The slavery the Jews endured was bone breaking. It is ironic, therefore, that one of the laws of the night of emancipation, the night of Pesach, was not to break any bones of the offering.

"בבית אחת יאכל לא תוציא מן הבית מן הבשר חוצה ועצם לא תשברו בו" (שמות י"ב:מ"ו)

“It must be eaten in one’s house; you shall not take any of the meat out of the house to the outside, neither shall you break any of its bones” (Shmos 12:46)

If we delve into this seeming detail, I believe we can greater appreciate the essence of the holiday.

In order to fulfill the law not to consume anything after tasting the korban Pesach (Mishna, Psachim 10:8, also mentioned in the response to the wise of the 4 sons in the Hagadah), it follows that the partaking of the festival offering, the korban Chagigah, must precede the korban Pesach. According to the Jerusalem Talmud, the reason was practical. When one is hungry, they desire every morsel of food and are less careful; if the Paschal offering were eaten first, there would be a greater chance to break a bone. My teacher, Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl (Parshas Tzav, 5778) posits that perhaps this is the reason we eat the korban Pesach last. But today, sans the korban Pesach, why would this law apply? It serves as a remembrance to the original law. We hope the Temple will be rebuilt speedily, and people will therefore know the rule. If lechem oni, the matzah that reminds us of our poverty, is the last thing eaten at the Seder night, it has a better chance of making an impression and having its taste last.

The Malbim notes that the law of maintaining the bones intact also applies to the Pesach Sheni offering, for those who were unable, due to duress, to partake of the korban Pesach at its proper time. There (Bamidbar 9:12) the Torah not only instructs that all the stipulations of the korban Pesach apply to Pesach Sheni, but the Torah specifically repeats the rule about breaking bones. The Malbim, citing the Talmud (Psachim 84-85), answers that the repetition teaches us technical laws about the bones and meat that is found upon them. But I would suggest that the repetition teaches us that we must be careful even without the buffer of the korban Chagigah.

We find elsewhere that the prohibition of breaking bones may have applied outside of the rule that the Pesach offering came after the korban Chagigah. The Talmud (Ibid. 84b) debates the timeframe of the prohibition against breaking bones. After being slaughtered in the Temple, the Jew transported the korban Pesach to a location in Jerusalem to roast it and eat it. Does breaking a bone apply to that phase as well? We all know things break during transportation. They have insurance for that, which means it is prone to occur.  The Talmud argues that perhaps while the prohibition technically only applies to the time one eats it, which is the night of Pesach, the rabbis may have instituted a prohibition against breaking bones at any time, so people will be extra careful when they eat it in the evening. Another opinion posits that since the time of eating will approach, we apply the prohibition to times prior. Maimionides codifies this practice (Hilchos Korban Pesach 10:1).

Several other reasons are offered.

Sefer Hachinuch (#16) suggests that the prohibition of breaking bones represents the notion that princes eat with dignity, as opposed to animals, and we must behave as royalty the night of the Seder. Rabbi S.R. Hirsch identifies all offerings where the donor may eat from it (i.e. the Shlamim or peace offering) as one where one receives back their personality or will. This refers, however, primarily to the meat that they consume. In general, the bones are a framework to hold the flesh. The prohibition against breaking bones instructs us that we must dedicate every physical asset to the will of God, even the means can be part of the goal.

Targum Yonoson ben Uziel advances that the prohibition of breaking a bone was to foster unity. While one group who registered for one Korban Pesach was required to eat the sacrifice in one house, they were allowed to split into different groups facing apart (see Mishnah Psachim 86a). However, they were not, like a butcher, allowed to split the animal in half, each eating its own part. The group needed to eat from one source, not two. While splitting into two groups, they still needed to maintain an element of unity.

Me’am Loez, citing the Zohar, notes that the prohibition of breaking bones is unique to the Korban Pesach. The reason, he suggests, is that the Egyptians worshipped sheep. If the bones were not to be broken, to consume the marrow, they would be thrown away for the dogs to eat. This would be more painful for the Egyptians than all the other plagues, Me’am Loez continues. To see the bones of their god being transported throughout Egypt in the mouths of canines would be the final plague. This would definitively prove to them that sheep are not deities.

