This festival is reserved especially for the Bne Israel, for only they left Egypt. Moreover, the Torah emphasizes the prohibition against the celebration of this festival by a gentile:

Shemot (Exodus) 12:43-48 HaShem said to Moshe and Aharon: This is the law of the Pesach: no foreigner may partake of it. And every servant of a person, purchased with money, once you circumcise him, he may partake of it. A resident alien and employee [from a foreign nation] may not partake of it… If a foreigner resides among you, he shall make a Pesach to the Lord: all his males shall be circumcised, and then he may draw near to perform it and shall be like a citizen of the land; but no uncircumcised person may partake of it.

On this basis, we may explain why the korban Pesach and circumcision are the only two affirmative commands that carry the punishment of karet (eternal excision from the Jewish people). Circumcision signifies the individual's covenant with the Almighty, while the korban Pesach serves as the expression of the covenant between all the Bne Israel and HaShem.

Pesach, Hebrew for Passover, begins on the fifteenth day of the first month (Nisan). The festival lasts for seven (eight days in the Diaspora) days, in Israel, and ends on the 21^st (22^nd for those in the Diaspora) day of the first month, for those who live in Eretz Israel. The following list shows the dates for Passover for the next few years:

Sundown March 27, 2021 – April 3.

Sundown April 15, 2022 – April 23.

Sundown April 5, 2023 – April 13.

Sundown April 22, 2024 – April 30.

Strong’s defines the word Passover, from its first usage in Torah, as:

Shemot (Exodus) 12:11 And thus shall ye eat it; [with] your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it [is] HaShem’s Passover.

+----------------------------------------------+

6453 pecach, peh’-sakh; from 6452; a pretermission, i.e. exemption; used only tech. of the Jewish Passover (the festival or the victim):-Passover (offering).

---------------- Dictionary Trace ----------------

6452 pacach, paw-sakh’; a prim. root; to hop, i.e. (fig.) skip over (or spare); by impl. to hesitate; also (lit.) to limp, to dance:-halt, become lame, leap, pass over.

On Passover we celebrate the liberation of HaShem’s people from Egyptian slavery and, together with it, the liberation from, and negation of the ancient Egyptian system and way of life, the “abominations of Egypt.” Thus we celebrate our physical liberation together with our spiritual freedom. Indeed, there cannot be one without the other: there can be no real freedom without accepting the precepts of our Torah guiding our daily life; pure and holy living eventually leads to real freedom.

Passover was significant in the past, it is significant now, and it will be significant in the future as we can see from the following Targum:

The Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: Shemot (Exod.) 12:42 Four nights are there written in the Book of Memorials before the LORD of the world. Night the first,--when He was revealed in creating the world; the second,--when He was revealed to Abraham; the third,--when He was revealed in Mitzrayim, His hand killing all the firstborn of Mitzrayim, and His right hand saving the firstborn of Israel; the fourth,--when He will yet be revealed to liberate the people of the house of Israel from among the nations. And all these are called Nights to be observed; for so explained Moshe, and said thereof, It is to be observed on account of the liberation which is from the LORD, to lead forth the people of the sons of Israel from the land of Mitzrayim. This is that Night of preservation from the destroying angel for all the sons of Israel who were in Mitzrayim, and of redemption of their generations from their captivity.

JERUSALEM: It is a night to be observed and celebrated for the liberation from before the LORD in bringing forth the sons of Israel, made free from the land of Mitzrayim. Four nights are there written in the Book of Memorial. Night first; when the Word of the LORD was revealed upon the world as it was created; when the world was without form and void, and darkness was spread upon the face of the deep, and the Word of the LORD illuminated and made it light; and he called it the first night. Night second; when the Word of the LORD was revealed unto Abraham between the divided parts; when Abraham was a son of a hundred years, and Sarah was a daughter of ninety years, and that which the Scripture says was confirmed,--Abraham a hundred years, can he beget? and Sarah, ninety-year-old, can she bear? Was not our father Yitzhak a son of thirty and seven years, at the time he was offered upon the altar? The heavens were (then) bowed down and brought low, and Yitzhak saw their realities, and his eyes were blinded at the sight, and he called it the second night. The third night; when the Word of the LORD was revealed upon the Mizraee, at the dividing of the night; His right hand slew the firstborn of the Mizraee, His right hand spared the firstborn of Israel; to fulfil what the Scripture has said, Israel is My firstborn son. And He called it the third night. Night the fourth; when the end of the age will be accomplished, that it might be dissolved, the bands of wickedness destroyed and the iron yoke broken. Moshe came forth from the midst of the desert; but the King Mashiach (comes) from the midst of Rome. The Cloud preceded that, and the Cloud will go before this one; and the Word of the LORD will lead between both, and they will proceed together. This is the night of the Pascha before HaShem, to be observed and celebrated by the sons of Israel in all their generations.

A peculiar phrase used in the description of the Exodus suggests that Passover has many future implications:[1]

Shemot (Exodus) 14:8…and the Children of Israel are going out with a high hand.

Perhaps because present tense is so rare in Scripture, the King James Bible substituted the past tense:

Shemot (Exodus) 14:8…and the Children of Israel went out with a high hand.

Ancient Jewish wisdom teaches that the present tense, actually used, emphasizes the relevance of this section to anyone wishing to emulate the Children of Israel and escape his own Egypt. It applies to each of us today - present tense. Further, it will be a very significant future event!

Consider the following pasuk from the Prophets as exhibit number one in support of my statement that Passover has many future events:

Micah 7:12-17 In that day people will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, even from Egypt to the Euphrates and from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain. The earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as the result of their deeds. Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, which lives by itself in a forest, in fertile pasturelands. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in days long ago. “As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show them my wonders.” Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their power. They will lay their hands on their mouths and their ears will become deaf. They will lick dust like a snake, like creatures that crawl on the ground. They will come trembling out of their dens; they will turn in fear to HaShem our God and will be afraid of you.

From here we learn that there is an exodus in our future. An exodus preceded by mighty miracles and wonders! Ah, but I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s start over and present this festival B’Seder, in order.

Passover is first and foremost among the festivals in the Jewish calendar. The Talmud[2] refers to Passover as the Rosh HaShana (Head of the year) of the festivals. Calling this the “Head” is very appropriate; as the body’s ability to function is derived from the head, so the essence and the sanctity of all the festivals, is derived from the festival of Passover. Thus we need to carefully learn and understand the meaning of Passover, and its requirements, in order to understand the other festivals.

The Torah frequently calls this festival: Chag HaMatzot, yet the Jewish people frequently call it Passover. Why this dichotomy? The Kedushat Levi[3] answers this question by telling us that we ate matza because we left in such a hurry that the bread did not have time to rise. Thus, in spite of the lack of provisions, we still followed HaShem into the wilderness.

Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) 2:2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith HaShem; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

Thus HaShem focuses on the matzot to praise us for our love and Emunah (faithfulness) for Him. We call it Passover to praise HaShem for passing over us, and thereby choosing us, on that fateful Passover in Egypt. Thus it is fitting that HaShem should call it Chag HaMatzot to praise His people, and that the Jewish people should call it Passover to praise HaShem.

Passover is one of the major festivals in the Torah. It is a holiday of rejoicing when Jews all over the world recall their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. The word Passover comes from the idea that HaShem passed over the houses of the Israelites, and the erev rav,[4] who had marked their doorposts to signify that they were children of HaShem. This way the firstborn sons of Israel, and the erev rav, were spared when HaShem smote the firstborn sons of the Egyptian taskmasters on the eve of the Exodus. The sons of Israel, and the erev rav, were thus redeemed from the land of sin, Egypt, and redeemed from Pharaoh to serve HaShem.

It is worth noting that Passover and its ceremonies not only speak of OUR redemption in the days of Moshe, but they are also prophetic of OUR future redemption in the days of Mashiach.

Conversion

Shavuot is the conclusion of Passover. On Shavuot the entire congregation of Israel[5] stood before HaShem as converts to receive the Torah. Our conversion began four days before Passover when we were circumcised. The Passover lamb could only be eaten by those who were circumcised. Because of this requirement, Passover is THE festival of the convert. All the other festivals can be celebrated by Gentiles. Only the partaking of the Passover lamb[6] was denied to the Gentiles. Thus, when a new convert joins the nation of Israel, Passover will be the ultimate festival, the festival that demonstrates his covenantal relationship.

As the nation of Israel was birthed from the crucible of Egypt, on Passover, so the righteous Gentiles who undergo conversion are born on Passover. Their birth joins them to the nation of Israel on Passover.

The Number Four (4)

As you study the Passover, notice how often the number four shows up. The great Kabbalist, the Maharal of Prague,[7] teaches that when something is true, it is true on every possible plane. It is true philosophically, linguistically, mathematically, and spiritually. And so we learn that the number four is the number, more than any other, that encapsulates the message of exile and redemption, otherwise it would not be the one used. Keep in mind that our Sages teach us that the Egyptian exile is the prototype for all future exiles (see the redemption study for more on this topic).

Four Cups of Wine

We were in exile, estranged from our land and from HaShem. Therefore, HaShem, Blessed be He, redeemed us with four mighty acts:

Shemot (Exodus) 6:6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel,

1. I [am] HaShem, and

2. I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and

3. I will rid you out of their bondage, and

4. I will redeem you with a stretched-out arm, and with great judgments.

The redemption of Shemot (Exodus) 6:6 is represented by the four cups of wine we take during our seder.

The Midrash Rabbah[8] explains that the four cups of wine correspond to these four stages of redemption. By contrast, the Gemara says:

Pesachim 117b R. Hanan said to Raba: This proves that Grace after meals requires a cup [of wine]. Said he to him: Our Rabbis instituted four cups as symbolizing freedom: let us perform a religious act with each.

The Gemara indicates that the number four expresses freedom, and connects each cup to a particular mitzva of the seder night: The first cup is that of Kiddush; over the second cup we recite the Haggada; the third cup is that of Birchat HaMazon, Grace after the Meal; and over the fourth cup we recite Hallel.[9]

Four questions

The four questions, of the Passover seder, reflect that our redemption, if we are to be redeemed, must come about when we leave exile and leave estrangement from HaShem. The question of the wise son reflects that we are only truly free when we stop serving the world and start serving HaShem:

- If we are free, why do we still eat matza, “the bread of affliction”?

- If we want to recall the bitterness of servitude by eating bitter herbs, why do we recline like royalty?

- Why do we dip our food luxuriously in what represents our tears?

This exile and estrangement from HaShem embitters the wicked son. He wants to retreat back into the comforting complacency of spiritual exile.

It mystifies the son who no longer believes in answers. We must use the empathy and compassion that a mother would have for her child to free him enough to listen.

But the same paradox frees the simple son to redefine what the experience means to him.

The freest of all is the wise son. Once the door is open, he asks the most honest question of all:

- “How shall I serve HaShem who has made me free?”

The nation of Israel became full and complete upon the fulfillment of the fourth utterance of redemption, the fourth and final stage in their development. The following events reflect the inclusion of four (4) and its meaning:

- Passover is celebrated the evening of the fourteenth (10+4 - יד) day of Nisan.

- The women came to His Majesty’s empty grave on the fourth day of Passover.

- The Jews came out of Egypt after 4 x 100 years:

Bereshit (Genesis) 15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land [that is] not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

- The Jews came out of Mitzrayim in the fourth generation:

Bereshit (Genesis) 15:13 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites [is] not yet full.

- We may eat chametz (leaven bread) on Erev (the day before) Passover only until the end of the fourth hour (“zemanit”), i.e., only within the first third of the day.

- The festival of Passover is given four different names in either the Torah and in the oral Torah.

- “four cups of comfort which HaShem will in the future give the Jewish people to drink.”

- In the first chapter of Ezekiel, the number four, in various ways, appears fourteen times. As the Jews are going into the Babylonian exile, HaShem informs us that He is going into exile as well.

So, as you study Passover, notice how intimately the number four is woven into the fabric of this feast. Remember:

The number four signals a

whole, a fullness, and a completion. It signals exile, but, it also signals redemption!

Forty (40) is 10 X 4 and is therefore intimately associated with the number four. You will also see this number showing up repeatedly in the story of our exile and redemption. Some well-known examples are:

- Moses was forty years in Mitzrayim, forty years in Midian, and forty years in the wilderness. Moses went up on mount Sinai three different times for forty days each.

- The spies spied out the land for forty days.

- The Children of Israel were in the wilderness for forty years.

Our Redemption

The primary theme of Passover is REDEMPTION. The Torah indicates that each of HaShem’s people was redeemed from Egypt, therefore each one of us must come to regard himself as though he had personally gone out of Egypt.

Micah 6:1-9 Listen to what HaShem says: “Stand up, plead your case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say. Hear, O mountains, HaShem’s accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth. For HaShem has a case against his people; he is lodging a charge against Israel. “My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me. I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam. My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember [your journey] from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of HaShem.” With what shall I come before HaShem and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will HaShem be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does HaShem require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Listen! HaShem is calling to the city--and to fear your name is wisdom--”Heed the rod and the One who appointed it.

Unless we see the Passover as though HaShem had personally redeemed each of us, we will fail to understand what Passover is all about. Passover is all about OUR redemption![10]

Shemot (Exodus) 13:14-16 “In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand HaShem brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, HaShem killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to HaShem the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’ And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that HaShem brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.”

As you study Passover, notice how often the Torah addresses us personally.

Every redemption of the sons of Israel will be patterned after the redemption from Egypt, even if it does not have the elements of miracles and signs. In “Derishat Tzion”, Rabbi Kalisher includes a chapter advocating offering the Passover sacrifice in modern times, as if to emphasize that the Egyptian redemption is the source and the inspiration for all later events. Indeed, even the Prophets speak of our future redemption in relationship to our redemption from Egypt:

The Talmud also speaks of our future redemption in relation to Passover:

Rosh HaShana 11a On New Year the bondage of our ancestors in Egypt ceased;[11] in Nisan they were redeemed and in Nisan they will be redeemed in the time to come. R. Yehoshua (Joshua) says: In Nisan the world was created; in Nisan the Patriarchs were born; in Nisan the Patriarchs died; on Passover Isaac was born; on New Year Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah were visited; on New Year Joseph went forth from prison; on New Year the bondage of our ancestors ceased in Egypt; and in Nisan they will be redeemed in time to come.

Rosh HaShana 11b On New Year the bondage of our ancestors ceased in Egypt’. It is written in one place, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians,[12] and it is written in another place, I removed his shoulder from the burden.[13] ‘In Nisan they were delivered’, as Scripture recounts. ‘In Tishri they will be delivered in time to come’. This is learnt from the two occurrences of the word ‘horn’. It is written in one place, Blow the horn on the new moon,[14] and it is written in another place, In that day a great horn shall be blown.[15] ‘R. Yehoshua (Joshua) says, In Nisan they were delivered, in Nisan they will be delivered in the time to come’. Whence do we know this? — Scripture calls [the Passover] ‘a night of watchings’,[16] [which means], a night which has been continuously watched for from the six days of the creation. What says the other to this? — [He says it means], a night which is under constant protection against evil spirits.[17]

As you study prophecy regarding the “Acharit HaYamim”, the end of days, notice the striking similarity of our future redemption, to our redemption from Egypt. The Targum gives us a very significant insight into the “End of Days”:

Targum Yonatan to Shemot 4:13 The redemption from Egypt could have been the Final Redemption. This helps us understand the exchange between Moshe and HaShem at the burning bush. Moshe asked HaShem, “Why do you choose me to redeem your people? Send, instead, Pinchas / Elijah, who you have chosen to redeem your people at the End of Days!”[18] Moshe was suggesting that the redemption from Egypt ought to be a full and final one. HaShem answered, that the time had not yet come for a final redemption.

Thus we see that the Targum associates the “end of days” with the seventh day of Passover!

Moshe himself, the greatest of the Prophets and his sister, Miriam, who was also a great Prophetess, sing / sang the “the Song of the Sea”, which according to Chazal[19] was not focused on the event that had just transpired, the splitting of the sea, but actually on the future of the people of Israel, specifically at the time of “Acharit HaYamim,” the “End of Days”.

Torah Readings for Passover

Ok, let’s continue our study of Passover, by examining the traditional Torah and Haftarah readings that the Sages have compiled for Passover. These are the most important passages for us to remember as we look forward to our redemption. Notice that there are no Nazarean Codicil readings associated with this list, because the Nazarean Codicil was not yet written at the time that these readings were compiled.

