Rabbi Roodyn

Rav Hirsch explains that family dynamics work in two directions, ascending and descending and both are relevant to the details and message of the Korban Pesach.

Ascending ties are those that bind children to their parents, uniting even married children who may even have children of their own around the parents and great grandparents in one single beis avos.

Descending ties bind parents to their children, where the children establish homes of their own offspring, even as parents had lived for them and will continue to live on through them.

In the structure that Hashem is building for His new state, even ascending family ties are based on free will rather than compulsion. The halacha permits self determination in the formation of household units for the Korban Pesach, and adult children are not automatically considered to be part of the family unit unless they actively give consent.

Man’s right to independence, equality, freedom and private property, ties of blood kinship and free choice, which gather people together and separate them into distinct households – this is the foundation of the state built by G-d.