Passover 5777: Four Questions

By Dan Brosgol

On Monday night, April 10, Jewish people the world over will continue the celebration of one of the world’s oldest continuously-observed religious holidays- Passover (Pesach in Hebrew). Passover lasts for 8 days and will end after sunset on Tuesday, April 18. Last year I gave you 8 questions for 8 nights, but this year, let’s stick to 4- it’s more traditional anyway.

Is it just me, or does Passover always fall on a full moon?
Excellent observation. Like a few other Jewish holidays, Passover takes place on the night of the full moon- in this case the full moon of the Hebrew month Nisan. While Passover does not always occur on the first full moon of Spring, it does this year, and it will certainly be spring-like weather this time around with temperatures soaring into the 60s, 70s, and even 80s on Monday and Tuesday. When the front door is opened for the Prophet Elijah after the meal, we should have a good look at a brilliant, white moon. Take pictures. #PassoverMoon.

I’ve heard Passover referred to by different names before. How many are there?

There are four names for the holiday (actually FIVE if you count Passover/Pesach), and as you will see, they have two different sets of meanings. Let’s start with the two that will make more sense:

Chag HaMatzot – The Festival of Matzot. Because the Hebrews had to leave Egypt in great haste, their bread did not have time to rise and they ate unleavened cakes. You have certainly heard about that before.

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Zman Cherutenu – The Time of Our Freedom. Like the previous name, this name refers to the great miracle of plagues and salvation that God performed to free the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage.

Now, perhaps, some new information…

Chag Ha-Pesach ­– The Festival of the Pesach. Each Spring, Hebrews would commemorate the coming of Spring by offering a Paschal sacrifice of a lamb to acknowledge the coming of Spring and to give thanks.

Chag Ha’Aviv­ – The Festival of Spring. While some spin this one to mean that in Spring we remember to give thanks for the Passover miracle, it’s much more likely that Hebrews happily celebrated the coming of Spring each year for agricultural reasons.

Of the four names, two refer specifically to events mentioned in the Biblical Passover story of plagues and miracles, and two refer to agricultural practices that have nothing to do with the Torah’s narrative. It’s not a stretch to imagine that when the Hebrews arrived back in Canaan after their Egyptian sojourn, they came bearing a story that was pretty amazing (the slavery-to-freedom one) and smashed it together with some other Canaanite agricultural holidays to create a holiday that would satisfy everyone’s springtime needs. From that primordial Levantine soup— we get Passover. (Take note – some people might find that suggestion provocative.)

What is the best Passover song?

Every family will probably answer this question differently. Some classics are Chad Gadya (One Little Goat), Echad Mi Yodea (Who Knows One), and Adir Hu (Mighty is God). Songs, Psalms, and prayers are sprinkled throughout the Seder so you’re never more than a few minutes from bursting into song- kind of like High School Musical.

My favorite, due in large part to the fact my late mother and I used to do it together, is the beautiful singing of Psalm 114, which is done partially in a call-and-response fashion, and in second place is the official and long version of the Birkat Hamazon, the Grace After Meals, which I can usually get through in about 6-7 minutes.

How long have Seders been happening?

A loaded question if there ever was one and my opening line is first of all, that no one knows, and second of all, that there is a difference between commemorating Passover and having a Seder. It seems that Hebrews began celebrating Passover during their desert wanderings, and the Book of Joshua also refers to Passover celebrations that took place during the first years of resettlement of Canaan in about 1400 BCE.

The Biblical origins of Passover can also can be inferred from Exodus, chapter 12, which was probably written down for the first time around 550 BCE (for those who don’t think God wrote it), and the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament tells us that the Last Supper was, in fact a Seder, so the general range of First Seder Ever “might” be between 1400 and 800 BCE. With that being said, the Seder and its scripted and formulaic traditional structure bears a striking similarity to the ancient Greek tradition of a symposium, and given that the Haggadah-like text was not written down in Rabbinic literature until 200 CE leaves us with a lot of unanswered questions.

Sooo… the answer is basically a hot mess. Feel free to google this question and spend a few hours reading assorted articles and journals to ballpark your best estimate. Start with this one, by my friend Jonathan Klawans, who asks about the likelihood of the Last Supper being a Seder, and then move on to this one from MyJewishLearning which talks about some of what I just wrote in greater detail. Good luck!

For those who celebrate Passover and/or Easter, I wish you a chag sameach, a happy holiday, and a time full of family and good times.

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