Spirituality

HOLIDAY 101

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Pesach-At-A-Glance

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38

March 25 • 2.0;0

• Why We Celebrate: In the Torah,
God commands the Jewish people
to commemorate their liberation
from Egyptian slavery (Exodus 12:
14-19).
In Hebrew, the holiday is called
Pesach, which means "pass over"
and refers to the 10th plague that
God brought upon Egypt, where
He killed the first-born Egyptians
but passed over the Jewish
households. Pesach is the rab-
binic name of the holiday, found
throughout the Talmud; in the
Torah, only the first day of the
holiday is called Pesach.
Otherwise, the Torah labels
the holiday Chag Ha-Matzot or
Festival of Matzah (Exodus 23:15,
Leviticus 23:6, Deuteronomy
16:16). In the Passover liturgy,
found in the prayer book, the holi-
day is called Z'man Cheiruteinu,
or "Time of Our Liberation."

• When We Celebrate: On the
Jewish calendar, 14-22 Nissan.
This year, the holiday begins at
sundown on Monday, March 29.
The holiday is observed for eight
days throughout the world except
in Israel, where it is only seven.
The first two and last two days
of Pesach are full holidays when
work is not permitted. The inter-
vening days are semi-holidays
when work is allowed.

• What We Celebrate: Primarily,
our liberation from slavery to the
Egyptians, 3,000 years ago. On a
more profound level, we recall the
founding of the Jewish nation and
the beginning of our relationship
with God.

• How We Celebrate: The Torah
commands: "You shall tell your
child" (Exodus 13:8), which is why
we gather with family and friends
to hold a commemorative meal,
the seder ("order"). The seder
menu includes foods intended to
stimulate discussion, with sub-
jects ranging from Jewish identity
to our relationship with God, from
the real events of the Exodus to
our life in Egypt to liberation,
miracles, the idea of a promised
land and more.

• Rules and Regulations: Pesach
is filled with rules, most of which
focus on what to eat. On Pesach,
we do not consume any foods
that are leavened or contain
leavening (such as yeast). This
includes bread and other items
made from dough or batter, most
foods and beverages made from
grain and anything edible that
even might contain any amount of
anything leavened.
All food for Pesach is certi-
fied as kosher for Passover or is
beyond suspicion of containing
any leaven, such as fruit.
Pesach also includes an ancil-
lary observance, the Counting of
the Omer, a daily count of the 49
days and seven weeks between
Pesach and Shavuot.
The Torah (Leviticus 23:15-16)
says that we should begin the
count on the second night of
Pesach and, thereafter, as part
of the daily evening service.
The count itself is preceded by
a blessing, after which we state
the relevant day and week of the
Omer.
The first part of the Omer
period is characterized as semi-
mournful, a time when Jews do
not get haircuts, have or attend
marriages or play musical instru-
ments. This is because, as stated
in the Talmud, during this period
a plague decimated the disciples
of Rabbi Akiva when they did not
treat each other with respect.
Later, the Omer also became
a period of mourning as it was
during this time that Jews in
the Rhineland were killed by the
Crusaders, and the Chmielnicki
massacres in the Ukraine and
Poland took place.
The 33rd day of the Omer (lag
is the acronym formed from the
Hebrew letters, lamed and gimel,
which signify 33) is the one day
on which mourning is suspended.
It is usually a day of joy and cel-
ebration; and it is permissible
to cut hair or hold a wedding.
Among those who do not cut their
sons' hair until the boys reach the
age of 3, Lag Ba-Omer is often
the day chosen for the first hair-
cut.1