Summary of the festival
Pesach (Passover) is the festival of freedom. It falls on 15 Nisan and lasts seven days in the Land of Israel and eight in the diaspora. The first and last days (and the second and eighth days in the diaspora) are festival days with work forbidden, and the days in between are Chol HaMoed. We eat matzah for the seven days (and no chametz), and on the Seder night we tell the story of the Exodus.
The mitzvot of the festival
- The Seder night: eating matzah and maror, four cups of wine, telling the story of the Exodus (“you shall tell your son”), and eating the afikoman. On the second night in the diaspora, the counting of the Omer begins.
- The prohibition of chametz: no chametz is eaten or owned for the seven days (Exodus 13:7). We search for it on the night of the 14th, burn it in the morning, and sell what remains.
- Guarded matzah: matzah watched from the time of reaping or milling, at least for the Seder night.
- Full Hallel on the first day (and the second in the diaspora), and partial Hallel on the other days. The prayer for dew on the first day.
- On the seventh day of Pesach: reading the Song at the Sea, and rejoicing at the splitting of the Sea.
- Sephardic customs: many permit legumes (rice, chickpeas), and at the end of the festival Moroccan communities hold the Mimouna, a celebration of neighbors and spring, with mufleta and fresh greens.
Origin in history
The Israelites were slaves in Egypt for many years. God sent Moses to Pharaoh, ten plagues struck Egypt, and the last, the death of the firstborn, struck on the night of 15 Nisan, while the Israelites slaughtered the Pesach offering and smeared its blood on the doorposts, and “the Lord passed over the door” (Exodus 12:23). Pharaoh let them go, and they left in haste before the dough could rise: this is matzah. Seven days later the Red Sea split. The festival is called “the Festival of Matzot” and “the season of our freedom”.
The message for today
The Haggadah says that in every generation a person must see himself as if he himself left Egypt (Pesachim 116b). This is not limited to the past: Egypt (“Mitzrayim”) is also everything that constricts us, and freedom is an inner journey. The matzah, “bread of affliction”, reminds us that freedom begins with humility. Kabbalah calls matzah “food of faith”. And in the coming weeks, the counting of the Omer turns freedom into purpose: we leave Egypt in order to receive the Torah.
Torah and haftara readings
The passages read in synagogue, with their start and end.
First day of Pesach (15 Nisan)
- Torah · Morning
Exodus 12:21–51
"Draw out and take for yourselves lambs": the Pesach offering and the Exodus
- Maftir · Morning
Numbers 28:16–25
The festival offerings
- Haftara · Morning
Joshua 3:5–7, 5:2–6:1, 6:27
Ashkenazim: the circumcision of the people and the first Pesach at Gilgal
- Haftara · Morning
Joshua 5:2–6:1, 6:27
Sephardim: beginning at 5:2
Why this reading? At the first Pesach in the Land, at Gilgal, the Israelites kept the Pesach after circumcising the whole generation born in the desert (Joshua 5:2-10). The haftara links the festival to entering the Land, while the Torah reading tells of the first Pesach, in Egypt.
Second day of Pesach (16 Nisan, diaspora only)
- Torah · Morning
Leviticus 22:26–23:44
The passage of the festivals, including the counting of the Omer
- Maftir · Morning
Numbers 28:16–25
The festival offerings
- Haftara · Morning
2 Kings 23:1–9, 23:21–25
Ashkenazim: the Pesach of Josiah
Why this reading? At the Pesach of Josiah, after the Torah scroll was found in the Temple, Israel returned to keep Pesach properly: "Surely no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges" (II Kings 23:22). Pesach is a time to renew the covenant.
Chol HaMoed
- Torah · Morning
Exodus 13:1–16
Firstborn and the redemption of the donkey (usually the first day)
- Torah · Morning
Exodus 22:24–23:19
Laws of justice and the three pilgrim festivals (usually the second day)
- Torah · Morning
Exodus 34:1–26
The second tablets and the three pilgrim festivals
- Torah · Morning
Numbers 9:1–14
Pesach Sheni
- Maftir · Morning
Numbers 28:19–25
Every day: the festival offerings
Why this reading? On the days of Chol HaMoed we read passages from the Torah that deal with Pesach and the festivals, in three aliyot, plus a maftir of the festival offerings. The readings vary by weekday, and are divided differently in Israel and the diaspora.
Shabbat Chol HaMoed
- Torah · Morning
Exodus 33:12–34:26
"See, You say to me": the thirteen attributes of mercy
- Haftara · Morning
Ezekiel 37:1–14
The vision of the dry bones
- Megillah · Morning
Song of Songs 1:1–8:14
Song of Songs (customarily read)
Why this reading? The Song of Songs is read in spring, because it describes spring and the love between God and His people, and Nisan is the season of redemption. Ezekiel promises that "dry bones" will rise to life, like Israel emerging from Egypt.
Seventh day of Pesach (21 Nisan)
- Torah · Morning
Exodus 13:17–15:26
The splitting of the Sea and the Song at the Sea
- Maftir · Morning
Numbers 28:19–25
The festival offerings
- Haftara · Morning
2 Samuel 22:1–51
David's song: "David spoke to the Lord the words of this song"
Why this reading? On this day, according to tradition, the Sea split. We read the Song at the Sea in the Torah and David's song in the haftara, both songs of victory and rescue from enemies ("on the day the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies").
Eighth day of Pesach (22 Nisan, diaspora only)
- Torah · Morning
Deuteronomy 15:19–16:17
"All the firstborn" and the three pilgrim festivals
- Maftir · Morning
Numbers 28:19–25
The festival offerings
- Haftara · Morning
Isaiah 10:32–12:6
"On that day": the future redemption
Why this reading? On the last day of Pesach we speak of the future redemption. Isaiah describes the Messianic king and the days when "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (11:9). This promise fits the last day of the festival, which also foreshadows the final redemption.