Last Days of Pesach
When is Passover not Passover? When is matzah not matzah?
This year the last days of Pesach fall on Friday and Shabbat. But things will be different in Israel. Since Passover is celebrated for only 7 days in Israel, and not 8 days, as is the tradition outside of Israel, it turns out that Shabbat will not be Pesach at all. That means that the holiday prayers will not be recited in synagogue and the Torah reading will be the regular Shabbat parashah – Torah portion – rather than a holiday Torah reading.
Yet, in their homes, because it is Shabbat, it will be impossible for Israelis who observe these traditions to end Passover in the usual ways. They will not be able to re-acquire their chametz. So they won’t be able to eat any chametz stored away in their homes. And they won’t be able to go out and buy fresh chametz – like a warm bagel or a slice of pizza – because of Shabbat. This means that, for all practical purposes, they will have to follow the rules of Passover even though it is notPassover!
What kind of day is it in which one eats only matzah and avoids all leavened foods? If that’s not Passover, what is it?
The lesson we learn from this anomalous situation is that no matter how carefully one discharges the practices of Passover, those actions, by themselves, do not make Passover a reality. It is only Passover if we intend the day to be Passover. The matzah is just an unleavened wafer if it is not eaten with the consciousness that one is eating matzah for Passover. It turns out that Passover has a peculiar relation to space and time. We can have Passover in Montclair while, at the very same time, it is not Passover in Israel. We can observe all the rules of Passover, but if it is not really Passover on the calendar, our actions are not fulfillments of the Passover rituals. What really matters is our conscious commitment, our intention – our kavanah.
Our kavanah needs vessels to hold it; these are the actions, the rituals and ceremonies. Just so, our souls need our bodies to house them, to give them tangible life. But what are actions without conscious intentions; what are bodies without souls?
Hag Same`ah v’Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi David Greenstein
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image: “Matzah” © Mark H. Anbinder altered and used with permission via Creative Commons License
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What you have made of this anomalous situation is, as usual, deep and wonderful. Intent – if you read the Ethicist column in the NY Times – is also a major aspect of ethics. Anyway, yasher koach, and chag sameach. Mitchell