The four names of Passover

ESTHER TAUBY

The festival of Passover, which begins this year on Wednesday evening April 8 and ends on Thursday, April 16, is one that is celebrated by Jewish people from all walks of life and levels of observance. Every year at this time, we prepare for Passover by cleaning our homes immaculately, then gather at the special seder meals with family, friends and guests to commemorate our release from Egyptian slavery. We retell, discuss and relive this momentous event in our history, which led to the birth of our nation.

There are four names of the festival. They are Chag HaPesach (the Festival of Passover), Chag HaMatzot (the Festival of the Matzot), Zman Chairuteinu (the Time of Our Liberation) and Chag HaAviv (the Festival of the Spring).

The first one, Chag HaPesach, commonly translated as Passover, is named so because of the fact that, on the night of the 10th plague, when G-d sent the angel of death to kill all the Egyptians' firstborn humans and animals, the angel of death "passed over" the homes of the Israelites and did not smite any of their firstborns.

Another reason for the name is that the Jews were commanded to obtain one lamb per family four days before that first Passover, and to keep it in their homes until it was time to roast it to eat on the first night of the festival. This in itself was an act of faith, as sheep were worshipped by the Egyptians as gods, and the Israelites walked proudly and fearlessly with their lambs through the streets of Egypt on their way to their humble homes, and kept them courageously for those few days. The cruel Egyptian soldiers looked past or "passed over" this transgression and the Jews were not punished for it. Today, we have the roasted bone on the seder plate to remind us of their great faith, the Passover miracles and the ancient Passover sacrifice that they later offered in the holy Temple in Jerusalem every year on the first night of Passover.

The second name of Passover is Chag HaMatzot, or, the holiday of the flat, unrisen bread. What is so special about this nearly inedible item that many people (including me) do not enjoy eating during Passover?

The distinct quality of Pesach is stressed by this name. The difference between chametz (leavened) and matzah, is that chametz rises and puffs up, but matzah does not. This teaches us the proper way to serve G-d. Chametz, leavening, symbolizes arrogance as dough that rises and, in the Talmud, the evil inclination is referred to as chametz. Matzah, on the other hand, negates the whole idea of arrogance, as it is flat, symbolizing humility and nullification.

From this, we see that a Jew must try to be like matzah, completely humble and without arrogance. At the seder, we see this idea when we recite the blessing over the matzah, "Hamotzi lechem min ha'aretz," just as we do the whole year on chametz (i.e. bread or challah). We immediately add, however, the extra blessing said only on Pesach at the seder, "Al achilat matzah," showing that the lechem (bread) we are eating is matzah, which symbolizes complete submission to G-d.

By following Hashem's directive to behave with complete humility, we free ourselves from all sorts of worries, whether they are regarding finances (especially this year with the economic crisis), physical health or any other type of personal, familial, communal or global concern. We are, in essence, showing that we trust Hashem to take care of all our needs.

When the Jewish people took their raw dough with them and it baked in the sun as they ran away from slavery in Egypt to a barren desert and an unknown future, they demonstrated faith and trust in G-d. We can draw upon our ancestors' trust and faith at our seder, as we recite the blessings over the matzah and eat it with the proper intention of fulfilling this once a year mitzvah: we can silently ask G-d to help us as He helped them at that first remarkable Passover.

The third name of the festival, the Time of Our Redemption, is one that is not as commonly known. As mentioned above, we were freed from tyrannical slavery in Egypt and, after 10 terrible plagues that G-d had to bring upon Pharaoh to persuade him to "let my people go," due to His great love for us, Pharaoh finally relented, after losing his own firstborn son in the last plague.

We left Egypt on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan. We were more than 2.5 million men, women and children, with all our possessions, all the riches of Egypt that G-d had promised us and only our faith and love for Hashem to carry us forward into the desert ahead.

In the Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 11a), it says, "In Nisan, our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt and in Nisan we will be redeemed." Nisan, therefore, is known as the month of redemption. Nisan itself is a month of miracles, as its name stems from the Hebrew word for miracles, nissim. According to the sages, the fact that the name Nisan begins and ends with the Hebrew letter nun implies that there will be many miracles, nissai nissim, in this month.

The prophet tells us, "Just as in the days of your leaving Egypt, I will show you wonders." (Micah 7:15) From this verse, the Chassidic masters explain, we learn that the miracles of our future redemption will be great wonders even in comparison to the miracles of the Exodus from Egypt, hence, "miracles of miracles."

The fourth name of the festival, Chag HaAviv, alludes to the fact that we were redeemed in the springtime. G-d wanted to take us out when the weather was nice, so that we wouldn't be uncomfortable, due to His great love for us. We see this connection in the biblical Hebrew word for spring, aviv, which is related phonetically to the Hebrew word for love, ahavah.

It is so important that Pesach be observed in the springtime that our sages learn of the mitzvah to make a leap year (add an extra month of Adar) when necessary to ensure that the holiday of Pesach always falls in the spring.

Another great miracle (besides the Exodus) during Nisan, the month of redemption, is that, in Nisan, nature itself experiences true renewal. Spring is the time of the rebirth of nature, of renewed growth and actualization of latent potential. Similarly, in this month, every Jewish soul renews its love for its Redeemer, who delivered it from Egypt during the festival of Pesach. We, who are so fortunate to live in beautiful British Columbia, need only open our eyes to see G-d's great gift of nature, especially in the spring.

Let us hope and pray that this Passover, as we sit at our seder tables with family and friends, retelling the story of our redemption, we will be re-inspired by the faith of our ancestors in Egypt as we retell and relive their experience of leaving slavery and becoming a free nation. This renewed faith in G-d will carry us through the year, until we will merit to join with all the Jewish people from all over the world and throughout history in Israel, as we sing at the end of the Haggadah, "Next year in Jerusalem."

Esther Tauby is a local educator, writer and counsellor.

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