ביתו עד בוקר. By פסח מצרים it says that Hashem said do not go out of your house till the morning. מה שאין כן בפסח דורות, by פסח דורות there was no such din. And then the Tosefta continues, פסח מצרים מקום אכילה שם היתה לינה. By פסח מצרים, the place where you ate the korban, that's where you had to sleep over. You ate it in the house, and you weren't allowed to walk out of the house, so you had to sleep in the place where you ate it. פסח דורות, אוכלים במקום אחד ולנים במקום אחר. By פסח דורות you eat in one place and you would sleep over in another place. So from that we understand that this din that they weren't allowed to walk out of their house by פסח מצרים was not just to be protected, but this had a connection to the korban. It was a din in the Pesach. Since the Tosefta says that פסח מצרים by the קרבן פסח the Torah says do not walk out of your house, by פסח מצרים the din was that you had to sleep over in the place where you ate. So here we see that this din that they had to stay in the house had to do with the קרבן פסח. This is a chumra in קרבן פסח, which means that the קרבן פסח had such a din that it caused the Yidden to have to stay inside. And this is a big חידוש לגבי when you're makriv a קרבן בבמה. Because we don't find by a במה, by a regular במה, there should be any specialty, any kedushah in the place or the house where the במה was made. By the mizbeach of the Mishkan and especially in the Beis Hamikdash there's a din of מקום המזבח, there's a special din in the place of the mizbeach, and there's a din in mechitzot, which means there's a special din surrounding the mizbeach. There are special place there which is called the לפנים מן המחיצות, within the walls, because there has a special kedushah. Certainly by the Beis Hamikdash, where the Rambam says that the מקום המזבח, the place of the mizbeach is מכוון ביותר, it's exact, so there is a specialty in the place, there is a kedushah in the place. By a במה, we don't find anywhere that there was any kedushah in any specific place, to say that around the במה, close to the במה, there's a special kedushah. Nevertheless, we see that by פסח מצרים, the fact that the קרבן פסח was brought in this house brought some kind of special din din into the house, that they were not allowed to walk out of the house, since this was the place they brought the korban, and they had to sleep over in that house. This means that the פסח מצרים brought to the place where it was brought a certain kedushah similar to the way it is by the mizbeach of the Beis Hamikdash. Just like by the Beis Hamikdash there is a kedushah in the place where the Beis Hamikdash was, where the korban is brought, by the פסח מצרים there was a kedushah in the place where the korban was brought.

So to explain the reason for this, it is because we know that the time of Yetziat Mitzrayim is known as a zman of the leidah of the birth of Klal Yisrael, as it says in Yechezkel קפיטל ט״ז, as the mefarshim explain there. So from that we understand that the mitzvah of the קרבן פסח the Yidden brought at the time when they left Mitzrayim is also connected to the birth of Am Yisrael. And that's why we find takeh that the only korban where you have a second chance is the קרבן פסח. If a person could not bring the קרבן פסח, then he brings Pesach Sheni. By other korbanot we find the דין עבר זמנו בטל קרבנו. The time passed, you can't bring the korban anymore. By קרבן פסח the Torah gave a second chance. The reason is because קרבן פסח is connected to the birth of Klal Yisrael, the foundation of Klal Yisrael. When it comes to the foundation, then we have a second chance, and it's never too late, so to speak, when it comes to the foundation. When it comes to things later on in detail, sometimes you missed a detail, you missed it. But when it comes to the essence, to the general concept of becoming part of Klal Yisrael, which is expressed in the קרבן פסח, there it is never too late, and that's why the Torah gave a second chance.