It is also worth noting that the festival lectionary overrides both the annual and triennial[20] lectionaries.

In the Haggada we read of the following Passover events:

Of old, You performed many miracles by night. At the beginning of the first watch of this night.

To the righteous convert (Abraham) You gave victory when there was divided for him the night.

You judged the king of Gerar (Abimelech with death) in a dream by night.

You frightened the Aramean (Laban) in the dark of night.

Israel (Jacob) fought with an angel and overcame him by night.

The first-born children of the Egyptians You crushed at midnight.

They did not find their host when they arose at night.

You swept away the army of the prince of Charoshes (Sisera) with the stars of night.

The blasphemer (Sancheriv) had planned to raise his hand against Jerusalem; You laid low his dead by night.

The idol Bel was overthrown, with its pedestal, in the darkness of the night.

To Daniel, in whom You delighted, the secret vision was revealed at night.

He who caroused from the holy vessels (Belshazzar) was slain on that same night.

From the lions’ den was rescued he who interpreted the meaning of the terrors of the night.

Haman bore hatred in his heart and wrote proscriptions at night.

You began Your triumph over him when You disturbed the sleep of his king at night.

You will tread the wine-press to help those who ask the watchman, ‘Ah, when will there be an end to the long night?’

He will exclaim, like a watchman and say” ‘Morning will come after this night.’

Bring near the day (with the coming of Mashiach), that is neither day nor night.

Show, Most High, that Yours is the day as well as the night.

Appoint watchmen to Your city (Jerusalem) by day and by night.

Illumine as with the light of day, the darkness of the night.

The following is said on the second night of Passover. On the first night, skip the next passages.

You displayed wondrously Your mighty powers on Passover.

Above all festivals You elevated Passover.

To the Oriental (Abraham) You revealed the future midnight of Passover.

At his door You knocked in the heat of the day on Passover.

He satiated the angels with matza-cakes on Passover.

And he ran to the herd, symbolic of the sacrificial beast of Passover.

The Sodomites provoked (God) and were destroyed by fire on Passover.

Lot was withdrawn from them, he had baked matzoth at the time of Passover.

You swept clean the soil of Moph and Noph (Egypt) when You passed through on Passover.

God, You crushed every firstborn of On (In Egypt) on the watchful night of Passover.

But Master, Your own firstborn, You skipped by merit of the blood of Passover.

Not to allow the Destroyer to enter my doors on Passover.

The beleaguered (Jericho) was besieged on Passover.

Midian was destroyed with a barley cake from the Omer of Passover.

The princes of Pul and Lud (Assyria) were consumed in a great conflagration on Passover.

He (Sancheriv) would have stood that day at Nob, but for the advent of Passover.

A hand inscribed the destruction of Zul (Babylon) on Passover.

As the watch was set, and the royal table decked on Passover.

Hadassah (Esther) gathered her people for a three day fast on Passover.

You caused the head of the evil clan (Haman) to be hanged on a fifty-cubit gallows on Passover.

Doubly, will You bring in an instant upon Utsis (Edom) on Passover.

Let Your hand be strong, and Your right arm exalted as on the night when You hallowed the festival of Passover.

The Bereshit (Genesis) Passover

Chazal[31] indicate that Passover is celebrated because Nisan 15 was designated from the creation of the world, as a time for redemption. The events of Exodus occurred on Nisan 15 because that was THE time for such events. Since the energy of Nisan 15 recurs each year, then each year we should see similar events. The best way to visualize this is to see redemptive / exile events prior to the exodus. Let’s start by looking at a ‘Passover’ event in Genesis, nearly 2500 years before the exodus!

Bereshit (Genesis) 18:1-10 HaShem appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way--now that you have come to your servant.” “Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.” So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three se’ahs of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread.” Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree. “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he said. Then HaShem said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.

The only kind of bread that you can make quickly is matza (unleavened bread). That same day the angels saw Lot:

Here we have an apparent Passover because of the

1. Unleavened bread.

2. The haste.

3. The leaving of Sodom (redemption).

4. Bereshit (Genesis) 18:14 contains the Hebrew word, Moed, which means an appointment. This is the Hebrew word that also is translated “festival”. All of HaShem’s festivals are called Moedim.

The Midrash agrees with this assessment:

Midrash Rabbah - Shemot (Exodus) XV:12 AND THEY SHALL TAKE OF THE BLOOD, AND PUT IT ON THE TWO SIDE-POSTS (XII, 7): So that I may pass over you and protect you.’ Take care that it be eaten that night, for it says: AND THEY SHALL EAT THE FLESH IN THAT NIGHT, ROAST WITH FIRE (XII, 8); ‘this is for the sake of Abraham whom I saved from the fiery furnace. AND UNLEAVENED BREAD (ib.)-in honor of Sarah who prepared cakes for the angels, though they did not taste bread.[32] WITH BITTER HERBS (ib.)[33] in honor of Jacob; for just as his sons were persecuted in Egypt, so did Esau persecute him. AND YE SHALL LET NOTHING OF IT REMAIN UNTIL THE MORNING (XII, 10). ‘Just as I will not leave one soul alive of the firstborn in Egypt, So YE SHALL LET NOTHING OF IT REMAIN UNTIL THE MORNING.

As an aside: Why was HaShem visiting Abraham? If you look at the paragraph which precedes chapter 18, you will notice that Abraham has just circumcised himself and his household. The third day after his circumcision is the most painful day. Therefore, HaShem was visiting His friend, Abraham, who was sick. This is bikur cholim, visiting the sick!

At any rate, Lot was celebrating a Passover feast and he served his angelic guests, matza. Now, the Sages also link this Passover seder with the Purim Seudah.[34] They see that the same word used for the feast (Mishteh) that Lot had with the angels is also used in connection with the Purim Seudah:

Bereshit (Genesis) 19:3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

This feast this Mishteh that Lot served is also the feast, the Mishteh, that constituted the Purim Seudah:

Esther 8:17 And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.

Esther 9:17 On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same rested they, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

Esther 9:18 But the Jews that [were] at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth [day] thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth [day] of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

Esther 9:19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar [a day of] gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.

Esther 9:22 As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.

In Talmudic literature, the word Mishteh is ONLY used in connection with the Passover seder and the Purim Seudah (meal). The Sages, therefore teach that this Passover seder was also a Purim Seudah! This was a combination feast that took place on Passover!

Now let’s see what two of those same angels did, on that same day, for Lot:

Bereshit (Genesis) 19:1-3 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.” “No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.” But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.

The sages understood that Isaac was born on Passover. Take a look again at Bereshit (Genesis) 18:14, which is where we are told that Isaac will be born on the festival which Abraham was now celebrating. This began the four hundred years spoken about in:

Bereshit (Genesis) 15:12-14 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then HaShem said to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.

The Talmud confirms this:

Rosh HaShana 10b It has been taught: R. Eliezer says: In Tishri the world was created; in Tishri the Patriarchs[35] were born; in Tishri the Patriarchs died; on Passover Isaac was born; on New Year Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah were visited;[36] on New Year Joseph went forth from prison

Rosh HaShana 11a Whence do we know that Isaac was born on Passover? — Because it is written, On the [next] festival I will return unto thee.[37] Now when was he [the angel] speaking?[38] Shall I say [he was speaking] on Passover and referring to Pentecost? Could she bear in fifty days?[39] Shall I say then that [he was speaking on] Pentecost and was referring to Tishri? Even in five months could she bear? I must suppose then that he was speaking on Tabernacles and referring to Passover.[40] Even so, could she bear in six months? — It has been taught that that year was a leap year. All the same, if the Master deducts the days of uncleanness,[41] the time is too short? — Mar Zutra replied: Even those who hold that when a woman bears at nine months she does not give birth before the month is complete[42] admit that if she bears at seven months she can give birth before the month is complete, as it says, And it came to pass after the cycle of days;[43] the minimum of cycles is two, and the minimum of days is two.

Hopefully we can now appreciate that Nisan 15, for all times) is a time for redemption, exile, miracles, and matza!

The Egyptian Passover:

Egypt, in Hebrew, Mitzrayim, literally means a

“Place of Narrowness.”

The Torah’s name for Egypt is Mitzrayim, and this name does not just refer to a geographical location. The root letters of this Hebrew name spell metzar, a word which means “confinement or distress”.

To be in “Mitzrayim” is to be in a place of confinement or distress --physical and/or spiritual.

With this in mind, let’s examine the Passover that took place in the days of Moses:

Shemot (Exodus) 12:1-14 HaShem said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire--head, legs and inner parts. Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is HaShem’s Passover. “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn--both men and animals--and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am HaShem. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to HaShem--a lasting ordinance.

Rashi to Shemot (Exodus) 12:13 And the blood will be for you for a sign-[The blood will be] for you a sign but not a sign for others. From here, it is derived that they put the blood only on the inside.[44]

“This month shall be the beginning of months” is the first commandment given to the entire nation of Israel. To obey this commandment requires that you understand when a month begins and when the year begins. The written Torah never answers these questions. The Talmud does address this issue. Unless Israel has the authority to declare the new moons, the Rosh Chodeshim, then they would not have the ability to carry out this command. Unless this command is carried out, there would be no festivals.

According to this next passage, Israel entered Egypt on Passover:

Shemot (Exodus) 12:40-42 Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all HaShem’s divisions left Egypt. Because HaShem kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor HaShem for the generations to come.

Rashi’s Commentary for: ‎ Shemot (Exodus) ‎12:40

that they dwelled in Egypt-after the other dwellings in which they dwelled as foreigners in a land that was not theirs.[45]

was four hundred and thirty years-Altogether, from the time that Isaac was born, until now, were 400 years. From the time that Abraham had seed [i.e., had a child, the prophecy] “that your seed will be strangers”[46] was fulfilled; and there were another 30 years from the decree “between the parts”[47] until Isaac was born. It is impossible, however, to say that [they spent 400 years] in Egypt alone, because Kohath [the grandfather of Moses] was [one] of those who came with Jacob. Go and figure all his years, all the years of his son Amram, and Moses’ 80 years; you will not find them [to be] that many, and perforce, Kohath lived many of his years before he descended to Egypt, and many of Amram’s years are included in the years of Kohath, and many of Moses’ years are included in Amram’s years. Hence, you will not find 400 years counting from their arrival in Egypt. You are compelled, perforce, to say that the other dwellings [which the Patriarchs settled] were also called being “sojournings” and even in Hebron, as it is said: “where Abraham and Isaac sojourned (גָּרוּ)”,[48] and [Scripture] states also “the land of their sojournings in which they sojourned”.[49] Therefore, you must say that [the prophecy] “your seed will be strangers” [commences] when he [Abraham] had offspring. And only when you count 400 years from the time that Isaac was born, you will find 210 years from their entry into Egypt. This is one of the things that [the Sages] changed for King Ptolemy.-[from Mechilta, Meg. 9a]

41 It came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years, and it came to pass in that very day [This] tells [us] that as soon as the end [of this period] arrived, the Omnipresent did not keep them [even] as long as the blink of an eye. On the fifteenth of Nissan, the angels came to Abraham to bring him tidings. On the fifteenth of Nissan Isaac was born; on the fifteenth of Nissan the decree of “between the parts” was decreed.[50]

Notice who came out of Egypt:

Shemot (Exodus) 12:31-38 During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship HaShem as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.” The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. HaShem had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians. The Israelites journeyed from Ramses to Succoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. Many other people went up with them, as well as large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds.

So, not only Israelites, but Gentiles as well! This is significant because these were the same folks who stood at the foot of Mount Sinai and received the Torah (instruction or law). As an aside, of the 600,000 men who came out of Egypt, only two men (besides the Levites) entered the promised land: one Israelite: Yehoshua (Joshua) the Ephramite, and one who was a descendant of a Gentile convert: Caleb the son of Jephuneh, the Kenizzite. Please recall that the Kenizzites are one of the peoples who’s land is promised to Abraham in the covenant between the parts.

Two of the first things that HaShem tells Moshe when sending him to take the Jews out of Egypt are that He is rescuing them so as to bring them to Israel[51] and that on their way out of Egypt, Moshe Should take them to Har Sinai.[52] Perhaps more than any other holiday, Passover, as presented in Tanakh, represents a major change in the Jewish people and their relationship to HaShem and the land of Israel. We read of Passover celebrations during the times of Yehoshua (Joshua), Samuel, Hezekiah, Josiah, and Zerubavel. In each case, the celebration came along with “major changes”.

* * *

Here is another story which is very much like the story of Moses and the Egyptian Passover:

Shoftim (Judges) 6:11-22 The angel of HaShem came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of HaShem appeared to Gideon, he said, “HaShem is with you, mighty warrior.” “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if HaShem is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not HaShem bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now HaShem has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.” HaShem turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” HaShem answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.” Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.” And HaShem said, “I will wait until you return.” Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak. The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of HaShem touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of HaShem disappeared. When Gideon realized that it was the angel of HaShem, he exclaimed, “Ah, Sovereign HaShem! I have seen the angel of HaShem face to face!”

Here we see Gideon able to stand up to an angel and demand to know where his signs and wonders are. Throughout the Tanakh,[53] when a man encountered an angel, he would fall on his face like a dead man. How did Gideon generate the strength to talk to an angel like this? The Sages teach us that it was the first day of Passover and Gideon’s father had just inspired him at the seder table. Thus Gideon was imbued with the spiritual strength to stand up to the angel.

* * *

Bereshit (Genesis) 15:9-16 So HaShem said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then HaShem said to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

This word “generation“ means:

1755 dowr, dore; or (short.) dor, dore; from 1752; prop. a revolution of time, i.e. an age or generation; also a dwelling:-age, X evermore, generation, [n-] ever, posterity.

So, we can see that HaShem is using this ambiguous Hebrew word to not only indicate a generation, but, also to indicate the fourth millennium (a cycle) after Abram which would put us at the beginning of the seventh millennium - The millennium ruled by Yeshua!

* * *

The following is a summary of all Biblical events that occurred during Passover, that I have found so far:

Yehoshua (Joshua) observed Passover just before eating the produce of the land:

Yehoshua (Joshua) 5:10-12 On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan.

The bread from heaven stopped the day after Passover... hmmm…

In the time of Yehoshua (Joshua), Passover was the time when the generation born in the desert finally got circumcised[57] bringing them into the covenant with HaShem. Passover also coincided with the end, of the manna[58]. Many people think that the point of the manna stopping was for the Jews to learn how to eat “the hard way” by planting and growing their own food. However, we are told explicitly[59] that the food of Israel which the Jews ate following the end of the manna was spoon fed to them by HaShem. What made it different than the manna was not that it was the result of hard labor by the Jews. Rather, it represented the Jews’ attachment to the land of Israel. We see that at the time of Passover, in the days of Yehoshua (Joshua), the Jews became full-fledged members of The People of Israel by being circumcised, and they also went from being nomads in the desert to settling Israel, which was expressed by their need to eat Israel’s food.

Josiah celebrated Passover prior to his revival

Melachim bet (II Kings)) 23:21-23 The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover to HaShem your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” Not since the days of the judges who led Israel, nor throughout the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah, had any such Passover been observed. But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to HaShem in Jerusalem.

