Menachot 83 - Learning Possible from the Impossible

Previously we compared all sacrifices to the Passover offering, which had to be brought from regular funds, and not from tithe, and then all sacrifices got the same law. But how do we know this about Passover in the first place?

Rabbi Eliezer says, “We had a Passover offering in Egypt, and we also had it throughout the generations. Just as the one in Egypt had to be brought from private funds – because the tithe could only be taken from produce grown in Israel, which was not yet available – so too for all generations, the Passover offering has to be brought from private funds.” Rabbi Akiba answered, “How can we learn possible from the impossible? In Egypt it was impossible to use tithe, and afterwards it was possible!” What does Rabbi Eliezer have to say? - “Even though it is an impossibility, we can learn a great lesson from it, because the first Passover Seder was a model for all later ones to come.”

Art: Dieric the Elder Bouts - The Feast Of The-Passover 1464-67