passover
Pesach Sheini (Second Passover): the Holiday of Second Chances
Pesach Sheini (second Passover), which occurs on the 14th of Iyar, one month after the Passover offering is offered, embodies the concept of a “second chance” more than any other holiday. In the days of the Temple service, Pesach Sheini...
Reading Song of Songs on Passover
There is a custom to read Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs) on the Sabbath during Passover to emphasize the love between the Jewish People and God which was epitomized on Passover. At face value, there seems to be little connection between...
The Counting of the Omer
On the night after the Passover Seder, the second night of Passover (the 16th of Nisan), Jews begin to perform the commandment of counting the seven complete weeks of the Omer which culminates in the pilgrimage festival of Shavuot on the...
The Priestly Blessing on the Intermediate Days of Passover
Twice a year, during the intermediary days of Passover and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles), a mass priestly blessing takes place at the Kotel (Western Wall) in Jerusalem. This event is usually attended by tens of thousands of Jews who are...
Chol Hamoed: Sanctifying the Mundane
The holidays of Passover and Sukkot (Feat of Tabernacles) are seven days in Israel and eight days outside of Israel. The first day each and, on Passover, the last day (first two and last two outside of Israel) are full holidays during...
The Symbolism of the Seder Plate
The Passover Seder is a generational affirmation, a transmission of the story of God’s miraculous redemption of the Jewish people from Egypt. In this context, the Seder plate, as the centerpiece of the Seder table, is a visual aid,...
How is This Night Different From All Others: A Guide To The Passover Seder
On the first night of Passover, the night of the 15th of Nisan, Jews around the world sit down to a Passover Seder during which they commemorate the Exodus from Egypt and the countless miracles God performed at that time. While most...
The Four Cups of Wine
At the Passover Seder, Jews are obligated to drink four cups of wine while leaning to the left. The Mishnah (Pesachim 10:1) states that even the poor are obliged to drink the four cups. Each cup is imbibed at a specific point in the...
7 PASSOVER TRADITIONS ANYONE CAN ADOPT
Passover, or Pesach in Hebrew, is a Jewish holiday commemorating the Jewish liberation by God from slavery in Egypt. In the Book of Exodus, the Hebrew Bible describes the Israelites freedom under the leadership of Moses. The holiday...
The Passover Haggadah
The Haggadah is the guidebook for the Passover seder. Haggadah literally means ‘the telling’ and, as its name implies, the main point of the evening is to tell the story of how God took the Jews out of Egypt through wonders and miracles....