Hezekiah celebrated Passover

Divrei Hayamim 30:1-20 Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the temple of HaShem in Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to HaShem, the God of Israel. The king and his officials and the whole assembly in Jerusalem decided to celebrate the Passover in the second month. They had not been able to celebrate it at the regular time because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem. The plan seemed right both to the king and to the whole assembly. They decided to send a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, calling the people to come to Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to HaShem, the God of Israel. It had not been celebrated in large numbers according to what was written. At the king’s command, couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and from his officials, which read: “People of Israel, return to HaShem, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. Do not be like your fathers and brothers, who were unfaithful to HaShem, the God of their fathers, so that he made them an object of horror, as you see. Do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were; submit to HaShem. Come to the sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve HaShem your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. If you return to HaShem, then your brothers and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will come back to this land, for HaShem your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.” The couriers went from town to town in Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulon, but the people scorned and ridiculed them. Nevertheless, some men of Asher, Manasseh and Zebulon humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem. Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered following the word of HaShem. A very large crowd of people assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month. They removed the altars in Jerusalem and cleared away the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley. They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed and consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the temple of HaShem. Then they took up their regular positions as prescribed in the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests sprinkled the blood handed to them by the Levites. Since many in the crowd had not consecrated themselves, the Levites had to kill the Passover lambs for all those who were not ceremonially clean and could not consecrate [their lambs] to HaShem. Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulon had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May HaShem, who is good, pardon everyone Who sets his heart on seeking God--HaShem, the God of his fathers--even if he is not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.” And HaShem heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

The first major prophecies given for Judah’s destruction and exile came during the time of Hezekiah. The Jews, who had taken Israel, and the Temple, for granted for so many years, were suddenly faced with the concept of exile and destruction. They knew that they had the potential to be thrown out of their land, if they didn’t repent. Although there had been some prophecies of exile even earlier in the prophetic era[60] and even in the time of Moshe[61], the prophecies in the time of Hezekiah seemed to stand out in the people’s minds as the first major prophecies of the imminent destruction, as they are the first direct threats of exile mentioned in the first half of the Books of the Prophets[62]. Hezekiah decided to start a massive teshuva, repentance, movement and keep Israel. Again, it was the observance of Passover that symbolized the people of Judah regaining their hold on their land[63]. This Passover obviously was not quite as major event (perhaps because the teshuva movement was undone only one generation later), and in fact it is omitted from the Book of Kings. Nonetheless, it symbolized the Jews averting exile at the last second. In fact, it was during this time that the Kingdom of Israel (as opposed to the Kingdom of Judah which Hezekiah ruled over and which makes up the modern day Jews) was exiled[64]. This event surely helped show the people of Judah the need to strengthen their hold on their land. In fact, when the people debated how to respond to Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah)’s prophecies of destruction several generations later, those in favor of teshuva used the response of the Jews to the predictions of doom in the days of Hezekiah as a model for how to return to HaShem and stay connected to the land[65]. Apparently the time of Hezekiah, which included a major Passover observance, brought out the connection between the Jews, HaShem, and the land of Israel in a major way.

Divrei Hayamim 35:1-19 Josiah celebrated the Passover to HaShem in Jerusalem, and the Passover lamb was slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the first month. He appointed the priests to their duties and encouraged them in the service of HaShem’s temple. He said to the Levites, who instructed all Israel and who had been consecrated to HaShem: “Put the sacred ark in the temple that Solomon son of David king of Israel built. It is not to be carried about on your shoulders. Now serve HaShem your God and his people Israel. Prepare yourselves by families in your divisions, according to the directions written by David king of Israel and by his son Solomon. “Stand in the holy place with a group of Levites for each subdivision of the families of your fellow countrymen, the lay people. Slaughter the Passover lambs, consecrate yourselves and prepare [the lambs] for your fellow countrymen, doing what HaShem commanded through Moses.” Josiah provided for all the lay people who were there a total of thirty thousand sheep and goats for the Passover offerings, and also three thousand cattle--all from the king’s own possessions. His officials also contributed voluntarily to the people and the priests and Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah and Jehiel, the administrators of God’s temple, gave the priests twenty-six hundred Passover offerings and three hundred cattle. Also Conaniah along with Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah, Jeiel and Jozabad, the leaders of the Levites, provided five thousand Passover offerings and five hundred head of cattle for the Levites. The service was arranged and the priests stood in their places with the Levites in their divisions as the king had ordered. The Passover lambs were slaughtered, and the priests sprinkled the blood handed to them, while the Levites skinned the animals. They set aside the burnt offerings to give them to the subdivisions of the families of the people to offer to HaShem, as is written in the Book of Moses. They did the same with the cattle. They roasted the Passover animals over the fire as prescribed, and boiled the holy offerings in pots, caldrons and pans and served them quickly to all the people. After this, they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were sacrificing the burnt offerings and the fat portions until nightfall. So the Levites made preparations for themselves and for the Aaronic priests. The musicians, the descendants of Asaph, were in the places prescribed by David, Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun the king’s seer. The gatekeepers at each gate did not need to leave their posts, because their fellow Levites made the preparations for them. So at that time the entire service of HaShem was carried out for the celebration of the Passover and the offering of burnt offerings on the altar of HaShem, as King Josiah had ordered. The Israelites who were present celebrated the Passover at that time and observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days. The Passover had not been observed like this in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel; and none of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated such a Passover as did Josiah, with the priests, the Levites and all Judah and Israel who were there with the people of Jerusalem. This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign.

Although the Book of Samuel makes no direct mention of Passover’s observance, we are told[66] that the Passover celebration of Josiah was the greatest one since the time of Samuel. The implication is that during Samuel’s time Passover was observed. In Shmuel alef (I Samuel) 7, we are told of how Samuel got all the Jews to repent, after which they were able to re-conquer parts of Israel which had been lost to the Philistines in battle. Samuel, in addition to leading this teshuva (repentance) movement, had a major impact on connecting the Jews to the land of Israel. The Rambam[67] writes that appointing a King, destroying Amalek, and building the Beit HaMikdash (The Temple) are the three mitzvot required of the Jewish people when they settle Israel. It was in Samuel’s time that the Jews first even attempted these mitzvot. Despite his initial hesitation, Samuel anoints the first King of Israel[68], a task which the Midrash[69] claims he was destined to do since creation. Samuel then commands this king[70] to destroy Amalek. It was also Samuel who served as the Navi (Prince) required[71] to select the location of the Temple[72].

In the days of Josiah, it became clear that exile was imminent. Josiah The King started a last gasp teshuva movement, but he was hardly trying to avoid exile. After all, the prophetess Hilda had already informed him that no matter how righteous he was, the biggest reward that HaShem was offering was to bring the exile after Josiah’s death.[73] No exile at all wasn’t an option. So, Josiah wasn’t trying to avoid exile. Rather, he was trying to do what he knew was right, even though things seemed hopeless. Regardless of the approaching exile, he saw it necessary to make a new covenant with HaShem.[74] Much as the people settled the land with the observance of, they observed Passover again when they knew things were hopeless. The comparison[75] between the Passovers of Josiah and Samuel as the biggest Passovers brings out the parallel between the gradual establishment of Children of Israel in Israel and the gradual arrival of the exile. The lesson to be learned from Josiah and his Passover is that even when returning to HaShem may seem futile, one must do so, and even when exile is a guaranteed thing, one must try and do whatever one can within reason[76] to stay attached to Israel.

The returning Babylonian exiles celebrated Passover:

Ezra 6:19-21 On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover. The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their brothers the priests and for themselves. So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek HaShem, the God of Israel.

The Passover of Zerubavel once again kept with the theme of returning to HaShem and settling Israel. It was a major part of the return to Israel during the time when the Temple was rebuilt and is the first major event recorded after the dedication of second Temple.[77] To further make evident the Passover’s connection to the return to HaShem and Israel, the next event recorded[78] is Ezra’s return to Israel, which involved a return to the Torah, as Ezra was primarily a religious leader. Even though Ezra’s return took place much later,[79] it is thematically connected to the Passover of Zerubavel.

Joseph and Mary celebrated the Passover

Luqas (Luke) 2:41-52 Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Yeshua stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Yeshua grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Yochanan (John) the Baptist was born during Passover. We can calculate his birthday from:

Luqas (Luke) 1:5-24 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abuja; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all HaShem’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years. Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, He was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of HaShem and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then an angel of HaShem appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name Yochanan (John). He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, For he will be great in the sight of HaShem. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to HaShem their God. And he will go on before HaShem, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for HaShem.” Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” The angel answered, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.” Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.

If you are having trouble with how I derived from the above passage that John was born on Passover, please see the details at: Birth.

I think that the following parable is prophetic and speaks of Yeshua’s resurrection, the Lamb of God, on the Sabbath when His Father drew Him out of the “pit”:

Matityahu (Matthew) 12:9-13 Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, And a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Yeshua, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.

and:

Luqas (Luke) 14:3-6 Yeshua asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away. Then he asked them, “If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?” And they had nothing to say.

Elijah is expected to return at Passover time as we can deduce from the above verses and from:

Matityahu (Matthew) 11:7 As Yochanan (John)’s disciples were leaving, Yeshua began to speak to the crowd about Yochanan (John): “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than Yochanan (John) the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of Yochanan (John) the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until Yochanan (John). And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.

The Maharal points out how the Korban Passover (the lamb), with all its of laws, is an indication of unity between Israel, Mashiach, and HaShem.

1) It was a mitzva, a Torah command (good deed), to roast and eat the Korban Passover “with its head on its knees”. That is to say complete, and not cut into smaller pieces (unlike every other type of sacrifice). Something which indicates unity must be whole.[80] By the way, this expression “head on its knees” is the expression our Sages used to describe the fetal position, the position of innocence.

2) The Korban Passover was eaten in one house, and only by the family group that was registered for that particular animal. Something which indicates unity must be concentrated in one place.[81]

3) The Korban Passover was taken from a one year old sheep or goat. The number one indicates unity.[82]

4) The Korban Passover was taken from the goats or sheep, but not from the cattle. A goat or sheep is a more delicate and tender animal. If it received a wound on one of its limbs, the animal itself would suffer the pain of the injury. An ox or cow, due to its bulk, would not be so affected by a similar wound. It would only feel pain in that particular limb.

Israel is likened to a sheep. When one Jew transgresses (as in the case of Achan, see Joshua 7), the whole nation suffers. Israel, like the sheep have a presence which is less physical. An entity which more spiritual is naturally more sensitive.[83]

5) The Korban Passover was roasted over the fire. Cooking in water causes meat to become soggy and the pieces separate. Roasting over the fire draws out the juices and the meat becomes consolidated, another indication of unity.[84]

6) It was prohibited to break any of the bones of the Korban Passover. Again, anything whole and not broken is an indication of unity.[85]

By eating the Passover according to all of its laws, a Jew demonstrated his unity with HaShem. This is the unity which He invested in Israel and thereby commanded them concerning the Korban Passover.

Future Passover

Yehezchel (Ezekiel) gave new instructions for the millennium Passover:

Yehezchel (Ezekiel) 45:21 “‘In the first month on the fourteenth day you are to observe the Passover, a feast lasting seven days, during which you shall eat bread made without yeast. On that day the prince is to provide a bull as a sin offering for himself and for all the people of the land. Every day during the seven days of the Feast he is to provide seven bulls and seven rams without defect as a burnt offering to HaShem, and a male goat for a sin offering. He is to provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull and an ephah for each ram, along with a hin of oil for each ephah. “‘During the seven days of the Feast, which begins in the seventh month on the fifteenth day, he is to make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings and oil.

Notice the different sacrifice requirements

Bamidbar (Numbers) 28:16-22 “‘On the fourteenth day of the first month HaShem’s Passover is to be held. On the fifteenth day of this month there is to be a festival; for seven days eat bread made without yeast. On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. Present to HaShem an offering made by fire, a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect. With each bull prepare a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths; And with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth. Include one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you.

Yeshua and Passover

Matityahu (Matthew) 26:17-30 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,[86] the disciples came to Yeshua and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’“ So the disciples did as Yeshua had directed them and prepared the Passover. When evening came, Yeshua was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.” They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely not I, Lord?” Yeshua replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” Yeshua answered, “Yes, it is you.” While they were eating, Yeshua took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.” When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Marqos (Mark) 14:12-26 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Yeshua’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Yeshua had told them. So they prepared the Passover. When evening came, Yeshua arrived with the Twelve. While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me--one who is eating with me.” They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely not I?” “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” While they were eating, Yeshua took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. “I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God.” When they had sung a hymn,[87] they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Luqas (Luke) 22:7-38 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Yeshua sent Peter and Yochanan (John), saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.” “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked. He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, And say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there.” They left and found things just as Yeshua had told them. So they prepared the Passover. When the hour came, Yeshua and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took unleavened bread (matza), gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him.” They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this. Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Yeshua said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, So that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” Yeshua answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.” Then Yeshua asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?” “Nothing,” they answered. He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.” The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.” “That is enough,” he replied.

Yochanan (John) 13:1-31 It was just before the Passover Feast. Yeshua knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Yeshua. Yeshua knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; So he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Yeshua replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Yeshua answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” Yeshua answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not everyone was clean. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the scripture: ‘He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.’ “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He. I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.” After he had said this, Yeshua was troubled in spirit and testified, “I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me.” His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. One of them, the disciple whom Yeshua loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.” Leaning back against Yeshua, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” Yeshua answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. “What you are about to do, do quickly,” Yeshua told him, But no one at the meal understood why Yeshua said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Yeshua was telling him to buy what was needed for the Feast, or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night. When he was gone, Yeshua said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him.

Yochanan (John) then records a long discourse by Yeshua

Points to remember

Matityahu (Matthew) 12:40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Matityahu (Matthew) 26:17-30 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Yeshua and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’“ So the disciples did as Yeshua had directed them and prepared the Passover. When evening came, Yeshua was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.” They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely not I, Lord?” Yeshua replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” Yeshua answered, “Yes, it is you.” While they were eating, Yeshua took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.” When they had sung a hymn,[88] they went out to the Mount of Olives.

On preparation day Yeshua is crucified and placed in the tomb:

Marqos (Mark) 15:42-46 It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Yeshua’ body. Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Yeshua had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.

Yochanan (John) 19:14 It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Yeshua.

Preparation day was the day BEFORE the high Sabbath of Passover:

Shemot (Exodus) 12:15-19 For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat--that is all you may do. “Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born.

Debarim (Deuteronomy) 16:2-8 Sacrifice as the Passover to HaShem your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place HaShem will choose as a dwelling for his Name. Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste--so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt. Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until morning. You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town HaShem your God gives you Except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary of your departure from Egypt. Roast it and eat it at the place HaShem your God will choose. Then in the morning return to your tents. For six days eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day hold an assembly to HaShem your God and do no work.

Rashi’s Commentary on Debarim (Deuteronomy) 16:8 For six days you shall eat matzoth But elsewhere it says, “For seven days [you shall eat matzoth]!”.[89] [The solution is:] For seven days you shall eat matzoth from the old [produce] and six days [i.e., the last six days, after the omer has been offered] you may eat matzoth prepared from the new [crop]. Another explanation: It teaches that the eating of matzoh on the seventh day of Passover is not obligatory, and from here you learn [that the same law applies] to the other six days [of the Festival], For the seventh day was included in a general statement [in the verse “For seven days you shall eat matzoth,” but in the verse: “Six days you shall eat matzoth ”] it has been taken out of this general [statement], to teach us that eating matzoh [on the seventh day] is not obligatory, but optional. [Now we have already learned that if something is singled out of a general statement, we apply the relevant principle not only to itself but to everything included in the general category. Thus the seventh day] is excluded here not to teach regarding itself, rather to teach regarding the entire generalization [i.e., the entire seven days of the Festival]. Just as on the seventh day the eating of matzah is optional, so too, on all the other days, the eating of matzah is optional. The only exception is the first night [of Passover], which Scripture has explicitly established as obligatory, as it is said, “in the evening, you shall eat matzoth ”.[90]

[and on the seventh day there shall be] a halt to the Lord your God - עֲצֶרֶת. Keep yourself back from work. Another explanation: [עֲצֶרֶת means] a gathering for eating and drinking, as the expression, “Let us detain (נַַעַצְרָה) you”.[91]

Rashi further elaborates in another place:

Rashi Commentary for: ‎ Shemot (Exodus) 12:15 For seven days-Heb. שִׁבְעַת יָמִים , seteyne of days, i.e., a group of seven days.[92]

For seven days you shall eat unleavened cakes- But elsewhere it says: “For six days you shall eat unleavened cakes”.[93] This teaches [us] regarding the seventh day of Passover, that it is not obligatory to eat matzah, as long as one does not eat chametz. How do we know that [the first] six [days] are also optional [concerning eating matzah]? This is a principle in [interpreting] the Torah: Anything that was included in a generalization [in the Torah] and was excluded from that generalization [in the Torah] to teach [something] it was not excluded to teach [only] about itself, but it was excluded to teach about the entire generalization. [In this case it means that] just as [on] the seventh day [eating matzah] is optional, so is it optional in [the first] six [days]. I might think that [on] the first night it is also optional. Therefore, Scripture states: “in the evening, you shall eat unleavened cakes”.[94] The text established it as an obligation.[95]

The day AFTER Preparation day was a SPECIAL Sabbath.