Now we understand that the קרבן פסח was brought actually in Mitzrayim, at the actual time of Yetziat Mitzrayim, is definitely connected to the general birth of Klal Yisrael, and therefore expresses the general goal of why Hashem created the Am Yisrael, and what Hashem wants from the Am Yisrael. What does Hashem want from the Am Yisrael? So we know what the Midrash says, that the kavanah, the purpose of the creation of the world, was because נתאוה הקדוש ברוך הוא להיות לו דירה בתחתונים. Hashem desired to have a dwelling place in this world. And it says in the Midrash that this took place at the time of Matan Torah when Hashem came down to this world, and mainly כשהוקם המשכן, when the Mishkan was set up. As the Pasuk says, ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם. Make to me a Mikdash, and I will dwell amongst them. So the Mikdash became the dirah, the dwelling place of Hashem. But nevertheless, on the פסוק ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם, the Chazal say, it's brought down as the לשון בשם חז״ל, but it's not really in the Gemara, Midrashim, which we do find it in the Reshit Chochmah Shaar HaAhavah פרק ו׳ in the beginning, in the Alshich on the Pasuk, and he quotes it in the name of lomdim, in the Shelah, in חלק תורה שבכתב פרשת תרומה, in שאר אותיות, אות ל׳, and many other places, that the Pasuk does not say ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכו, make to me a Mikdash, and I will live within in him, in the Beit Hamikdash, in the Mishkan, but it says בתוכם, within them. It means בתוך כל אחד ואחד מישראל, within every single person, which means that even though the פסוק טאקע means simple peshat that Hashem says make to me a Mikdash and I will dwell in the Mikdash, but nevertheless, since the Torah writes it in the form of בתוכם, the Torah comes to add that in addition to Hashem dwelling in the Mikdash, Hashem also dwells amongst every Yid, which means within every Yid there is השראת השכינה. What does that mean? That means that the job of every Yid is to bring the Shechinah down into himself and to bring the Shechinah down into his own house. It's self-understood that the level of kedushah that shined, so to speak, in the Mikdash and the Mishkan, was much higher level than a Yid is able to bring down into his house or into himself. But nevertheless, because we have a general Beit Hamikdash where Hashem dwelled, a Yid is able to bring the kedushah from that Beis Hamikdash into himself and into his own home, and make his own home also for a miniature Beis Hamikdash. As we find the reason why was it that the windows of the Beis Hamikdash were built different than windows are built in a regular house. In a regular house, the windows are built so that outside they are narrow, inside they are wider, to let the light from the outside come in. By the Beis Hamikdash, they were חלונות שקופים אטומים, meaning that inside they were narrow and outside they were wider. And the reason was to show that משם אורה יוצאת לכל העולם, that instead of the light from the world coming into the Beis Hamikdash, the light of the Beis Hamikdash went out into the world, which means a Yid is able to draw the kedushah from the Beis Hamikdash and bring it into himself and bring it into the house that he lives in. And this is the purpose of Hashem giving the Torah, creating the world, taking us out of Mitzrayim, etc., etc. He gave us a job to make a dwelling place for Him in this world, mainly in the Beis Hamikdash, but from there making our own homes and making ourselves for a place where there will be השראת השכינה. And this is the reason why by פסח מצרים, which is the time when Hashem gave us the whole purpose of our going out of Mitzrayim and then going to Matan Torah, He told us that we have to bring the korban in the house, which means we have to make our individual house into a Beis Hamikdash, into a mizbe'ach. We have to sprinkle the blood on the doors of the house, turning the doors of the house into a mizbe'ach. And not only that, we shouldn't walk out of the house. We should stay over in the house where we brought the korban, meaning as we said before, that the korban brought a certain kedushah into the house. And this was to show the Yidden, this is the purpose why I am taking out of Mitzrayim. Now you are doing it in this specific act, but this is going to give you the lesson that this is what I expect of you. I expect of you to make yourself and your individual home into a mizbe'ach, into a Beis Hamikdash. In other words, he was saying that Hashem doesn't only want a Yid to look at the Beis Hamikdash as a holy place, or in our case, to look at a shul or yeshivah as a holy place, and that's where the kedushah is. Hashem wants us to make our individual homes into a Beis Hamikdash, into a holy place, ourselves into a holy place. And this is what he said, at the time when you're leaving Mitzrayim, you're being born, now you are starting off as a nation, you are just being born, so I am letting you know that what do I want of you? I want you to bring korbanot in your own house and make your own house into a mizbe'ach, into a Beis Hamikdash, and let the kedushah penetrate into the house, similar like it was in the Beis Hamikdash or in the Mishkan, that's how I want every person to do. And this was symbolized in the fact that they brought the korbanot in their own home, they weren't allowed to go out of their home, the kedushah of the korban stayed there that they had to sleep over there, it became a special place, and this showed them that their avodah is to make every single home into a miniature Beit HaMikdash.