In the same maftir that announces the month of Nisan, we learn a halacha of the Pesach offering:

וְלֹא־תוֹתִ֥ירוּ מִמֶּ֖נּוּ עַד־בֹּ֑קֶר וְהַנֹּתָ֥ר מִמֶּ֛נּוּ עַד־בֹּ֖קֶר בָּאֵ֥שׁ תִּשְׂרֹֽפוּ׃

You shall not leave any of it over until morning; if any of it is left until morning, you shall burn it.

The gemara describes the structure of this verse as a negative mitzvah (do not leave any until morning), whose violation leads to a positive mitzvah (if you do leave any until morning, burn it).

The rabbis teach a general principle about this structure:

כל מצות לא תעשה שיש בה קום עשה אין לוקין עליה

Any negative mitzvah [whose transgression] contains [a positive mitzvah to] stand up and do, we do not punish it with lashes

(Chullin 141)

In other words, there is no need to punish a transgression, if the Torah already gives us a way to repair that transgression. Just do teshuvah, just make the repair.

And, indeed, perhaps every transgression is of this form, because every transgression leads to a positive mitzvah, as it is written, “you will return to haShem your god” (Devarim 30:2).

But what about the period of time between a transgression and its repair? And what if the act of repair becomes impossible to perform — in the language of the gemara, what if the positive mitzvah is nullified?

On Makkos 15b, both Rabbi Yochanan and his chavrusa Reish Lakish offer answers to these questions:

ביטלו ולא ביטלו ורבי שמעון בן לקיש אומר קיימו ולא קיימו

[R’ Yochanan says]: if he nullified the mitzvah [he is liable for lashes] and if he did not [he is exempt from lashes]

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish says: if he fulfilled the mitzvah [he is exempt] and if he did not fulfill it [he is liable].

For Rabbi Yochanan, a person is not liable for punishment as long as repair remains possible.

For Reish Lakish, a person is liable for punishment until they’ve actually made repair.

My abolitionist instinct is to agree with Rabbi Yochanan: if repair is possible, repair should be the focus.

And yet Reish Lakish has something to teach us. What does it matter if repair might be possible in the future? A mitzvah can only be fulfilled in the present moment. So if repair is possible, and we choose not to do it, that itself is a nullification of the mitzvah.

I don’t believe anyone is ever liable for lashes; I’m uncomfortable with the idea of punishment in general. I’m grateful to live in communities that prioritize repair and restorative justice. But I think we also need to listen to Reish Lakish. We need to ask ourselves: are we doing, right now, the repair that is possible to do? And if not, what are the consequences for that choice of nullification?

In Mekhilta deRabbi Yishmael (Shemos 12:17), Rabbi Yoshiyah points out that the words מַצּוֹת (matzos) and מִצְוֺת (mitzvos) only differ in the vowels. “Just as we don’t let matzah sit and leaven, so too the mitzvos should not sit and leaven. Rather, if a mitzvah comes to your hand, do it immediately”.

Each Jew is commanded to view herself as if she left Mitzrayim in the exodus. With haShem’s help, may we turn this view into action. We left Mitzrayim then without delay, making the bread that we could make in that moment. So too, let us leave Mitzrayim without delay now: making the mitzvah of repair that we can make in this moment.

Life and death are set before us, blessing and curse. Teshuvah and punishment. And Hashem commands us to choose.

good shabbos,

ada

p.s. Gratitude to Shel Maalaniks rivqa, Aryeh, and Binya for talking with me about the connection between mitzvos and matzos.