Yochanan (John) 19:31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down.

The day AFTER Preparation day, Yeshua’s tomb was sealed.

Matityahu (Matthew) 27:62-66 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.” “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

Vayikra (Leviticus) 23:6-8 On the fifteenth day of that month HaShem’s Feast of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. For seven days present an offering made to HaShem by fire. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’“

The plagues were HaShem’s judgment upon the gods of Egypt:

Shemot (Exodus) 12:12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn--both men and animals--and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am HaShem.

Difficulties

Yeshua arose on the first day of the week?

Marqos (Mark) 16:9 When Yeshua rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.

This verse should probably be read as:

Marqos (Mark) 16:9 Now after Yeshua had risen, early on the first day of the week He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons.

This translation and punctuation more accurately fits the text. It also resolves any difficulty or ambiguity as to which day Yeshua rose. He rose at the end of the Sabbath, on the seventh day of the week. Note that He had already risen when the women came on the first day of the week.

How can Yeshua be the Passover lamb if He eats the Passover seder on Passover? Consider that Yeshua started twenty-four hours early and finished taking the fourth cup on the cross! Right on time!

Matityahu (Matthew) 26:17 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Yeshua and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

Luqas (Luke) 22:7-8 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Yeshua sent Peter and Yochanan (John), saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”

Marqos (Mark) 14:12 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Yeshua’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Yeshua had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

Luqas (Luke) 22:13 They left and found things just as Yeshua had told them. So they prepared the Passover. When the hour came, Yeshua and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you.

Yeshua had his Passover seder at the time when the Sadducees were celebrating the Passover (without a lamb), and Yeshua died at the time when the Pharisees were killing the lambs in the Temple. Yeshua ate the Passover about twenty-three hours early, without the lamb, and with only three of the four cups. He finished the fourth cup on the cross:

Yochanan (John) 19:29-30 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Yeshua’ lips. When he had received the drink, Yeshua said, “It is finished.”[96] With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Mary and Mary Magdalene went to the tomb on the first day of the week.

Luqas (Luke) 24:1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.

Why did Yeshua tell Mary not to touch Him?

Yochanan (John) 20:16-17 Yeshua said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Yeshua said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’“

Bamidbar (Numbers) 19:11-22 “Whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days. He must purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not be clean. Whoever touches the dead body of anyone and fails to purify himself defiles HaShem’s tabernacle. That person must be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on him, he is unclean; his uncleanness remains on him. “This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: Anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days, And every open container without a lid fastened on it will be unclean. “Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days. “For the unclean person, put some ashes from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them. Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave or someone who has been killed or someone who has died a natural death. The man who is clean is to sprinkle the unclean person on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify him. The person being cleansed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and that evening he will be clean. But if a person who is unclean does not purify himself, he must be cut off from the community, because he has defiled the sanctuary of HaShem. The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on him, and he is unclean. This is a lasting ordinance for them. “The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean till evening. Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening.”

Could it also be that Yeshua was still experiencing separation from His Father?

Matityahu (Matthew) 27:46 About the ninth hour Yeshua cried out in a loud voice, <“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”>--which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Marqos (Mark) 15:34 And at the ninth hour Yeshua cried out in a loud voice, <“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?>“--which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

The Torah teaches that when a person comes into contact with a dead man or a grave, that he requires the sprinkling of the ashes of the red heifer in order to be purified. Yeshua came into contact with a dead body (Himself) and a grave (His own). We will look into this more a bit later in this paper. However, those who wish to see a more complete study on this subject can refer to my study titled: HEIFER.

HaShem’s Passover and the Firstborn

Passover and the firstborn are very closely linked.

Shemot (Exodus) 4:21-23 HaShem said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what HaShem says: Israel is my firstborn son, And I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’“

Israel is HaShem’s firstborn son. This is significant, as this is the same term used of Yeshua (Son of God)[97] and Adam (Son of God).[98]

Bereans (Hebrews) 12:22-24 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, To the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, To Yeshua the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

HaShem always deals with transgressions “in kind”. Therefore, the firstborn of the wicked will be killed because They are killing HaShem’s firstborn.

Shemot (Exodus) 11:4-8 So Moses said, “This is what HaShem says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt--worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any man or animal.’ Then you will know that HaShem makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will leave.” Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.

Notice (above) that HaShem is going to kill EVERY FIRSTBORN MALE for keeping HaShem’s firstborn males. This is important to note because of what HaShem will require of the Israelites after this.

Shemot (Exodus) 13:1-16 HaShem said to Moses, “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether man or animal.” Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because HaShem brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast. Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving. When HaShem brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites--the land he swore to your forefathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey--you are to observe this ceremony in this month: For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festival to HaShem. Eat unleavened bread during those seven days; nothing with yeast in it is to be seen among you, nor shall any yeast be seen anywhere within your borders. On that day tell your son, ‘I do this because of what HaShem did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the law of HaShem is to be on your lips. For HaShem brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand. You must keep this ordinance at the appointed time year after year. “After HaShem brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your forefathers, You are to give over to HaShem the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to HaShem. Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons. “In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand HaShem brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, HaShem killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to HaShem the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’ And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that HaShem brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.”

The above question, ‘What does this mean’, is ascribed to the ‘simple son’ in our Haggada. So one of the Passover questions deals with the redemption of the firstborn. HaShem said that ALL firstborn belong to Him.

Notice how often HaShem links the firstborn with Passover:

Shemot (Exodus) 22:29 “Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats. “You must give me the firstborn of your sons.

Shemot (Exodus) 34:18-21 “Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt. “The first offspring of every womb belongs to me, including all the firstborn males of your livestock, whether from herd or flock. Redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem all your firstborn sons. “No one is to appear before me empty-handed. “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.

Bamidbar (Numbers) 3:11-13 HaShem also said to Moses, “I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine, For all the firstborn are mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether man or animal. They are to be mine. I am HaShem.”

Bamidbar (Numbers) 3:40-51 HaShem said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn Israelite males who are a month old or more and make a list of their names. Take the Levites for me in place of all the firstborn of the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites in place of all the firstborn of the livestock of the Israelites. I am HaShem.” So Moses counted all the firstborn of the Israelites, as HaShem commanded him. The total number of firstborn males a month old or more, listed by name, was 22,273. HaShem also said to Moses, “Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of their livestock. The Levites are to be mine. I am HaShem. To redeem the 273 firstborn Israelites who exceed the number of the Levites, Collect five shekels for each one, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. Give the money for the redemption of the additional Israelites to Aaron and his sons.” So Moses collected the redemption money from those who exceeded the number redeemed by the Levites. From the firstborn of the Israelites he collected silver weighing 1,365 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel. Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, as he was commanded by the word of HaShem.

Bamidbar (Numbers) 8:15-19 “After you have purified the Levites and presented them as a wave offering, they are to come to do their work at the Tent of Meeting. They are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to me. I have taken them as my own in place of the firstborn, the first male offspring from every Israelite woman. Every firstborn male in Israel, whether man or animal, is mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set them apart for myself. And I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons in Israel. Of all the Israelites, I have given the Levites as gifts to Aaron and his sons to do the work at the Tent of Meeting on behalf of the Israelites and to make atonement for them so that no plague will strike the Israelites when they go near the sanctuary.”

Bamidbar (Numbers) 18:14-19 “Everything in Israel that is devoted to HaShem is yours. The first offspring of every womb, both man and animal, that is offered to HaShem is yours. But you must redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals. When they are a month old, you must redeem them at the redemption price set at five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. “But you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep or a goat; they are holy. Sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to HaShem. Their meat is to be yours, just as the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh are yours. Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to HaShem I give to you and your sons and daughters as your regular share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before HaShem for both you and your offspring.”

Bamidbar (Numbers) 33:3-4 The Israelites set out from Ramses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after the Passover. They marched out boldly in full view of all the Egyptians, Who were burying all their firstborn, whom HaShem had struck down among them; for HaShem had brought judgment on their gods.

I suggested, at the beginning of this paper, that Passover has many parts that have a future fulfillment. So, now is the time to explore this fascinating arena. Ok, now here are some places to start looking for future Passover events. This first one because of the reference to firstborn, and we know that a reference to the firstborn is always in reference to Passover:

Revelation 1:4-6 Yochanan (John), To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, And from Yeshua Mashiach, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, And has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

Now this next idea has to do with how the Hebrew describes the song of Moses in the future tense! I’d look closely at this one because the Song of Moses was sung on the seventh day of Passover:

Revelation 15:1-4 I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues--last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God And sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear you, HaShem, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

When this song was sung during the exodus, it says that they “sang” the song of Moses[99]. the Hebrew is in the future tense, literally they “will sing” the song of Moses. Thus we see that our verse in Exodus pointed us to our verse in Revelation.

Seven days after Passover the Israelites and Moses sang the song of Moses.

Shemot (Exodus) 15:1 Then Moses and the Israelites (sang) will sing this song to HaShem: “I will sing to HaShem, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea.

Sang is not past tense. It literally means “will sing”. The Apostle Yochanan (John) had the following revelation where we learn when Moses will again sing this song:

Our way to HaShem is built on the tears we’ve shed. When we sing the Shira (the song), it’s the greatest moment the Jewish people have ever experienced as a nation, but two things undermine its glory. How can the angels sing, HaShem wants to know, if His creatures (the Egyptians) are drowning. Second, the song is a great event, but forty years of wandering in the desert await the Jews, along with wars with Amalek, the Midianites, as well as spiritual and physical tests. The road ahead is rough, this generation will have to die out before the people enter the Promised Land. All this adds up to a Song which is aware that the future must contain a greater moment, an ultimate redemption. This idea is alluded to in the first two words. True, Moses ‘sang’ but there is more that will be sung about—in the future. In the present, in a world not yet redeemed, we cannot truly sing.

Passover and “firstborn” are intimately linked. I believe that the events in Egypt happened on the day that HaShem ordained, from eternity, to be Passover. With this in mind, I suggest another Passover event:

Bereshit (Genesis) 4:1-8 Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of HaShem I have brought forth a man.” Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to HaShem. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. HaShem looked with favor on Abel and his offering, But on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then HaShem said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

And the righteous firstborn was killed. And so the Talmud records:

Zevachim 116a The master said: ‘And all offered burnt-offerings’. Only burnt-offerings, but not peace-offerings? Surely it is written, and sacrificed peace-offerings of oxen?[100] — Say rather, all offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. But it was taught: But not peace-offerings, save only burnt-offerings? — That is in accordance with the view that the Children of Noah did not offer peace-offerings.[101] For it was stated, R. Eleazar and R. Jose b. Hanina [disagree]. One maintained: The Children of Noah offered peace-offerings; while the other maintained: They did not. What is the reason for the view that the Children of Noah did offer peace-offerings? — Because it is written, And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat [heleb] thereof.[102] What thing is it whose ‘fat’ [heleb] [only] is offered on the altar, but the whole of it is not offered on the altar? Say, that is a peace-offering. What is the reason of the view that the Children of Noah did not offer peace-offerings? — Because it is written, Awake, O north, and come, thou south:[103] [this means,] Awake, O people whose rites [were performed] in the north, and come, O people, whose rites [will henceforth be performed] in the north and the south.[104] But as to this master, surely it is written, ‘of the fat thereof’? — That means, of their fat ones.[105] And as to the other master, surely it is written, ‘Awake, O north [etc.]’? — That refers to the ingathering of the exiles.[106]

The Passover sacrifice can be a peace offering, as was alluded to in the above Talmudic reference.

Zevachim 7b WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE PASSOVER-OFFERING AND THE SIN- OFFERING. How do we know it of the Passover-offering? — Because it is written, Observe the month of Abib, and prepare the Passover-offering;[107] [this intimates] that all its preparations must be in the name of the Passover-offering. We have thus found [that] change in respect of sanctity [disqualifies it]; how do we know [the same of] change in respect of owner? — Because it says, Then ye shall say: It is the slaughtering of HaShem’s Passover,[108] [which teaches] that the ‘slaughtering’ must be done in the name of the Passover-offering. Now since this teaching is redundant in respect of change in respect of sanctity,[109] apply the teaching to change in respect of owner. We have thus found it as a regulation;[110] how do we know that it is indispensable?[111] — Scripture saith, And thou shalt sacrifice the Passover-offering unto HaShem thy God.[112] To this R. Safra demurred: Does this [passage], ‘And thou shalt sacrifice etc.’ come for this purpose: Surely it is required for R. Nachman’s dictum? For R. Nahman said in Rabbah b. Abbuha’s name: How do we know that the leftover of a Passover-offering is brought as a peace-offering?[113] Because it is said, ‘And thou shalt sacrifice the Passover-offering unto HaShem thy God, of the flock and of the herd.’ Now surely the Passover-offering comes only from lambs or from goats?[114] Hence we learn that the left-over of the Passover-offering is to be [utilized] for something which comes from the flock and from the herd; and what is it? A peace-offering. — Rather, said R. Safra: ‘And thou shalt sacrifice the Passover-offering’ [is required] for R. Nachman’s dictum; ‘Observe the month of Abib’ [is required] for the regulation in respect of changed sanctity; ‘ Then ye shall say: [It is] the slaughtering of HaShem’s Passover’ [is required] for the regulation relating to change in respect of owner; ‘it is’[115] teaches that it is indispensable, both in the former and in the latter cases.[116]

Targum Pseudo Jonathan Genesis 4:1ff IV. And Adam knew Hava his wife, who had desired the Angel; and she conceived, and bare Kain; and she said, I have acquired a man, the Angel of the Lord. And she added to bear from her husband Adam his twin, even Habel. And Habel was a shepherd of the flock, but Kain was a man working in the earth. And it was at the end of days, on the fourteenth of Nisan, that Kain brought of the produce of the earth, the seed of cotton (or line), an oblation of first things before the Lord; and Habel brought of the firstlings of the flock, and of their fat; and it was pleasing before the Lord, and He gave (His) countenance to Habel and to his oblation; but to Kain and to his oblation He gave no countenance. And Kain was angered greatly, and the features of his face were downcast. And the Lord said to Kain, Why hast thou anger, and why are the features of thy face downcast? If thou doest thy work well, will not thy guilt be forgiven thee? But if thou doest not thy work well in this world, thy sin is retained unto the day of the great judgment, and at the doors of thy heart lieth thy sin. And into thy hand have I delivered the power over evil passion, and unto thee shall be the inclination thereof, that thou mayest have authority over it to become righteous, or to sin.

So, the Sages[117] say that Cain and Abel both brought their offerings on Nisan 14, Passover. Abel’s offering, the fat portions of a firstborn lamb are accepted. Cain’s offering, firstfruits, was not accepted. The reason that Cain’s offering was not accepted is because the first day that the Torah permits the bringing of firstfruits is on Nisan 16, that is, the next day! On Nisan 15, Abel’s is the correct offering for Passover.

Matza

The custom of the Sepharadim is to recite the entire Hallel after Arbit on the first night of Pesah (as well as on the second night in the Diaspora). The introductory Beracha of “Asher Kideshanu Be’misvotav…Li’gmor Et Ha’hallel” is recited before Hallel, and the concluding Beracha of “Yehalelucha” is recited afterward. It thus turns out that we recite Hallel three times over the course of the first day of Pesah: once after Arbit in the synagogue, once at the Seder – the first two paragraphs before the meal, and the rest after the meal – and then a third time the following morning at Shaharit. The Tikkuneh Zohar comments that these recitations are alluded to by the three Matzot at the Seder. The two whole Matzot represent the complete Hallel recitations after Arbit and Shaharit, and the broken Matza symbolizes the Hallel recited at the Seder, which is done in two separate stages.

Rashi to Shemot (Exodus) 12:15 For seven days-Heb. שִׁבְעַת יָמִים, seteyne of days, i.e., a group of seven days.^{^[118]}

For seven days you shall eat unleavened cakes- But elsewhere it says: “For six days you shall eat unleavened cakes”.^{^[119]} This teaches [us] regarding the seventh day of Passover, that it is not obligatory to eat matzah, as long as one does not eat chametz. How do we know that [the first] six [days] are also optional [concerning eating matzah]? This is a principle in [interpreting] the Torah: Anything that was included in a generalization [in the Torah] and was excluded from that generalization [in the Torah] to teach [something] it was not excluded to teach [only] about itself, but it was excluded to teach about the entire generalization. [In this case it means that] just as [on] the seventh day [eating matzah] is optional, so is it optional in [the first] six [days]. I might think that [on] the first night it is also optional. Therefore, Scripture states: “in the evening, you shall eat unleavened cakes”.^{^[120]} The text established it as an obligation.^{^[121]}

The Matzot on the seder plate represents Da'at.

