Passover has several names in the Torah, each one saying something different about the meaning of the holiday:
Chag
HaPesach – The Festival of the Paschal Offering. On the night of
the fourteenth of the first month (which we call Nisan),
the Torah instructs us to offer a special sacrifice of an unblemished lamb. It
is to be eaten roasted, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, as a “holy
barbecue” by a person’s entire household, along with guests. In ancient Israel,
this celebration marked the renewal of spring.
Chag
HaMatzot – The Festival of Unleavened Bread. Beginning on the
fifteenth day of the first month, a seven day festival takes place on which all
leavened products must be removed from the home. Only unleavened bread may be
eaten. This was an agricultural holiday that celebrated the beginning of the
grain harvest.
Orginally, Chag
HaPesach and Chag
HaMatzot were two separate ancient holidays that had nothing to do with the
Exodus from Egypt. The Torah, however, combines them into a single festival
that symbolizes the Exodus, while retaining the earlier associations.
The
paschal sacrifice must be eaten quickly – with loins girded, sandals on feet and
staff in hand – as if ready to depart that night. None of the sacrifice can be
left over the next morning. The name Pesach also
came to be associated with the tenth plague. The Israelites painted their
doorposts with the blood from the paschal sacrifice so that the angel of death
would “pass over” (pasach)
their homes, sparing their first born children.
Matzah
came to symbolize freedom. Our ancestors did not have time to let the dough
rise before leaving Egypt, so they had to make due with unleavened bread.
With
the joining of these two holidays, the Torah adds two additional names that
incorporate the historical elements into the seasonal/agricultural
celebrations
Chag
HaCheirut – The Festival of Freedom. In the kiddush for
Passover, we refer to the holiday as Z’man
Cheiruteinu, the time of our freedom. The Exodus from Egypt is the
founding experience of the Jewish people. It plays a primary role in our
collective consciousness. The memory of slavery is meant to inspire us to
behave compassionately towards those who are suffering. The experience of
freedom serves as an eternal bond between us and God.
Chag
HaAviv – The Festival of Spring. This name ties together the
agricultural and historical aspects of the holiday. Springtime is the time for
renewal, the beginning of the grain harvest, and the time when our ancestors
were freed from Egypt. Because of the Torah’s reference to Passover as a
springtime holiday, we adjust the lunar-based Hebrew calendar. During seven
years out of every nineteen year cycle, we add an additional month to ensure
that Passover always occurs on the night of the first full moon after the Spring
equinox.
Of
course, we include all of these elements in our celebration of Passover today.
We have reminders of the paschal offering on our seder plate,
along with symbolic representations of springtime and rebirth. We tell the
story of God freeing our ancestors from slavery, and we re-experience that
freedom ourselves.
So
whatever you want to call it – Chag
HaPesach, Chag HaMatzot, Chag HaCheirut, or Chag Ha-Aviv – HAVE A HAPPY
PASSOVER!
