I was trying to work out what Pesach would have been like in Egypt in that first year. I haven’t even got to any of the technical details yet, but just working out how many people there would have been in each house astounded me. Remember that the korban Pesach had to be eaten entirely before midnight (this would apply not only in Egypt, but in every other year until the destruction of the Temple as well, and hopefully very soon in the future when Mashiach comes – although I am a vegetarian and the sheep are bigger nowadays!). A sheep is quite a big animal, even a one year old. Goats are slightly smaller, but still have a lot of meat on them.
Have a look at my torahlab blog for the numbers, but you had better buy a bigger table and expandable walls for when Mashiach comes!

Here is the link (click on the entry titled ‘sheep again’).
http://torahlab.org/thestorysofar.php

Please send me your thoughts or comments. As a vegetarian I may have got the entire thing entirely wrong – please correct my mistakes.

Thank you. Here’s praying for Mashiach.

Rabbi Sedley