When Da'at is expressed Keter is hidden.

Wine could actually represent Keter. So when we lift up the wine ( kiddush) we have to keep the Matzot covered. (Hidden) And therefore Da'at one of the Matzot is being hidden.

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Da'at is the third and last conscious power of intellect in Creation.

Generally, da'at is only enumerated among the sefirot when keter is not. This is due to the fact that da'at represents the reflection of (the inner dimension of) keter itself within the realm of consciousness (as described above). Hence da'at appears in the configuration of the sefirot along the middle axis, directly beneath keter; and, corresponds in the tzelem Elokim to the cerebellum (posterior brain).

Da'at is associated in the soul with the powers of memory and concentration, powers which rely upon one's "recognition" (hakarah) of, and "sensitivity" (hergesh) to, the potential meaningfulness of those ideas generated in consciousness through the powers ofchochmah and binah. This sensitivity itself derives from da'at's connection to the superconscious origin of the soul.

In general, da'at operates on two levels: the higher level, referred to as da'at elyon ("higher knowledge") or da'at hane'elam ("the hidden knowledge"), serves to secure the continuous bond between the two higher powers of intellect–chochmah and binah; the lower level, referred to as da'at tachton ("lower knowledge") or da'at hamitpashet ("extending knowledge"), serves to connect the intellect as a whole with the realm of emotion, thereby enhancing one's determination and resolve to act in accordance with the essential truths that one has integrated into consciousness.

Chametz

Why is there such an emphasis on Passover to be chametz-free (leaven-free)?

On Passover (Passover) we are forbidden to own chametz (leavened bread, i.e., virtually any flour product not especially produced for Passover) or have it in our possession. On the evening preceding Passover there is a serious search of the home for chametz.

Chametz is described by the Gemara as the Yetzer HaRa, the evil inclination, which prevents us from doing HaShem’s will:[122]

Berachot 17a R. Alexandri on concluding his prayer used to add the following: Sovereign of the Universe, it is known full well to Thee that our will is to perform Thy will, and what prevents us? The yeast in the dough and the subjection to the foreign Powers. May it be Thy will to deliver us from their hand, so that we may return to perform the statutes of Thy will with a perfect heart!

Chametz is also described as ‘boasting’ in:

1 Corinthians 5:6-8 Your boasting is no good, do you not know [that] a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Thoroughly clean out the old leaven, in order to be like matzah (unleavened bread) for Pesach, [for] Messiah is [as our] offering (olah) over us (for our sake), 8 so that we should not keep with the old leaven the Festival [of unleavened bread], and not with the leaven of malice and wickedness (acts of lawlessness) but with the matzah (unleavened bread) of purity and truth (faithfulness).

Like yeast in the dough, boasting ‘puffs up’ a person.

Passover is the time of freedom, spiritual freedom (which is the essence of why HaShem brought us out of Egypt). The only thing that stands between you and HaShem, is you. To come close to HaShem (which is the essence of life and the opportunity of every mitzva and holiday), one must remove his arrogance and evil inclination. This is the lesson of removing the chametz from our possession.

One of the freedoms to work on during Passover is “freedom of the mouth.” The sages view the mouth as the most dangerous part of the body. It is the only organ that can cause problems in both direction, what comes in (food and drink) and what goes out (speech). It is so dangerous, it is the only part of the body that has two coverings, hard teeth and soft lips. Most of us are slaves to the mouth, both in what we eat and in what we speak.

On Seder night we fix this. We have the mitzva of speaking of the leaving Egypt to fix speech, and the matza and four cups of wine to fix eating and drinking.

A Mystical Insight

The Torah indicates that Paro’s magicians could not replicate the plague of Kinim, lice:

Shemot (Exodus) 8:18 And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.

Why couldn’t the magicians bring forth lice? The Talmud brings us the answer:

Sanhedrin 67b Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: R. Eleazar, said: This proves that a magician cannot produce a creature less than a barley corn in size. R. Papa said: By God! he cannot produce even something as large as a camel; but these [larger than a barley corn] he can [magically] collect [and so produce the illusion that he has magically created them], the others he cannot.

So, a louse is too small to be reproduced by the evil side, hmmmm. This suggest that size is important to evil. Evil requires a certain size in order to operate. This includes a certain size of time! Now, since nearly all of the mitzvot (commands) of Passover deal with this issue of size.

The Torah tells us that the Children of Israel left so quickly that their dough was still matza and not yet chametz:

Shemot (Shemot (Exodus)) 12:33-34 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We [be] all dead [men]. And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.

Now why did the children of Israel need to leave so quickly?

To answer this, we need to understand that Passover was a time of an incredible, undeserved, outpouring of kindness and beneficence from HaShem. The Bne Israel had descended to the 49th level of impurity and had almost no merits with which to beseech HaShem for salvation. Nevertheless, HaShem initiated a great deliverance for Bne Israel.

Therefore, the Torah says that the Bne Israel left in haste.

Now, why did Bne Israel have to leave in “haste”? We have just had ten incredible miracles. We have had no work for the slaves for almost a month. The Egyptians are urging Israel to leave. Why do they have to leave in a hurry? Their spiritual level is higher than it has been for generations. They have had the mitzva of Passover to lift them. Why do they have to leave in a hurry?

Some would say that if they had remained they would have sunk beyond the 49^th level of impurity, to reach a point of no return. I do not think that there was “immediate” danger of this.

The Sages teach (one opinion) that if they had stayed another minute they would have become like angels. They indicate that the spiritual energy was so great that it would have ushered in the Messianic age before they had earned it. This is why they had to leave in haste.

This is where the Bne Israel must live. They must act when the spiritual energy is at its height.

There is another thing to note in the hasty exodus: The problem with one more minute in Egypt, is ONE MORE MINUTE. HaShem’s people were called on to live at the transcendent moment when there is a transfer of spiritual energy, the male ecstatic experience. They may not waste the male seed:

Bereshit (Genesis) 38:9-10 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled [it] on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. And the thing which he did displeased HaShem: wherefore he slew him also.

Jews are called to make the “seed” count. To live at that moment when there is a transfer of spiritual energy. This is why Avraham said that he was dust and ashes:

Bereshit (Genesis) 18:27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto HaShem, which [am but] dust and ashes:

What are dust and ashes? Dust is the dirt that nourishes new growth. Dust is what happens if we remove the water from a thing and put it through fire. This implies that Avraham was constantly at the point of new growth. As soon as the new growth took place, he would ash it and make it into the fertilizer for new growth. He lived at the transitional point of the male ecstatic experience. He was constantly changing himself to conform to the revelation of HaShem.

From this, we can see why the Torah demands that Passover should take place in the springtime:

Shemot (Exodus) 12:2-3 This month [shall be] unto you the beginning of months: it [shall be] the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth [day] of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of [their] fathers, a lamb for an house:.

Shemot (Exodus) 23:15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)

Now Abib is the Hebrew term for the green ears of barley. Passover must be celebrated in the time of the year when the barley is in the green ear stage. Passover must take place at that time of the year when the very first crop is ripening (as Israel was ripening) when all of the other plants are just beginning their new growth. It is at this transitional point that the nation of Israel was born. Israel was meant to be a nation which is above time, constantly making themselves into dust and ashes in order that they should have more new growth.

This should not be too surprising when we remember that the Bne Israel are to live forever to serve HaShem. This is a state they earn by constantly living beyond time, by constantly making each moment new.

The Sages teach us that there is no punishment for eating less that kezayit, the bulk of an olive, of forbidden food, if done accidentally. So, if a drop of milk accidentally falls in the beef stew, we are allowed to eat it. But one Torah prohibition does not follow this standard, chametz. If we even so much as possess, much less eat, the tiniest speck of chametz during Passover, the punishment is Keret, spiritual excision. We have no other mitzva like it. This mitzva declares that we are to live in the moment which is beyond the reach of the Yetzer hara – a moment beyond time.

The Sages teach that the Yetzer hara, the evil inclination, cannot touch one who acts immediately at the flash of inspiration from HaShem. If we live at that transcendental moment, we will live beyond the reach of Paro’s magicians, beyond the reach of evil. Then HaShem will reward us midda keneged midda, measure for measure.

The message is very clear: cross the spiritual threshold into the world above nature, and you are untouchable by evil – by Amalek. Remain in the physical world of Amalek, and know that you will be subject to the world and to evil.

The problem with one more minute in Egypt, was one more minute!

The Passover Experience

The Inspiration – The male ecstatic experience – Our redemption is a gift from HaShem:

We are leaving slavery to serve HaShem!

Inspiration quashed:

More work, no straw.

The bad guys get ten plagues.

Inspiration revived!

We go out of Egypt with a high hand!

Inspiration quashed with a vengeance!

We are trapped between a sea and an army.

Inspiration Fulfilled – The gift is ours:

The army is dead – we are free!

The gift is removed – time to earn the inspiration, time to build and prepare for birth – The female ecstatic experience:

Fifty days of hard work, then we will stand as one at Mt. Sinai, then we will receive the Torah.

Now, the inspiration has had its intended effect. We have all attained to prophecy, we have united as one in our service of HaShem. The female’s job of building has reached fruition and a Torah nation is born!

This Passover pattern is repeated daily in our lives:

The inspiration,

the death of the inspiration,

the revival of the inspiration,

the double death of the inspiration,

the hard work of earning what the inspiration promised,

and finally the inspiration is fulfilled – and it is ours, we have earned it and its reward!

An example:

The inspiration – the male ecstatic experience: Our wife on our honeymoon.

The death of the inspiration: Oh my! I married the wrong woman!

The inspiration revived: We made up!

Double death of the inspiration: Fights, hassles, and money problems.

Inspiration fulfilled – the female ecstatic experience: Fifty years of hard work means that our golden wedding anniversary and second honeymoon are even better than our first. And this time all of our children are there too!

Another example:

The inspiration – the male ecstatic experience: The teenager who knows everything, can be anything he wants, and is impervious to bad health.

The death of the inspiration: My first job, slinging hamburgers. I am NOT CEO of IBM. My fingers all have burns and my back is aching.

The inspiration revived: I was made manager of the hamburger joint.

Double death of the inspiration: Been working at the same hamburger joint for 15 years. I am not inspired, I have nothing to show for the last 15 years, I am getting a mid-life bulge, I found a gray hair, and my wife needs more money.

Inspiration fulfilled – the female ecstatic experience: Twenty-five years later, I got promoted to CEO of the burger joint. My gray hair is now a sign of my wisdom, I do not even notice the bulge, and my wife and kids think that I am terrific!

So, what do we learn from this?

We learn that there is an overlap of the spiritual and the physical world:

Spiritual Physical……..

Where the spiritual overlaps the physical (the green area above) is where HaShem’s people are supposed to live. They are supposed to live in that moment of inspiration before the evil has had the time to take hold. We are called to act spiritually within the physical world. We are to live in that transcendent time which is too small for the evil inclination to take hold.

We are supposed to ride that moment of inspiration to the extent that we are so inspired that we never see the death of the inspiration, only the constant building of that inspiration. We are to take the inspiration of Passover and use it to build a level that carries us through the entire year.

* * *

At the Passover seder we ask the following question: “What does this ceremony mean to you?” - This is the Haggada question asked by the wicked son. This question is given to us by HaShem in His Torah. The answer is also given to us in the Torah:

Shemot (Exodus) 12:43-51 HaShem said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the regulations for the Passover: “No foreigner is to eat of it. Any slave you have bought may eat of it after you have circumcised him, But a temporary resident and a hired worker may not eat of it. “It must be eaten inside one house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones. The whole community of Israel must celebrate it. “An alien living among you who wants to celebrate HaShem’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat of it. The same law applies to the native-born and to the alien living among you.” All the Israelites did just what HaShem had commanded Moses and Aaron. And on that very day HaShem brought the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.

Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: Shemot (Exodus) ‎12:43

JERUSALEM: This is a night to be observed and celebrated for the liberation from before the LORD in bringing forth the sons of Israel, made free from the land of Mitzrayim. Four nights are there written in the Book of Memorial. Night first; when the Word of the LORD was revealed upon the world as it was created; when the world was without form and void, and darkness was spread upon the face of the deep, and the Word of the LORD illuminated and made it light; and he called it the first night. Night second; when the Word of the LORD was revealed unto Abraham between the divided parts; when Abraham was a son of a hundred years, and Sarah was a daughter of ninety years, and that which the Scripture said was confirmed,--Abraham a hundred years, can he beget? and Sarah, ninety year old, can she bear? Was not our father Yitzhak a son of thirty and seven years, at the time he was offered upon the altar? The heavens were (then) bowed down and brought low, and Yitzhak saw their realities, and his eyes were blinded at the sight, and he called it the second night. The third night; when the Word of the LORD was revealed upon the Mizraee, at the dividing of the night; His right hand slew the firstborn of the Mizraee, His right hand spared the firstborn of Israel; to fulfill what the Scripture has said, Israel is My firstborn son. And He called it the third night. Night the fourth; when the end of the age will be accomplished, that it might be dissolved, the bands of wickedness destroyed and the iron yoke (Roman yoke) broken. Moshe came forth from the midst of the desert; but the King Messiah (comes from the midst of Roma). The Cloud preceded that, and the Cloud will go before this one; and the Word of the LORD will lead between both, and they will proceed together. This is the night of the Pascha before the LORD, to be observed and celebrated by the sons of Israel in all their generations.

* * *

Passover is the festival of “firsts”

It is the first festival in the first month of the year. Shemot (Exodus) 12:2ff

It is the festival of the firstborn of HaShem, Israel.

It is the festival where the firstborn of the wicked are destroyed.

It is the festival where Israel is first called a “congregation”. Shemot (Exodus) 12:3

It is the first sacred assembly.

Shemot (Exodus) 12:16

It is the festival where HaShem first said that the first male belongs to Him. Shemot (Exodus) 13:2

The Passover memorial

Shemot (Exodus) 34:25 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Feast remain until morning.

Vayikra (Leviticus) 23:4-5 “‘These are HaShem’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: HaShem’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.

Passover is to be celebrated forever, not just until Yeshua came!

Shemot (Exodus) 12:17 “Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.

Names given to the Passover Festival

There are four names given to this first and foremost of the festivals in either the Torah or in the oral Torah:

Chag HaPassover (Shemot [Exodus] 34:25)

(“Feast of Passover”)

Chag HaMatzot (Shemot [Exodus] 23:15)

(“Feast of Unleavened Bread”)

Chag HaCherutenu (Mishna Pesachim 10:5)

(“Feast of Our Liberation”)

Chag HaAbib (Devarim [Deuteronomy] 16:1)

(“Feast of Spring”)

The Torah teaches us that there are four names for the festival which is commonly called Passover.^{^[123]}

Zeman Cheruteinu (Time of our Freedom)

Zeman Cheruteinu - זְמַן חֵרוּתֵינוּ or Chag HaCherut - חג החרות: The holiday commemorates when HaShem took us out of slavery in Egypt and brought us into a state of freedom.^{^[124]} This represents the first, basic step of our liberation, when we are released from physical bondage.

Chag HaPesach (Festival of the Passover Lamb)

Chag HaPesach - חַג הַפֶּסַח: This is the name the Bne Israel gave to this feast to commemorate the time when HaShem ‘passed over’ our houses when He killed the firstborn of Egypt.[125] The name "Passover" is related to the Passover offering, which could be brought only when the Holy Temple stood.

Chag HaMatzot (Festival of Matza)

Chag HaMatza or Chag HaMatzot - חַג הַמַּצּוֹת: This is the name that HaShem called this feast because the Bne Israel obeyed and ate unleavened bread.[126] The "Festival of Matzot" consists of two parts: the obligation to eat Matzah and the prohibition of eating chametz, leavened products.

The obligation to eat Matzah is limited to a specific amount at a specified time - a quantity the size of an olive must be eaten on the first night of Passover. However, the prohibition against chametz knows different limits; the tiniest particle of chametz is forbidden throughout the holiday.

