Besides the Misva to offer the Korban Pesach during the afternoon of the 14th of Nissan, there is also a separate obligation to eat the meat of the sacrifice that night, the night of the 15th. This Misva is introduced by the Torah in Sefer Shemot (12:8), where it commands, “Ve’achelu Et Ha’basar Ba’layla Ha’zeh” – “They shall eat the meat on this night.” This Misva, of course, like the other commands relevant to the Pesach celebration, serves to commemorate and remind us of the great miracles which G-d performed for our ancestors at the time of the Exodus from Egypt. Both men and women are included in the obligation to partake of the meat of the Korban Pesach.
The Sefer Ha’hinuch, in discussing this Misva, establishes a principle which, as he emphasizes, is relevant to all Misvot Aseh (affirmative commands) – that Bet Din, when it has the authority and ability to do so, uses coercive measures to enforce compliance with this command. If a person refused to perform a Misvat Aseh, then Bet Din would use its authority to force that individual to fulfill the Misva in question.
The Sefer Ha’hinuch, in listing the Torah’s 613 commands, follows the Rambam’s view, that eating the meat of the Korban Pesach comprises a separate Misva, independent of the Misva to offer the sacrifice in the Bet Ha’mikdash. Interestingly, when it comes to other sacrifices, the Rambam lists the slaughtering of the sacrifice and the consumption of the sacrificial meat as a single Misva. It is only with regard to the Korban Pesach that the Rambam makes a distinction, listing the offering of the sacrifice as one Misva, and the consumption of its meat as a separate Misva.
Different approaches have been taken to explain why the Rambam singled out the Korban Pesach in this regard. Some explain that since the sacrifice must be offered on the 14th of Nissan, and the meat must be eaten that night, the 15th of Nissan, these obligations are listed as two separate Misvot, as they are to observed on two different calendar dates.
Others, however, explain this distinction as stemming from a fundamental difference between the consumption of the Korban Pesach and the consumption of other sacrifices. Rav Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk (Lithuania, 1853-1918) asserted that when it comes to other sacrifices, the obligation is defined not as a requirement to eat the sacrifice, but rather as a requirement that the sacrifice be eaten. The person who offered the sacrifice bears no personal obligation to eat; the obligation is only that the meat be eaten. When it comes to the Korban Pesach, by contrast, there is also a personal obligation to eat the sacrifice’s meat. Rav Chaim maintained that the Korban Pesach has a dual nature: like all sacrifices, there is a Misva for the meat to be eaten, and there is also an additional requirement on the “Gabra” (individual) to eat the meat. On this basis, Rav Chaim explained the view of Rabbi Elazar Ben Azarya that one must eat the Korban Pesach by Hasot (Halachic midnight) on the night of the 15th of Nissan. Generally, Torah law allows sacrifices to be eaten throughout the night, until morning. In principle, Rav Chaim said, this applies to the Korban Pesach, as well. However, the additional component of this sacrifice – the personal obligation to eat its meat – requires partaking of the meat before Hasot. The practical ramification of this duality, Rav Chaim taught, is that if a person, for whatever reason, did not eat the Korban Pesach before Hasot, then even according to Rabbi Elazar Ben Azarya, he should do so after Hasot. Although he can no longer fulfill the special Misva of eating the Korban Pesach (according to the view of Rabbi Elazar Ben Azarya), he can still fulfill the Misva of eating the meat of a sacrifice, which applies throughout the night. Likewise, Rav Chaim said that if a person is frail and cannot eat a Ke’zayit of meat, he should eat whatever small quantity of the sacrifice that he can. Although he cannot fulfill the obligation to eat the Korban Pesach, because “eating” requires the consumption of at least a Ke’zayit, nevertheless, the generic requirement, that sacrificial meat should be eaten, can be fulfilled through the consumption of any amount, and thus this person should eat as much as he could, even though he cannot eat a Ke’zayit.
This explains why the Rambam listed the consumption of the Korban Pesach as a separate Misva. When it comes to all other sacrifices, the Misva to offer the sacrifice includes an obligation that the sacrifice be eaten. The Korban Pesach, however, features an additional requirement incumbent upon the individual to eat the Korban, and thus the Rambam lists the consumption of the sacrifice as a separate Misva.
Another expression of the uniqueness of the consumption of the Korban Pesach is the Halacha disqualifying a sacrifice if the meat became Tameh (impure). Generally speaking, if the meat becomes Tameh before the sacrificial blood is sprinkled on the altar, then the sacrifice nevertheless remains valid, and the blood is sprinkled. In the case of the Korban Pesach, however, if the meat becomes Tameh and thus forbidden for consumption, the sacrifice is invalid and the blood is not sprinkled on the altar. Given the special obligation to eat the meat of the Korban Pesach, the sacrifice is invalidated in a situation where the meat becomes unfit for consumption.