Torah Portion: Bo
No alienated person may eat from it (Shemos 12:43).
It is a negative commandment to not feed from the Pesach offering to a confirmed idol-worshiping Jew, as it says: No alienated person may eat from it. Our Sages explain that an “alienated person” is a Jew whose deeds have made him alienated to his Father in Heaven; that is, he has become an apostate who worships foreign deities.
Among the roots of this commandment is to remember the miracles of the Exodus from Egypt. It is therefore proper that the apostate not eat of [the offering], since we prepare the Pesach offering as a sign and remembrance of the fact that at that time we came to take shelter under the wings of the Divine Presence, and we entered into the covenant of the Torah and faith. It is therefore not proper to feed any of [this offering] to someone who stands for the exact opposite of all this—for he has taken himself out of the community and has denied the true faith.
This commandment applies to men and women, when the Temple stands and Pesach offerings are offered.