The natural differences between chametz and Matzah, and the consequent differences between eating Matzah and refraining from chametz provide a valuable lesson in the quest for spiritual freedom.

Our Hakhamim explain that chametz is symbolic of haughtiness and conceit, traits so deleterious that they are at the root of all negative traits. This is one of the reasons why even the minutest amount of chametz is forbidden, haughtiness and conceit must be completely nullified.

A night of guardings

The first night of Passover is also called the “night of vigil” or the “night of seder”, order. Where does the “seder” come from? We are told that it is in recognition of the fact that when the children of Israel fled Egypt, though in great haste, they did so with a sense of order rather than of chaos.

“Behold! I send you Eliyahu the prophet before the great and awesome day of HaShem”.[127] The night of Passover is called “A night of guardings”, when the Jewish People are guarded from their enemies. “A night of guardings” also implies that the night of Passover is `guarded’, set aside for all time, as the night of the final redemption. In other words, every year, the night of Passover, because it contains the power of the redemption from Egypt, has the ability to bring forth actual redemption from the potential. Shabbat also has this ability to express and crystallize the latent power of the week that follows it. Therefore, every Shabbat HaGadol contains the capability of the redemption from Egypt, for “the great and awesome day of HaShem”, the day of the final redemption, is

Chag HaAbib (Festival of Spring)

Chag HaAbib - חַג הָאָבִיב: We read in the Torah that HaShem took Bne Israel out of Egypt during the spring. We also read that Bne Israel should commemorate the holiday during the spring.[128] "springtime festival" refers only to the Northern Hemisphere, for in the Southern Hemisphere Passover occurs in the fall.

Passover vs. Unleavened Bread

The great Hasidic master, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, was puzzled as to why the Torah calls the festival the “Holiday of Matzah,” Chag HaMatzot, while we call the holiday Pesach, Passover. Why the discrepancy?[129]

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak explained that these two terms represent HaShem’s loving feeling for the Jewish people and the Jewish people’s loving feeling for HaShem, each wanting to give full credit to the other for their act of love and faith.

Passover, Pesach, is a statement about HaShem’s faith in us, passing over the homes of the Jewish people in Egypt and choosing us to be His people. We call the holiday Passover in recognition of this, and to show our thankfulness for HaShem’s graciousness and kindness. By following HaShem into the desert, the Jewish people showed an unwavering faith in their Maker. The Torah calls the holiday Chag HaMatzot, “Holiday of Matza” suggesting that HaShem “applauds” the Jewish people and “recognizes” their greatness and their faith in Him and going into the desert. HaShem prefers to call the holiday by the name that credits the Jewish people for their faith and loyalty.

In this way, the two names of the holiday reflect the eternal faith of HaShem in Israel and the eternal faith of Israel in HaShem. Without both the Jewish people’s faith in HaShem and HaShem’s faith in the Jewish people we would have never survived to this day.

Some have suggested that Passover and the Feast of Unleavened bread are two different feasts on two different days. Our Sages teach, and I believe that the scriptures teach that these are two names for the same festival, observe that:

1. The day they came out of Egypt, which was Passover day and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, begins a festival that lasts for seven days and is to be observed by eating unleavened bread.

Shemot (Exodus) 13:3-8 Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because HaShem brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast. Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving. When HaShem brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites--the land he swore to your forefathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey--you are to observe this ceremony in this month: For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festival to HaShem. Eat unleavened bread during those seven days; nothing with yeast in it is to be seen among you, nor shall any yeast be seen anywhere within your borders. On that day tell your son, ‘I do this because of what HaShem did for me when I came out of Egypt.’

2. Passover is specifically said to last seven days[130]:

Yehezchel (Ezekiel) 45:21 “‘In the first month on the fourteenth day you are to observe the Passover, a feast lasting seven days, during which you shall eat bread made without yeast.

Debarim (Deuteronomy) 16:1-6 Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover of HaShem your God, because in the month of Abib he brought you out of Egypt by night. Sacrifice as the Passover to HaShem your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place HaShem will choose as a dwelling for his Name. Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste--so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt. Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until morning. You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town HaShem your God gives you Except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary of your departure from Egypt.

3. The Feast of Unleavened bread began on the fourteenth day of the first month as did Passover:

Shemot (Exodus) 12:14-20 “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to HaShem--a lasting ordinance. For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat--that is all you may do. “Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born. Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.”

Vayikra (Leviticus) 23:5 HaShem’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.

Ezra puts the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover into the same context. This context indicates both names, the fourteenth of the first month, and that it was celebrated for seven days. Thus, Ezra gives evidence that even in his day Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are the same festival.

Ezra 6:19-22 On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover. The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their brothers the priests and for themselves. So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek HaShem, the God of Israel. For seven days they celebrated with joy the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because HaShem had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria, so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.

The disciples give us another clear example of how the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are the same festival in:

For those who say that Passover occurs BEFORE the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the above passage indicates otherwise. The above passage clearly has preparation for Passover beginning on the first Day of Unleavened Bread!

This next passage put the Passover and the feast of Unleavened bread together in terms of time; i.e. they were BOTH two days away on the same day!

Marqos (Mark) 14:1 Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Yeshua and kill him.

This next passage has a Passover seder happening on the first day of Unleavened Bread.

In this next passage, Luqas (Luke) flat out calls the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Passover:

Luqas (Luke) 22:1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching,

Our Messiah, Yeshua, commanded us to obey the Pharisees in:

Matityahu (Matthew) 23:2-3 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

The Pharisees[131] have commanded us to celebrate Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread as a single festival which lasts for seven days. A short look at any Jewish calendar will also verify the understanding and command of the Pharisees.

The Babylonian Talmud, Soncino edition, in Moed Katan 2a, contains a footnote which says:

“I.e., during the middle period of the two longer Feasts, namely, the ‘Feast of Unleavened Bread’ (Passover) and that of Tabernacles, v. Introduction.”

Which clearly indicates that Passover is just another name for the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

So, I believe I have sufficiently proven that Passover and the Feast of Unleavened both: Start on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month.

Passover and the Feast of Unleavened both: Last for seven days.

Passover and the Feast of Unleavened both: Commemorate the day Israel, and a large mixed multitude, left Egypt.

Passover and the Feast of Unleavened both: Are the same festival according to the Pharisees.

Finally, orthodox Jews are very serious about obeying HaShem and doing things the correct way. If we want to know the truth, all we need to do is to observe these Jews. They will show us!

The Torah calls Passover “Chag HaMatzot.” But we call it “Passover.” Why is this so? Rav Chaim Volozhiner explains as follows:

The word Matzot and the word Mitzvot are spelled exactly the same in Hebrew. Thus “Chag HaMatzot” can be read “Chag HaMitzvot,” meaning that by leaving Egypt and receiving the Torah, the Jewish People now have the opportunity to earn great reward by doing the mitzvot.

Passover, on the other hand, means Passover: HaShem “passed over” the houses of the Bnei Israel. By calling it Passover, we emphasize the good that HaShem has done for us.

Our Sages teach us not to serve HaShem with an eye to the reward; rather we should serve Him out of a sense of love and gratitude. By calling it Passover we de-emphasize the reward that each mitzva brings, and instead focus on the good that HaShem has done for us. Rabbi Reuven Lauffer

Passover Customs

Ever since there has been a Passover to celebrate, it has been an occasion marked by a variety of customs and rites special to different Jewish communities throughout the world. Some traditions are held in common. On the first night of Passover, every Jew is required to perform five mitzvot. Two are required by the Torah:

1. To eat matza (Shemot 12:18);

2. To recount the story of the Exodus from Egypt (Shemot 13:8).

The other three are rabbinical ordinances:

1. To drink four cups of wine;

2. To eat maror;

3. To recite Hallel, the psalms of praise.

Other traditions are characteristic of specific communities and we find a great diversity of eating customs, as well as what defines chametz (leaven), between Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews. One of the traditions held in common is that of drinking four cups of wine. But whereas Ashkenazi Jews have always poured a fifth cup in honor of the prophet Elijah, it is only in recent generations of Sephardim that we find this custom. Jews of western background have traditionally opened the door for the prophet as part of the “vigil” and to demonstrate that on this night the House of Israel knows no fear but we find this custom in only a few Sephardic communities.

There can be no doubt that the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt marks one of the most dramatic and pivotal events in Jewish history. Various communities throughout the world, paying heed to the Haggada’s admonition that each of us must feel as if we personally had experienced this deliverance, have dramatized the Exodus in highly personalized fashion. A member of a Moroccan Jewish household would dress in rags as a weary traveler, carry a satchel upon his back go outside, and knock on the door. Upon entering the house, he would ask: “Where have the children of Israel gone?” Those assembled would reply: “To Eretz Israel, the Land of Israel.” The “traveler” would then ask: “Who saved Israel?” And receive the answer, “Our father Moses.” After this exchange, the “traveler” was made welcome and the seder would begin.

In Libya, the head of the family would wrap half of the Afikomen in cloth and place it upon his shoulder. He would leave the room, return, and be asked by those gathered: “Where have you been?” To which he would reply: “In Egypt.” He is next asked: “Where are you going?” And would answer: “To Jerusalem.” At this point, everyone would sing out: “Next year in Jerusalem!”

In other North African communities, the men would gather in the streets, carrying walking sticks, and greet each other by saying: “This is how our forefathers left Egypt.” The Jews of Algiers would sing in the streets” “When Israel left Egypt and Jacob left a foreign land.” Such customs, with slight variations, were common amongst the Jews of Babylon, Kurdistan, the Caucasus and Salonika.

Several Hassidic communities in Europe followed a similar custom by having a member of the household present himself to the rabbi with a sack of matzot. The Hakham would ask: “Where have you come from?” To which he was answered: “From Egypt.” The Hakham would express astonishment by saying: “How is it possible to go beyond the closed gates of Egypt when you are but a slave?” The Hakham would be told: “Tonight is the night of vigil, the night of order, HaShem has given us wonders and miracles and has brought us from slavery into freedom.”

During the Seder it is traditional for the youngest child to ask four questions about the uniqueness of Passover, which the leader answers. Children are encouraged to participate and to think of their history as if they themselves had been delivered from slavery. They are also taught in the Haggada that, because the Israelites were strangers in Egypt, Jews must remember to welcome strangers in their midst.

New Grain

The Targum teaches us that we have to have matza the first night from the old grain, but for the remaining six days we can eat matza made from the new grain:

Targum Pseudo Jonathan For: Devarim (Deuteronomy) ‎16:8. On the first day you will offer the omer, and eat unleavened cakes of the old grain; but in the six remaining days you may begin to eat unleavened cakes of the new grain, and on the seventh day you will assemble with thanksgiving before HaShem your God; no work will you perform.

An egg is always placed upon the seder plate. We have a custom to eat this egg as the first part of the meal which divides the seder. Some say that the round egg, a symbol of mourning, is eaten in memory of either the destruction of the Temple (the body of Mashiach is also a picture of the Temple), the exile of the Jews, or the death of Moses. Perhaps all of the above. Another explanation for this custom is that, according to tradition, the eating of eggs was forbidden by Egyptian law at the time of the Exodus and therefore it is eaten at the seder in celebration of freedom. The egg also represents the Chagiga, the festival offering, offered at Passover.

Curiously, Yeshua died a couple of hours before we begin the first seder. This suggests that we are mourning, and eat the egg, because Mashiach ben Yosef has died. Now, we eat the egg at the end of the first half of the seder, as part of the the meal. The meal separates the seder into two parts: The first part deals with our redemption in the days of Moses. The second half deals with our redemption in the future. In the same way, the hallel is divided into two pieces: Half before the meal and half after the meal. Additionally, the middle matza is divided and we eat half before the meal and half after the meal. Since the seder, the matza, and the hallel are divided; this suggests that the Mashiach’s role will also be divided. The first half of the messianic redemption is complete. We are now waiting for Mashiach to come and complete the second half of our redemption.

The first day of Pesach falls out on the same day of the week as Tisha B’Ab. This connections suggests that Pesach and Tisha B’Ab are connected. Tisha B’Ab is the fast day in which we commemorate the destruction of the first and second Temples. Yesha, AKA Mashiach ben Yosef, also connected His body with the Temple.[132]

Chazal teach that Mashiach will be ‘born’ on Tisha B’Ab. This gives us a second connection, in addition to the egg, to Mashiach.

Every day of Pesach is connected to the counting of the omer – EXCEPT the first day! Every other day of Pesach is connected to the giving of the Torah an Mt. Sinai – except the first day. With the egg as a reminder, we now understand that the first day of Pesach is connected to the living Torah.

Learned scholars of the mystical Kabbalah attach profound meaning to the symbols of Passover. Chametz, for example, which Jews traditionally do their best to be rid of before the seder, is symbolic of man’s evil inclinations. The matzot, on the other hand, symbolizes man’s positive inclinations. Different symbols, different customs and traditions, all become part of the glorious Jewish mosaic which is the Festival of Passover.

Unleavened bread

Shemot (Exodus) 12:15-20 For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat--that is all you may do. “Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born. Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.”

Rashi Commentary for: ‎ Shemot (Exodus) 12:15

Shemot (Exodus) 12:15 For seven days-Heb. שִׁבְעַת יָמִים , seteyne of days, i.e., a group of seven days.[133]

For seven days you shall eat unleavened cakes- But elsewhere it says: “For six days you shall eat unleavened cakes”.[134] This teaches [us] regarding the seventh day of Passover, that it is not obligatory to eat matzah, as long as one does not eat chametz. How do we know that [the first] six [days] are also optional [concerning eating matzah]? This is a principle in [interpreting] the Torah: Anything that was included in a generalization [in the Torah] and was excluded from that generalization [in the Torah] to teach [something] it was not excluded to teach [only] about itself, but it was excluded to teach about the entire generalization. [In this case it means that] just as [on] the seventh day [eating matzah] is optional, so is it optional in [the first] six [days]. I might think that [on] the first night it is also optional. Therefore, Scripture states: “in the evening, you shall eat unleavened cakes”.[135] The text established it as an obligation.[136]

but on the preceding day you shall clear away all leaven-Heb. בַּיוֹם הָרִאשׁוֹן . On the day before the holiday; it is called the first [day], because it is before the seven; [i.e., it is not the first of the seven days]. Indeed, we find [anything that is] the preceding one [is] called רִאשׁוֹן , e.g.,הֲרִאשׁוֹן אָדָם תִּוָלֵד , “Were you born before Adam?”.[137] Or perhaps it means only the first of the seven [days of Passover]. Therefore, Scripture states: “You shall not slaughter with leaven [the blood of My sacrifice]”.[138] You shall not slaughter the Passover sacrifice as long as the leaven still exists.[139] [Since the Passover sacrifice may be slaughtered immediately after noon on the fourteenth day of Nissan, clearly the leaven must be removed before that time. Hence the expression בַּיוֹם הָרִאשׁוֹן must refer to the day preceding the festival.]

From Rashi’s comments we learn two things:

We must eat matza on the first night of Passover.
We may eat matza the last six days of Passover, but we are not required to eat matza the last six days.

The Mishna:

The olah (the burnt offering) is a sacrifice of the kodshei kodashim (the most sanctified category). Its blood is sprinkled upon the altar in two applications which are like four.

The Method:

The Korban (literally means “to draw near”) Passover (paschal lamb sacrifice eaten on the eve of Passover in the time of the Beit HaMikdash) may be eaten only at night (not on the day it is slaughtered as is the case in regard to all other sacrifices) and only until midnight.

The Halacha:

This Mishna is cited as a support for establishing the Halacha according to the view of Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, whose position is that the Korban Passover can only be eaten until midnight and not like the position of Rabbi Akiva that it can be eaten by Torah Law until dawn.

The Application:

Even though we have no Korban Passover today this ruling affects us in regard to the schedule of our Passover Seder. The Sage Rava states (Pesachim 120b) that since the Torah links the mitzva of eating matza to that of Korban Passover, one must eat matza, which is a mitzva even when there is no Korban, before midnight according to Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah in order to fulfill the mitzva .

Other Ramifications:

Both Tosafot and Rabbeinu Nissim extend this midnight deadline to the eating of the Afikomen as well since it is eaten as a remembrance of the Korban Passover. In regard to the recital of Hallel after the Afikomen, however, there is a difference of opinion. Rabbeinu Nissim in Mesechta Megillah quotes a Tosefist opinion that it too should be recited before midnight. But the Tosafot, in Megillah 21a, notes that since Hallel is only a rabbinic obligation, one need not be so stringent about saying it before midnight.

