EXOD166 Refuting the charges of misanthropy leveled against Judaism, Josephus proudly points to the equitable treatment of aliens enjoined by the Torah. " all who desire to come and live under the same laws with us, he [Moses] gives a gracious welcome, holding that it is not family ties alone which constitute relationship, but agreement in principles of conduct. On the other hand, it was not his pleasure that casual visitors should be admitted to the intimacies of our daily life." (Reinach suggest that this alludes to the exclusion of aliens from Passover, this verse.) Josephus continues: "The duty of sharing with others was inculcated by our legislator in other matters. We must furnish fire, water, food, to all who ask for them, point out the road, not leave a corpse unburied, show consideration even to declared enemies. He does not allow us to burn up their country or to cut down the fruit trees, and forbids even the spoiling of fallen combatants; he has taken measures to prevent outrage to prisoners of war, especially women. So thorough a lesson has he given us in gentleness and humanity that he does not overlook even the brute beasts, authorizing their use only in accordance with the law, and forbidding all other employment of them." [Against Apion, II, 28-29, tr. Thackeray, Vol. I p. 377-379].

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EXOD167 Do not give the meat of the Pesach offering to non-Jews, even those who accept some of the mitzvos or have begun the process of conversion. Do not give of the Pesach offering to any non-Jew, even to a תושב (toshav) or a שוכר (sochir). [A toshav is a non-Jew who accepted upon himself not to serve idols (but does not abstain from eating the meat of animals that died without ritual slaughter). A sochir is a non-Jew who has undergone circumcision for the sake of converting to Judaism but still lacks ritual immersion in a kosher mikveh under the supervision of a beis din.] To recall the Exodus from Egypt. Because the Pesach offering commemorates our emancipation from slavery, as well as our entering a covenant with Hashem, it is fitting that only full-fledged Jews partake of the offering. Non-Jews, even those who are in the process of converting but have not yet entered the covenant completely, are excluded.

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EXOD168 Do not break any bone of the Pesach offering. Like many of the other commandments listed above, this one signifies that at the time of the Exodus, we became like royalty. Dogs break bones and suck on them, and so do starving and impoverished people, but such behavior is inappropriate for royalty. At the time of the Exodus, Hashem chose us from all of the other peoples of the world. He selected us to become a nation of priests and a holy people. Every year on the night of the 15th of Nisan it is fitting for us to behave in ways that recall that on this night we received this special, elevated status. Due to our actions, this idea becomes permanently imprinted upon our hearts. It should not puzzle you that Hashem gave us so many commandments to remind us of the miracles that we experienced in Egypt. One such reminder is not enough, because people are influenced by their actions. Always, whatever deed a person does, his thoughts and emotions are drawn into it, whether the deed is good or bad. If a nasty, malicious person learns Torah studiously and does mitzvos on a steady basis, his personality will improve, even if initially his learning and good deeds are not performed for the sake of Heaven. In the same way, if a great tzaddik is forced to regularly do evil, he will abandon his honorable ways and will become totally wicked. Due to this principle of human behavior, Hashem gave us a vast Torah containing a great number of mitzvos. He wants us to be constantly involved in Torah and mitzvos, so that our hearts and thoughts always are occupied in acts of virtue. Performance of mitzvos will influence us to steadily become better people and earn for ourselves eternal life in the World to Come. The events of the Exodus from Egypt are the basis for many fundamental principles of Judaism. The One Above intentionally gave us many commandments that remind us of this key episode in world history. He deliberately makes these mitzvos a mainstay of our Torah, because frequent involvement in performing these mitzvos make a deep and important impression upon us. It greatly helps us to think and behave in line with the fundamental principles of the Jewish faith, at all times.

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EXOD169 Do not take the meat of the Pesach offering outside. When we left Egypt, Hashem uplifted us out of slavery and gave us royal status. Anything that a king requires is available to him. His meals are brought to him in his palace and he enjoys them in the company of a large group. On the night of the Exodus, we became like kings. Therefore, on the Seder night, we do not behave as poor folk who partake of large, sumptuous meals only rarely, and who send some of the bounty outside to give to their friends.