The Hebrew word for bone, etzem, has other cognates, one of which can be found in close proximity to the prohibition of breaking the korban Pesach’s bones. Five verses later we read:

"ויהי בעצם היום הזה הוציא ה' את בני ישראל מארץ מצרים על צבאתם" (שם פסוק נ"א)

"Behold, in the midst of this day, Hashem removed the Children of Israel from the land of Israel, in their legions”

There are 3 places that God performs an act b’etzem hayom, in the midst of the day. Rashi explains (Devarim 32:48).

“In three places it says “in the midst of the day.” It says of Noach (Bereshis 7:13) that he entered the ark “in the midst of the day.” That is, by the appearance of the light of the day because the people of his generation said they would not allow Noach to lock the door of the ark if the flood were to begin. ‘We will take sledgehammers and axes and break apart the ark.’ The Holy One, Blessed is He, said, ‘Behold I shall bring him into the ark at midday, and whoever has in his hand the power to object, let him come and object.’ Of Egypt it says, ‘On the brightest part of that day, Hashem took the Children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.’ The Egyptians were saying, ‘if we perceive that the Israelites are about to depart, we will not allow them to leave. And not only that, but we will take swords and weapons and kill some of them.’ The Holy One, Blessed is He, said, ‘Behold, I shall take them out at midday and whoever has the power to object, let him come and object.’ Here too (Devarim 32:48), at the death of Moshe, it says ‘the middle of that day,’ because Israel was saying ‘If we perceive that Moshe is about to die, we will not let him. A man who took us out of Egypt and parted the Sea for us, and brought down the manna for us and made the pheasants fly to us, and brought up the well for us, and gave us the Torah, we will not let him die.’ The Holy One Blessed is He, said, ‘Behold I will take him at midday.’…”

The term etzem, based on the above Midrashic citation by Rashi, comes to teach us about God’s Omnipotence and man’s inability to stop Him when He so desires. It heightens our reverence for God, yiras Hashem. But the Hebrew root etzem is first found in the context of a loving relationship. When God sought a mate for the human he created, and the first human rejects the entirety of the animal kingdom, Hashem cast a deep sleep on the man and created the first woman from one of his ribs. God brought the crown of His creation, woman, to the man, who said:

"ויאמר האדם זאת הפעם עצם מעצמי ובשר מבשרי לזאת יקרא אשה כי מאיש לקחה זאת" (בראשית ב:כ"ג)

“And the man said, ‘This time it is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. This shall be called Woman, for from man was she taken” (Bereshis 2:23).

We are not to break a bone of the korban Pesach, the sacrifice of our nationhood. A male who does not bear the symbol of Jewish nationhood, bris milah, may not partake. The severe punishment of excision, kares, is reserved for one who does not offer the sacrifice. It is one of only two positive commandments that bear that punishment, the other being burial while uncircumcised. This korban testified both to God’s mastery of the universe and to the Jew’s devotion and gratitude to his or her God. While the Torah is clearly the symbol of marriage between the Jew and the Almighty, the korban Pesach also portrays the initiation of that relationship, the devotion they have one to the Other. The word etzem, whether connoting a bone – an essential material support of our souls, or representing midday, it really means a critical component.

There is one more modern use of the Hebrew root e.tz.m, that of atzmaut or independence. Israel Independence Day is known as Yom Ha’atzmaut, the day of independence. While the state of Israel’s founding does not parallel the exodus from Egypt, I and many others believe this too was a great miracle, taking a giant step towards our ultimate redemption. My religious Zionist ideology instructs that through the Divine intervention (and yes, God chooses through whom and when He manifests that intervention, whether holy prophets or secular Jews!) of 1948, we bonded once again with the Ribbono shel Olam and sensed His Providence, His essence, or e.tz.m. It’s somewhat ironic that the unofficial national rite on Yom Ha’atzmaut is having barbeques, perhaps an unintentional reminder of the original barbecue to recall redemption, the korban Pesach. And who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor!

The word etzem reminds us of the uniqueness of the Korban Pesach, the exclusivity of the Seder night, the royalty of the Jew on Pesach night, the unity of the paschal offering, and the overwhelming Omnipotence of the God who emancipated us from slavery, and cannot be overcome by man. It denotes a loving relationship that cannot be broken.