The Shulchan Aruch[140] rules that the Afikomen should be eaten before midnight but makes no mention of Hallel. The Rama, however, adds that one should conduct the Seder early enough to allow for reciting Hallel before midnight. Based on the aforementioned sources we can well understand why the Mishna Berurah points out that an effort should be made in regard to Hallel before midnight but that is not as serious a requirement as the Afikomen.[141]

* * *

ORDER OF THE PASSOVER OFFERING

SAID AFTER THE MINCHA (AFTERNOON) PRAYER

“We offer the words of our lips in place of the sacrifice of bullocks.”[142]

The Mincha prayer is instead of the daily afternoon offering, and in the time of the Beit HaMikdash the Passover offering was sacrificed after the daily afternoon offering. Thus it is appropriate to study the order of the Passover offering after Mincha, and say the following:

The Passover offering is brought from yearling male lambs or goats, and slaughtered anywhere in the Temple court only after midday of the fourteenth of Nisan, after the slaughtering of the daily afternoon offering and after the afternoon cleaning of the cups of the menorah.

One should not slaughter the Passover offering while chametz is in his possession. If he slaughtered it before the daily afternoon offering, it is acceptable, provided that someone stir the blood of the Passover offering so that it will not congeal until the blood of the daily afternoon offering will have been sprinkled, and then the blood of the Passover offering is sprinkled once toward the base of the altar.

How is it done? The shochet slaughters it, and the first Kohen at the head of the line receives it and hands it over to his colleague, and his colleague to his colleague, and the Kohen nearest the altar sprinkles it once toward the base of the altar.

He returns the empty vessel to his colleague, and his colleague to his colleague, receiving first the full vessel and then returning the empty one.[143]

There were rows of silver vessels and rows of golden vessels, and the vessels did not have flat bottoms, lest they set them down and the blood become congealed.

Afterwards they hung the Passover offering, flayed it completely, tore it open, cleansed its bowels until the wastes were removed.

They took out the parts offered on the altar, namely, the fat that is on the entrails, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat on them, and the tail up to the backbone, and placed them in a ritual vessel.

The Kohen then salted them and burned them upon the altar, each one individually.

The slaughtering, the sprinkling of its blood, the cleansing of its bowels and the burning of its fat override the Shabbat, but other things pertaining to it do not override the Shabbat.

Likewise, if [the fourteenth of Nisan] falls on Shabbat, the Passover offerings are not carried home, but one group remains with their Passover offerings on the Temple mount, the second group sits in the chel [an area just outside the Temple court], and the third stands in its place [in the courtyard].

After nightfall they go to their places and roast the Passover offering.

The Passover offering was slaughtered in three groups, each group consisting of no less than thirty men.

The first group entered, the Temple court was filled, they closed [its doors], and while they were slaughtering it and offering its parts on the altar, they [the Leviim] recited the Hallel; if they finished [Hallel] before all sacrificed, they repeated it, and if they repeated it [and were not finished yet], they recited it a third time.

Each time Hallel was recited, [the Kohanim, the priests] sounded three blasts of the trumpet: tekiah, teruah, tekiah.

When the offering was ended, they opened the doors of the Temple court, the first group went out and the second entered, and they closed the doors of the Temple court.

When they finished, they opened the doors, the second group went out and the third entered.

The procedure of each group was the same.

After they all had left, they washed the Temple court, even on Shabbat, of the filth of the blood.

How was the washing done? A water duct passed through the Temple court and had an outlet from the court.

When they wished to wash the floor, they shut the outlet and the stream overflowed its sides until the water rose and flooded the [floor] all around and all the blood and dirt of the court were gathered to it.

Then they opened the outlet, everything flowed out and the floor was completely clean; this is the honor of the Temple.

If the Passover offering was found to be unfit, one did not fulfill his obligation until he brings another one.

This is a very brief description of the order of the Passover offering. The God-fearing person should recite it in its proper time, that its recital shall be regarded in place of its offering.

One should be concerned about the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, and plead before HaShem, the Creator of the universe, that He rebuild it speedily in our days; Amen.

* * *

HaShem’s Passover lamb can only be slain at the place where HaShem put His name - The Temple:

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 16:5-6 You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town HaShem your God gives you Except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary of your departure from Egypt.

Passover Greetings

Passover Greetings (in alphabetical order):

A zissen Pesach — Have a sweet Passover! (Yiddish)

Chag Abib sameach — Have a happy spring holiday! (Hebrew)

Chag kasher sameach — Have a happy and kosher holiday! (Hebrew)

Chag sameach — Have a happy holiday! (Hebrew)

Moedim l’simcha — May your times be joyous! (Hebrew, said only during the Chol HaMoed, or intermediate, days of the holiday)

Elijah and Passover

The Haggada opens with the words:

“Let all who are hungry come and eat.”

Among the awaited guests is the prophet Elijah who, according to the scripture, never died, but was carried up to heaven in a whirlwind. The life of no other character in the Tanach is so surrounded with a halo of mystery and wonder as is that of Elijah. He is the champion of the oppressed, he brings hope, cheer and relief to the downtrodden; and he performs miracles of rescue and deliverance.

The Prophet Malachi says of him: “He will turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the hearts of children to their parents.” Elijah is the harbinger of good tidings of joy and peace. His name is especially associated with the coming of the Messiah, whose advent he is expected to announce.

A part of the Passover seder has always been to set a place for Elijah and to open a door to look for him during the feast. We look for Elijah just before we take the fourth cup to symbolize that Elijah is expected just before HaShem comes to take His people for Himself.

Those who recognize that Yeshua, the Anointed One, came nearly two thousand years ago, should also recognize “Elijah” who came to prepare the way according to the prophecy in:

Malachi 4:5 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of HaShem comes.

Yeshua named Yochanan (John) the Baptist as the Elijah who was to come in Matityahu (Matthew) 11:7-15.

It was a custom to begin your occupation on your thirtieth birthday. Yochanan (John) and Yeshua both followed this custom. If we look carefully at the Nazarean Codicil[144] we can see that Yochanan (John) the Baptist was born on Passover and began his ministry on Passover. Since we are expecting Elijah at Passover we can understand why Yochanan (John) came on that day.

Yochanan (John) the Baptist sent some disciples to Yeshua to find out if He was the “Expected One” who would resurrect HaShem’s people and free them from bondage. Yeshua’s answer indicated that He would be The Expected One, later. HaShem’s people are now looking for Yeshua to return. Before Yeshua returns, we should look for Elijah to come at Passover. When we see Elijah we are probably only six months from beholding Yeshua.[145]

There is a second chance to celebrate Passover. This minor festival is called Pesach Sheni, or the second Passover.

Passover symbols

Passover is intimately associated with tefillin as we can see from the following pasuk:

Shemot (Exodus) 13:5-9 And it shall be when HaShem shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month. 6 Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to HaShem. 7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.

8 And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which HaShem did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. 9 And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that HaShem’s law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath HaShem brought thee out of Egypt.

I Corinthians 5:7 Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast--as you really are. For Mashiach, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

Yehoshua (Joshua) 4:19-24 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. And Yehoshua (Joshua) set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For HaShem your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. HaShem your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of HaShem is powerful and so that you might always fear HaShem your God.”

Yehoshua (Joshua) 5:1-15 Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how HaShem had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until we had crossed over, their hearts melted and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites. At that time HaShem said to Yehoshua (Joshua), “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.” So Yehoshua (Joshua) made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth. Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of Egypt--all the men of military age--died in the desert on the way after leaving Egypt. All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the desert during the journey from Egypt had not. The Israelites had moved about in the desert forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed HaShem. For HaShem had sworn to them that they would not see the land that he had solemnly promised their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. So he raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones Yehoshua (Joshua) circumcised. They were still uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed. Then HaShem said to Yehoshua (Joshua), “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the place has been called Gilgal to this day. On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan. Now when Yehoshua (Joshua) was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Yehoshua (Joshua) went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of HaShem I have now come.” Then Yehoshua (Joshua) fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?” The commander of HaShem’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Yehoshua (Joshua) did so.

Yochanan (John) 6:25-71 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Yeshua answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Yeshua answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” So they asked him, “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’“ Yeshua said to them, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” “Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.” Then Yeshua declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Yeshua, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Yeshua answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Yeshua said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.” He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Yeshua said to them, “Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Yeshua had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.” From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Yeshua asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” Then Yeshua replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 8:1-3 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that HaShem promised on oath to your forefathers. Remember how HaShem your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of HaShem.

The Passover Covenant and Mashiach

Shemot (Exodus) 6:6-7 “Therefore, say to the Israelites:

Cup #1 (The cup of blessing or sanctification):

I am HaShem, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

Cup #2 (The cup of deliverance):

I will free you from being slaves to them, and

Cup #3 (The cup of Redemption):

I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.

Cup #4 (The cup of completion or glorification):

I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am HaShem your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

FULFILLMENT

Cup number one (1) is found in:

I Corinthians 10:16 Is not the cup of blessing for which we bless a participation in the blood of Mashiach? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Mashiach?

Notice that this is NOT the third (3) cup that Mashiach said was the new covenant in His blood (Luqas (Luke) 22:20). This is plainly the first cup known as the cup of blessing.

It is also noteworthy that the only piece of matza that was specifically “broken” was the middle piece which is known as the dessert matza or “Afikomen”.

AFIKOMEN

a. The matza is broken before reciting the Haggada, because the recital is to be over a matza suitable for the obligation of Haggada, namely Lechem oni (bread of poverty) - which is a broken piece.

[Lechem oni means “bread of poverty”, but is also interpreted as “Lechem she’onim alav” - the bread over which we answer (discuss; recite) many things. Combining both meanings, then, the Haggada is to be said over matza, and in particular a matza which is noticeably “bread of poverty” - i.e., a broken piece of matza. (Pesachim 115b)]

19. The matza is to be broken while it is yet covered by the cloth.

20. It is customary to wrap the Afikomen in a cloth - in commemoration of “The people took. the remainders [of the matza and maror] wrapped up in their garments” (Shemot (Exodus) 12:34; see Rashi), and to hide it among the pillows so that it will not be eaten inadvertently during the meal.

The Rebbe R. Sholom Ber - (and also his son, the Rebbe R. Yoseph Yitzchak) - used to break the Afikomen into five pieces. It once happened that it broke into six pieces, so he put one aside. [e]

Some have the custom that the children “snatch” the Afikomen (and ransom it for some present).

b. The larger piece is set aside, because Afikomen is a significant mitzva : [it is eaten as the very last thing at the Seder] representing for us the Passover-offering.

The term Afikomen is said to mean “afiku - bring out- to the table all kinds of food.

Tishby and Mussaf He’aruch state that Afikomen is a Greek term for foods eaten at the conclusion of a meal (dessert).

c. The smaller piece is the one we recite the Haggada over.

d. The broken piece must be between the two whole Matzot, because the matza - which takes precedence to the blessing for “eating the matza” - is to be recited over a whole matza; and as “one must not by-pass mitzvot,” the upper [thus first accessible] matza must therefore be whole.

e. It has been suggested that the children’s snatching of the Afikomen is alluded in the Gemara: “chotfin matza’ - the matza is taken in a hurry (i.e., eaten; or removed) on the night of Passover on account of the children, so that they should not fall asleep.

The Rebbe R. Yoseph Yitzchak related that the older daughter of the Rebbe R. Shmuel, when still a child, once snatched the Afikomen.

However, it would seem that this was an exceptional event. In this context one can refer to the saying of our sages: “Even if you steal from a thief, you also have a taste [(of theft);” that is, there remains a trace of illegitimacy, with the possibility of negative aftereffects].

Some have said that “Afikomen” means “I came”.

Others say that “Afikomen” means dessert because it is derived from “epikomon” or “epikomion”

* * *

The Shabbat before Passover is called “Shabbat HaGadol” (the Great Shabbat). It was in Egypt that the Jewish people celebrated the very first Shabbat HaGadol, on the tenth of Nisan - five days before their redemption. On that day the Children of Israel were given their first mitzva, a mitzva which applied only to that Shabbat, but not to future generations.

* * *

The Haggada remains the key document whose raison d’etre seems to be use of the question. It begins with four, shifts to three types who ask questions and one who doesn’t, and during the rest of the Seder, with the help of unique foods and special rituals, questions abound as a narrative spell of Jewish history is woven.

Hallel

I have heard rabbis of our generation[146] say that all of Hallel is speaking about Mashiach ben Yosef. As we look at Hallel keep this in mind.

The Gemara, in Pesachim 118, tells us that Hallel was singled out because it has five special facets; it refers to:

(1) Shemot (Exodus)

(2) Splitting of Yam Soof,

(3) Giving of Torah,

(4) War of Gog and Magog, and

(5) Revival of the Dead and the Pangs of Messiah

The custom of the Sepharadim is to recite the entire Hallel after Arbit on the first night of Pesach (as well as on the second night in the Diaspora). The introductory Beracha of “Asher Kideshanu Be’misvotav…Li’gmor Et Ha’hallel” is recited before Hallel, and the concluding Beracha of “Yehalelucha” is recited afterward. It thus turns out that we recite Hallel three times over the course of the first day of Pesach: once after Arbit in the synagogue, once at the Seder – the first two paragraphs before the meal, and the rest after the meal – and then a third time the following morning at Shaharit. The Tikkuneh Zohar comments that these recitations are alluded to by the three Matzot at the Seder. The two whole Matzot represent the complete Hallel recitations after Arbit and Shaharit, and the broken Matza symbolizes the Hallel recited at the Seder, which is done in two separate stages.

Pesachim 118a Now since there is the great Hallel, why do we recite this one?[147] Because it includes [a mention of] the following five things: The Exodus from Egypt, the dividing of the Red Sea, the giving of the Torah [Revelation], the resurrection of the dead, and the pangs of Messiah.[148] The Exodus from Egypt, as it is written, When Israel came forth out of Egypt;[149] as the dividing of the Red Sea: The sea saw it, and fled;[150] the giving of the Torah: The mountains skipped like rams;[151] resurrection of the dead: I shall walk before HaShem [in the land of the living];[152] the pangs of Messiah: Not unto us, HaShem, not unto us.[153]

R. Johanan also said: ‘Not unto us, HaShem, not unto us’ refers to the servitude to [foreign] powers. Others state, R. Johanan said: ‘Not unto us, HaShem, not unto us’ refers to the war of Gog and Magog.[154] R. Nahman b. Isaac said: [Hallel is recited] because it contains [an allusion to] the deliverance of the souls of the righteous from the Gehenna, as it is said, I beseech Thee, HaShem, deliver my soul.[155] Hezekiah said: Because it alludes to the descent of the righteous[156] into the fiery furnace and their ascent from it. ‘Their descent,’ for it is written, Not unto us, HaShem, not unto us: [this] Hananiah said; ‘But unto Thy name give glory’ was said by Mishael; For Thy mercy, a rid for Thy truth’s sake, by Azariah; Wherefore should the nations say?[157] by all of them. ‘Their ascent from the fiery furnace,’ for it is written, O praise HaShem, all ye nations;[158] [this] Hananiah said; Laud Him, all ye peoples, was said by Mishael; For His mercy is great toward us,[159] by Azariah; ‘And the truth of HaShem endureth forever,’ by all of them. Others maintain [that] it was Gabriel who said, ‘And the truth of HaShem endureth forever.’ [For] when the wicked Nimrod cast our father Abraham into the fiery furnace, Gabriel said to the Holy One, blessed be He: ‘Sovereign of the Universe! Let me go down, cool [it], and deliver that righteous man from the fiery furnace.’ Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to him: ‘I am unique in My world, and he is unique in his world: it is fitting for Him who is unique to deliver him who is unique. But because the Holy One, blessed be He, does not withhold the [merited] reward of any creature, he said to him, ‘Thou shalt be privileged to deliver three of his descendants’.[160]

Why is Hallel split on Passover night? The Hallel is split to shows us both the past redemption and the future redemption. Thus, before the meal, we recite those parts of Hallel which pertain to the past, and after the meal we recite those parts of the Hallel which pertain to the future.

