one another." The Mishnah described the appropriate hyssop for ceremonial use as a bunch containing three stalks bearing three buds. Rabbi Judah said three stalks bearing three buds each. Reading , regarding the Hebrew servant who chose not to go free and whose master brought him to the doorpost and bore his ear through with an awl, Rabbi Simeon bar Rabbi explained that God singled out the doorpost from all other parts of the house because the doorpost was witness in Egypt when God passed over the lintel and the doorposts (as reported in ) and proclaimed (in the words of ), "For to me the children of Israel are servants, they are my servants," and not servants of servants, and so God brought them forth from bondage to freedom, yet this servant acquired a master for himself. Rav Joseph interpreted the words of , "And none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning," to teach that once God has granted permission to the Destroyer, he does not distinguish between righteous and wicked. Moreover, he even begins with the righteous at the outset, as says, "And I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked" (mentioning the righteous first). Rav Joseph wept at this, but Abaye consoled him, saying that this is for their advantage, as says, "That the righteous is taken away from the evil to come." Reading , "For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians," a Midrash observed that some say that God acted through the medium of an angel ("the Destroyer," , ha-mashchit), while others said that God acted on God's own. A Midrash deduced from , "And the Lord will pass over the door," that God was at the door at that time. The Midrash thus questioned why says, "And when He sees the blood upon the lintel." The Midrash explained that this followed the usual practice, just as a butcher marks with red paint those sheep destined for slaughter to distinguish them from those that the butcher wishes to keep alive. So the Midrash told that God stood at the door and thrust away the Destroyer so that he should not smite the Israelites. The Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael interpreted the words "the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne" in to teach that Pharaoh himself was a firstborn, as well. And