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EXOD170 No uncircumcised male shall eat of the Pesach offering. If a Jew is not circumcised because his older brothers died as a result of circumcision, he is forbidden to partake of the meat of the Pesach offering. All the more so, if a Jew simply ignores the mitzvah of circumcision and wantonly remains uncircumcised, he may not eat of the Pesach offering. (See [[EXOD167]] Exodus 12:45 settler CHINUCH 14-5.)

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EXOD171 Jewish Ethics are dominated by the equality of all human beings. "One law shall be to him that is home-born, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you" [this verse]. To countenance any distinction would be inconsistent with the quintessence of our teachings. Since One God created us and since He reveals Himself as a loving Father, it follows as a corollary that we are all his children. "Have we not all one father", pleads Malachi (ii.10), "and hath not one God created us? Then why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, profane in the covenant of our fathers?" Nor must it be thought that the belief of the Election of Israel negatives a belief in the equality of all peoples in His eyes. What the phrase "Chosen People" stresses is that Israel, as the depository of divine truths, must not keep to itself truths for which they have been chosen to communicate onto the world at large. Israel has been chosen, not to inherit the pleasures of this world for themselves but to point out to others also the glories of the higher life, here and in the Hereafter. The pious of all creeds will share the Life to Come. Consequently, the Jew has studiously avoided converting others to his outlook on life. He has only welcomed those into his fold, and even then reluctantly, who sought admission of their own volition and free will and who were urged to do so by disinterested motives, by the desire to embrace the faith of Israel. Not exclusion is our aim, but tolerance and consideration for all; above all, a genuine respect for the sincere faith of another. Judaism has never entertained pretensions to be the sole depository of the means of grace. It has neither claimed membership of our faith as a guarantee of the salvation of soul, nor has it denied salvation of soul to anyone not born a Jew. According to the Talmud [Meg. 13a], a man who renounces idolatry automatically arranges himself on the side of Judaism. All he needs for salvation is the exercise of his moral powers for doing good.

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EXOD172 The Torah was given at a time when no society in the world had rules of equality for every member of the population, and the weakest members were legally treated as inferiors, while royalty had a different set of rules and laws that applied to them. Yet, the Torah stresses repeatedly that the laws of Judaism apply equally to the weakest members of the society, such as the convert (the obligation to love the convert and treat him or her fairly is mentioned 36 times in the Torah), the widow, and the orphan. Similarly, the king and other Jewish leaders are obligated to keep the Torah in the same way as everyone else.

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EXOD173 Throughout history, strangers in societies all over the world have often been denied basic rights and discriminated against. In contrast, the Torah insists, "There shall be one law for you and for the stranger who lives among you" [this verse, see also Numbers 15:15]. To this day, this ancient biblical injunction represents the cornerstone of a just society.

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EXOD174 Sanctify firstborn males. If a Jewish woman's firstborn child is a male, the child must be sanctified to Hashem. The same applies to the firstborn male of kosher animals (e.g., cows, goats, sheep) or of a donkey. We must realize that everything in existence belongs to Hashem. Whatever anyone possesses comes from Hashem, Who gives of His great bounty because of His kindness. Therefore, after a person makes great efforts and his toil finally yields fruit, although his first fruits are very dear to him, he immediately parts with them and gives them to Hashem. This reminds the person that whatever he or she possesses actually belongs to the Creator. Another reason for the mitzvah: To remind us of the great miracle that Hashem performed for us when He saved us from the Egyptians by killing their first born.

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EXOD175 …in Exodus the role of security and rootedness in the land is made the background and basis of the central rituals of the people. The events of the Exodus are to be retold and reenacted when Israel settles in the promised land (Exodus 13:3-16). This injunction might appear to emphasize the extreme dependence of the people upon the land--as if the land were the only place where these events could be relived in memory and reexperienced in ritual. Yet in this very central moment of Jewish faith and history, the subtlety of the dialectic of the people's relationship to the land is reasserted. The revelation does not take place in the Promised Land. The people is led forth into a desert and there at Sinai the great covenant is proclaimed and ratified (Exodus 16, 19, 20; Jer. 2:2). The rabbis clearly understood the message: The Torah was given in the desert, an undefined place, open to all, to teach that it is not specific to a single land or framework (Medrash Rabbah). At the moment of peak affirmation comes the reminder that man's ultimate relationship is with God. Of course, the two bonds are not contradictory; they exist in dialectical relationship.

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