Pesah
Shalom! Thanks for visiting our Pesah [Hebrew name of
Passover] page! There's so much to learn about Pesah! It's a BIG
celebration, the most widely observed Jewish Holiday in the American
Jewish community. Pesah requires a lot of advance prep, so get ready
to do some serious spring cleaning. Our lesson is divided into
multiple pages; at the bottom of each page you will find a link
to the next page!
Pesah celebrates that God delivered us from bondage to
freedom. And I emphasize us, not some ancient ancestors or
what not. The Haggadah, the liturgy for Pesah, emphasizes this point.
Our freedom is a precious gift we perhaps take too often for granted;
Pesah asks us to stop and smell the proverbial roses.
Pesah starts on the 15th of the Hebrew month of Nisan. The Hebrew
calendar is lunar; on the 15th of the month one is guaranteed a (near)
full moon. So I can 100%, positively guarantee there will be a
beautiful full moon the first night of Pesah, or you get double your
html back! (Note, this is a conditional guarantee; a lunar ecilpse,
like in 1996, is excluded.)
Pesah lasts for several days. You might think the question "How
many days does Pesah last?" would be easy to answer. Alas, not so
easy. Pesah lasts for either 7 or 8 days, depending on where you live
and what flavor of Judaism you follow. In the Land of Israel, Pesah
lasts seven days, period. Outside of Israel, the length of the
Holiday depends on if one observes Yom Tov
Sheni or not. Conservative and Orthodox Jews do, and Pesah is 8
days long for them. Most Reform Jews don't, and Pesah is 7 days long
for them.
Not all the days of Pesah are the same. Some of the days are "yom
tov"'s, full festival days. Traditionally, one refrains from
business on a yom tov [literally "day good"], and devotes all one's
energies to celebrating the day. The other days are "hol hamoed,"
intermediate days. These days are less important than the
yomim tovim [plural of yom tov]; most people these days go about their
normal affairs during the hol hamoed days. These lesser days during
Pesah are mainly observed by munching matzah and refaining from hametz
[bread, etc.].
If one does not observe yom tov sheni,
then the first day and last day of Pesah are yomim tovim, and the
others are hol hamoed. If one does observe
yom tov sheni, then the first two days and the
7th and 8th days are yomim tovim, and the others are hol hamoed. The
yom tov, or the two yomim tovim in the case of yom tov sheni, at the
beginning of Pesah are celebrated by having a Seder, essentially a
religious service that includes a meal. (Judaism cares
for your body as well as your soul!)
Now the fact is that many American Jews have Seders on the first
and second nights of Pesah whether or not they officially follow yom
tov sheni. Many Reform Jews out there will be having a second Seder.
In fact, Beth El itself will be hosting a second Seder. This is
perhaps a bit inconsistent theologically speaking, but we Reform Jews
are not known for being a dogmatic crowd.
The yom tov (or yomim tovim) at the end of the Holiday don't have a
celebration like the Seder to call their own. They are celebrated by
having a big meal and munching matzah, which by this time has just
about worn out its welcome. After Pesah is over, I can imagine there is
an orgy of pizza deliveries to Jewish households.
To next Pesah page!
Some interesting Pesah links:
This page was written by Edward Walker,
.