Midrash Rabbah - Vayikra (Leviticus) XXX:5 And tell of all Thy wondrous works (ib.). This, said R. Abin, applies to the Hallel[161] which contains references to the past, references to the future, references to the present generations, references to the days of the Messiah, and references to the days of Gog and Magog.[162] Thus: When Israel came forth out of Egypt (Ps. CXIV, 1) is a reference to the past; Not unto us, HaShem (ib. CXV, 1) to the present generations; I love that HaShem should hear (ib. CXVI, 1) to the days of the Messiah; All nations compass me about (ib. CXVII, 10) to the days of Gog and Magog; Thou art my God, and I will give thanks unto Thee; Thou art my God, I will exalt Thee (ib. CXVIII, 28) to the future.

Geula - Redemption

There is a story about Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar Ben Azaria, Rabbi Akiva,[163] and Rabbi Tarfon who assembled in Bnei Brak.[164] They were so absorbed in telling the story of the exodus from Egypt that the entire night passed when their students came over and said to them; “Our masters, it is time to recite the morning SHEMA!”[165]

Where were their families? Where were their talmidim?

Rabbi Akiva wanted bring the Shechina[166] back to Jerusalem. He understood that there was a koach to bring the geula at Pesach. This was a summit meeting of the gedolei hador, in one room - all night long, to bring the geula. This was an exercize in bringing the geula.

The talmidim announced that it was time to say the morning shema. The day has begun. They accomplished the ending of the Hadrian decrees,[167] this was the 'dawn' of the day - the beginning of the geula. The galut is receeding and the light of geula is getting brighter and brighter.

They were trying to understand HaShem geula plan as outlined in the haggada. We do not have a midrash or even a mechilta which tells us what they talked about. This is because they were speaking about the things of sod and this is why the talmidim were not allowed to be there. This is why we do not know what they said.

* * *

Succoth is always associated with a salvation experience. The early kabbalists, in the name of even earlier kabbalists, state that whenever we find saving and redemption, it is necessary to immdeately go to succoth. The first journey of the Children of Israel from Egypt was from Rameses to Succoth.[168] When Yaakov was saved from Esav, he journeyed to Succoth.[169] When the Jewish People are saved from all that they must be saved on Yom Kippur, they journey to Succoth.[170] Likewise, by the redemption of the second entrance into the Land with Ezra, they immediately did something whose merit shielded them like a succah.[171]

Lot

By Rav Chanoch Waxman

The narrative in Bereshit 19 describes a house that is closed up, in which the family and the guests have just completed a meal with matzot. At the doorway to the house, the angels save the family members, strike the people of the city (Sedom), and then bring Lot’s family out of the city, by virtue of the hospitality shown to them.

The following table presents a comparison between the expressions in this chapter and the description of Pesach in Egypt:

[1] I heard this idea from Rabbi Daniel Lapin.

[4] Erev Rav - עֵרֶב רַב = mixed multitude. From Shemot (Exodus) 12:38.

[6] And the Afikomen which represents the Passover lamb.

[7] Judah Loew ben Bezalel, alt. Loewe, Löwe, or Levai, (c. 1520 – 17 September 1609) widely known to scholars of Judaism as the Maharal of Prague, or simply The Maharal, the Hebrew acronym of "Moreinu ha-Rav Loew," ("Our Teacher, Rabbi Loew") was an important Talmudic scholar, Jewish mystic, and philosopher who, for most of his life, served as a leading rabbi in the cities of Mikulov in Moravia and Prague in Bohemia.

[9] Hallel consists of Tehillim (Psalms) 113-118.

[10] For those who see their redemption from the atonement of Yeshua, please be aware that He died at the same time the Passover lambs were slain. He is our Passover lamb according to: 1 Corinthians 5:7.

[17] I.e., on this night they are not allowed to roam as on other nights.

[18] Shemot 4:13, according to Targum Yonatan, see also Rashi ad loc

[20] The ancient triennial lectionary is three and a half years in length. Two triennial cycles compose the septennial lectionary which corresponds with the Shmita (sabbatical) year.

[24] Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread are two different names for the name festival, as we explained earlier.

[30] Parnas is usually associated with one’s livelihood.

[31] Chazal or Ḥazal (Hebrew: חז"ל‎) is an acronym for the Hebrew "Ḥakhameinu Zikhronam Liv'rakha", (חכמינו זכרונם לברכה, literally "Our Sages, may their memory be blessed"). In rabbinic writings this is a general term that refers to all sages of the Mishna, Talmud, and other rabbinic literature commentators, and their authoritative opinion, from the times of the Second Temple of Jerusalem until the 6th century CE.

[32] Because it became unclean owing to the restoration of her youth (Gen. R. XLVIII, 14). This was a miracle, and in remembrance of that they were now to eat unleavened bread (Mah.). The passage, however may simply mean that she made them ‘cakes’, i.e. unleavened bread and they did not taste (leavened) bread, because it was the Passover period, as stated in Gen. R. XLVIII, 12.

[33] The word in the plural implies two persecutions.

[37] Gen. XVIII, 14. Said by the angel to Abraham with reference to the birth of Isaac.

[39] The interval between Passover and Pentecost.

[40] According to another tradition (based on the words, knead and prepare unleavened cakes), the angels appeared to Abraham on Passover. Cf. Tosaf. s.v. tkt .

[41] According to tradition, Sarah became niddah (v. Glos.) (her period started) on that day.

[42] Lit., ‘defective (months)’. I.e., less than twenty-nine or thirty days.

[43] I Sam. I, 20 (E.V. ‘when the time was come about’). This is taken as proof by the Talmud that Hannah bore after six months and two days.

[53] Tanakh is an acronym for ‘Torah, Neviim, Ketuvim’ – ‘The Law, The Prophets, and The Writings’, the so called ‘Old Testament’.

[54] From Luqas (Luke) 6:1

1207 deuteroprotos, dyoo-ter-op’-ro-tos; from 1208 and 4413; second-first, i.e. (spec.) a designation of the Sabbath immediately after the Paschal week (being the second after Passover day, and the first of the seven Sabbaths intervening before Pentecost):-second..after the first.

[79] Daat Mikra introduction to Ezra/Nechemiah

[86] We call it Passover because HaShem ‘passed over’ our houses to demonstrate His love. HaShem calls it ‘Unleavened Bread’ because that is how we demonstrated our love for HaShem.

[87] This is the second half of the Hallel Psalms (115-118).

[90] Shemot (Exodus) 12:18 - Mechilta on Exodus 12:18; Pesachim 120a

[96] This is the “cup of completion”, the fourth cup in the Haggada.

[101] V. n. 7, p. 571, on ‘the children of Noah’. But Ex. XXIV, 5 was after Revelation.

[104] The burnt-offering was slaughtered on the north side of the altar; the peace-offering, on any side. He renders: Awake, O nation who hitherto, as Children of Noah, could only sacrifice on the north side of the altar (hence, burnt-offerings) and now, by accepting the Torah, come as a people who can sacrifice in the north and the south. — Cf. Gen. Rab. XXII, 5 (Sonc. ed. p. 183.)

[106] It is a summons to the north and the south to bring in their exiles.

[109] As that has been derived from Deut. XVI, 1.

[110] I.e., these verses teach that the Passover-offering must be sacrificed specifically as such and for its registered owner.

[111] In the sense that it is otherwise disqualified.

[112] Deut. XVI, 2. This too has the same teaching as XVI, 1. Since however it is superfluous in that case, it must intimate that this regulation is indispensable.

[113] E.g., if an animal dedicated for a Passover-sacrifice was lost, whereupon its owners registered for another animal, and then the first was found after the second was sacrificed. Or again, if a sum of money was dedicated to buy a paschal lamb, but it was not all expended; then too the surplus must be used for a peace-offering.

[114] But not from the herd, which means the larger cattle.

[115] Heb. ‘hu’, This is regarded as superfluous and hence interpreted as emphasizing the regulation to the extent of making it indispensable.

[116] A change either in respect of sanctity or owner invalidates the paschal sacrifice.

[122] Some Christians teach that chametz, leaven, is a symbol of sin. This cannot be! If leaven were a symbol for sin, then it would be forbidden all year long!

[129] Inspiring thoughts from Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook and Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.

[130] See Chizkuni on Shemot 12:15 (in the middle of his pirush) where he explains that Chag HaMatzot is specifically seven days to correspond to the seven days that each plague lasted.

[131] Orthodox Jewish Rabbis are the Pharisees of today who sit in the seat of Moses.

[132] John 2:19-21 Yeshua answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews therefore said, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou raise it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body.

[143] This sequence avoids delaying the fulfillment of a precept by doing something else. [Receiving the full vessel involves the precept of sprinkling the blood in it on the altar; thus must precede handing back an empty vessel.]

[145] When Jews speak of Messiah, they are speaking of Messiah ben David. When Christians are speaking of Messiah, they are speaking of Messiah ben Joseph. This accounts for many of the differences between these two groups.

[148] I.e.,, the suffering which must precede his coming.

[153] Ibid. CXV, 1. This is now interpreted as a prayer to be spared the great distress of that time; cf. Sanh. 97a.

[154] V. Ezek. XXXVIII and Sanh., Sonc, ed. p. 630. n. 7.

[160] And when that promise was fulfilled, Gabriel said ‘and the truth’ etc.

[163] These four Rabbis were Tannaim. Rabbi Akiva's name itself, it is based on the word Eikev (heel), just as is the name Yaakov. The fact that Rabbi Akiva's name is based on the name of the bottom or end part of the body signifies that indeed, it will be at the end of days, commonly called Keitz HaYomim, referring to the Messianic era, that we will indeed be comforted twice from the destruction of both Temples, as the Third Temple that we will soon be built, G-d willing, will be permanent without ever being destroyed again. In fact, there is an Aramaic name for the end period of our exile that is called Ikveta D'Meshicha "The footsteps of Messiah" - the first Aramaic word being based on the word Eikev, allegorically referring to hearing Moshiach arriving at our door by his footsteps, as he will be arriving any moment (so to speak, but it could literally happen before the end of writing my sentence here), though there may be a question as to when this period began, but there is no question based on the fulfillment of recent prophecies that the time of our Redemption is - just a matter of time.

[164] The account of the seder in Bnei Brak is also a historical anecdote from some work of midrash or work of aggadah regarding the discussions and counsel of the great sages of Israel when they gathered in the center of nationalist zeal, Bnei Brak, the residence of Rabbi Akiva, to speak of the exodus from Egypt, the time of our freedom, and also to express ideas and arrange counsel in the matter of the movement for freedom which then enveloped the nation.

[166] Shekinah, Shechinah, Shechina, or Schechinah (Hebrew: שכינה‎), is the English spelling of a grammatically feminine Hebrew name of HaShem in Torah. The original word means the dwelling or settling, and denotes the dwelling or settling of the divine presence of HaShem, especially in the Temple in Jerusalem.

[167] This happened at about the same time as the Shimon Bar-Kokhba rebellion.

[168] Shemot (Exodus) 12:37, Bamidbar (Numbers) 33:5

[171] REFLECTIONS & INTROSPECTIONS, Elul, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Succos – Torah insights of HaGaon HaGadol Rav Moshe Shapiro, by Moshe Antebi

[172] This fast is generally abrogated by participating in a Seudat Mitzva, a meal put on by someone celebrating a mitzva.

Date	Torah[21]	Nevi’im[22]	Ketuvim[23]

Nisan 14	Shemot (Exodus) 12:21-51	Yehoshua (Joshua) 3:5-7	Tehillim (Psalm) 113 - 118
	Bamidbar (Numbers) 28:16-25	Yehoshua (Joshua) 5:2 - 6:1
		Yehoshua (Joshua) 6:27
Nisan 15	Vayikra (Leviticus) 22:26 - 23:44	Melachim alef (I Kings) 23:1-9	Tehillim (Psalm) 113 - 118
Nisan 16-20			Tehillim (Psalm) 113, 114, 115:12-18,
			Tehillim (Psalm) 116:12-19, 117, 118
			(Half Hallel)
Intermediate Shabbat	Shemot (Exodus) 33:12 - 34:26	Yehezekel (Ezekiel) 36:37- 37:14	Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs)
Nisan 21	Shemot (Exodus) 13:17 - 15:26	Shmuel bet (II Samuel) 22:1-51
	Bamidbar (Numbers) 28:19-25
Nisan 22	Devarim (Deuteronomy) 15:19 - 16:17	Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 10:32 - 12:6
	Bamidbar (Numbers) 28:19-25

Event	Delivered from:	Scripture

Abram leaves Ur	The exile in Ur	Bereshit (Genesis) 15:6-16
Abram goes to Egypt	Egyptian bondage and exile	Bereshit (Genesis) 12:10 - 13:4
Angels visit Abraham	Circumcision pain	Bereshit (Genesis) 18:1-18
Angels visit Lot	The Sodom exile	Bereshit (Genesis) 19:1-29
Isaac is born and is Bound	Jews delivered from death	Bereshit (Genesis) 18:1-10
Yeshua is born and is bound	Gentiles delivered from death	Marqos (Mark) 15:37-42

Sephirah	Seder Plate	Creation	Plague	10 Commandments
Keter	Matza	Beresheet	Firstborn	I am HaShem
Chokhmah	Matza	Light	Darkness	No other gods
Binah	Matza	Firmament	Locust	Do not take God’s Name in vain
Chessed	Zeroa	Earth	Hail	Observe Shabbat
Gevura	Beitzah	Plants	Boils	Honor Parents
Tiferet	Maror	Luminaries	Pestilence	Do not murder
Netzach	Charoset	Birds, fish, and swarming life	Swarms	Do not commit adulters’
Hod	Karpas	animals	Lice	Do not steal
Yesod	Salt water	Humans	Frogs	Do not bear false witness
Malkhut	wine	Blessing	Blood	Do not covet

Bereshit 19	Shemot 12
	(39) And they baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt to make cakes of *matzot*, for it was not leavened…
(6) And Lot went out to them at the entrance, and shut the door after him.	(22) And none of you shall go out from the entrance of his house until morning.
(11) And they struck the men that were at the entrance to the house with blindness… and they wearied themselves to find the entrance.	(23) …HaShem will pass over the entrance and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses, to smite you.
(3) And he made them a feast, and baked *matzot, and they ate*.	(8) And they shall eat the meat on that night, roasted with fire, with *matzot; they shall eat* it with bitter herbs.
	(27) It is the sacrifice of Pesach unto HaShem, Who passed over the houses of Bnei Yisrael in Egypt, when He smote Egypt, and delivered our houses.
(13) For we will destroy this place, for their cry has grown great before HaShem, and HaShem has sent us to destroy it.	(12) I shall smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt… (13) … when I smite the land of Egypt (29) … HaShem smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt
(14) …Get up; get out of this place, for HaShem is going to destroy the city…	(31) And he called for Moshe and Aharon by night, and said: Get up; get out from among my nation – you and Bnei Yisrael…
(15) And when the dawn came… (12) …whatever you have in the city, bring it out of this place.	(51) And it was, on that same day, that HaShem brought Bnei Yisrael out of Egypt by their hosts.
(16) And he lingered… so they brought him out…	(39) And they could not linger…
(24) And HaShem rained down upon Sedom and Amoral brimstone and fire from HaShem out of the heavens.	And HaShem sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran down to the ground, and HaShem rained hail upon the land of Egypt. (9:23)
(25) And He overthrew those cities, and all of the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and the vegetation on the land.	And there was hail, and fire flaring amidst the hail, very heavy, such as had not been seen throughout the land of Egypt since it became a nation. (9:24)
Duration: All night until the morning Lot’s family is saved, producing two nations: Moav and Ammon.	Duration: All night until the morning The Exodus from Egypt gives rise to Am Yisrael

Introduction

Our Redemption

Torah Readings for Passover

Chronology

Parnas [30]

Passover Events

HaShem’s Passover and the Firstborn

Matza

Chametz

A Mystical Insight

The Passover Experience

Names given to the Passover Festival

Zeman Cheruteinu (Time of our Freedom)

Chag HaMatzot (Festival of Matza)

A night of guardings

Chag HaAbib (Festival of Spring)

Passover vs. Unleavened Bread

Passover Customs

The Seder Plate

Passover Greetings

Elijah and Passover

Passover symbols

The Passover Covenant and Mashiach

Hallel

Geula - Redemption

Lot

An Interesting Question

Pesach on Motzei Shabbat