© 2006 Jan Herca (license Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0)
The course of the year for the Canaanite population of Palestine, governed by natural processes and with festivals based on them, was transformed by Israel, in the post-exilic period, into the year of the temple and of God. This transformation was carried out on the basis of what Yahweh did with Israel, when he chose its Patriarchs, established the Covenant with it, freed it from Egypt and gave it the law and the promised land. Its first expression is found in what is established in Lv 23. The historical foundation of the belief in Yahweh is manifested in the modality of the year of the temple and of God.
¶ The New Year’s Festival
In Hebrew: Rosh Hashanah.
The Jewish New Year was celebrated in the fall, in the first month of the Jewish calendar, Tishri, on the first day. It is not certain that it was associated during the pre-exilic period with the notion of an accession to the throne or a triumphal entry of Yahweh as king, so that it would have been a recognition of Yahweh’s reign. For Rabbinic Judaism, New Year’s Day is a day of foresight and predetermination; on that day, humankind’s means of subsistence were determined; what punishments would be inflicted on the world and what harm humankind would suffer were established. In part, this may be consistent with the fact that the rabbis regarded New Year’s Day as the day of God’s judgment, which begins the great period of repentance, which lasts until the Great Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles. On New Year’s Day and the Great Day of Atonement, hymns were not sung, because “the king was sitting on the judgment seat, and the books of life and death were open before him” (Rev 20:12).
If there was a pre-exilic Israelite festival of the God-King, it was associated in the post-exilic period with predominantly juridical notions. God judges all who enter the world on New Year’s Day, and confirms their sentence on the Great Day of Atonement. Three great books are used to record and account for the completely righteous, who receive the sentence that leads to life, as well as the unrighteous, who likewise receive their sentence, and those who are neither, who are granted ten days of repentance between New Year’s Day and Atonement.
Thus, between “New Year’s Day” and the “Great Day of Atonement,” celebrated ten days later, there is an intervening period of repentance. As can be deduced from a lengthy comparison, God, the King of all kings, says to the Israelites: “Repent from the New Year onward. And they humbled themselves and came to the ‘Day of Atonement,’ and fasted on it and repented, and God forgave them” (Midrash Tanhuma 178a). With the “Feast of Tabernacles,” which begins five days after the “Day of Atonement,” previous debts are forgiven, and with the first day of the “Feast of Tabernacles,” a new account begins; the old one is settled in the heavenly books. For this reason, according to rabbinic exegesis, the Jews wave the festive bouquet on the first day of the “Feast of Tabernacles.” And thus, a clear connection can be deduced between the “New Year’s Feast,” “the Day of Atonement,” and “the Day of Tabernacles” as Israel’s great period of fasting and repentance. Perhaps these notions of repentance and judgment acquired special intensity through the work of the Hasideans.
Rosh Hashanah (Beginning of the Year), along with Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), form a unit in Jewish tradition called Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe), as it is the time when God judges the world and decrees what will happen during the new year.
The traditional greeting on Rosh Hashanah is “shana tovah” (Hebrew for “Happy New Year”).
During Rosh Hashanah, it is customary to eat various foods as symbols of wishes for the coming year. For example, apples are eaten with honey or sugar to symbolize a sweet year.
This holiday is also characterized by the blowing of the shofar, a ram’s horn. During the afternoon of the first day, tashlich is performed, the symbolic atoning for one’s sins by going to a river or stream and reciting a prayer there.
¶ The Day of Atonement
In Hebrew: Yom Kippur.
Yom Kippur, or the Feast of Atonement, was a festival celebrated six days before the Feast of Tabernacles on the 10th day of the month Tishri. It was observed as a great fast day, hence the name “the Great Fast.” On the Day of Atonement, eating and drinking, washing, anointing, wearing sandals, and cohabiting were prohibited. Exceptions were carefully specified in rabbinic texts. The Day of Atonement was associated with the memory of Moses receiving the second tablets of the law after the sin of the golden calf; For this reason, the high priest was not to wear gold garments, so as not to remind the accuser of the offense of the calf and prevent him from accusing Israel for it. It was also considered the “day of forgiveness” like that of Abraham’s circumcision.
The fast began at sunset and ended at nightfall the following day. The Yom Kippur prayer services began with the prayer known as Kol Nidre, which was to be recited before sunset. Kol Nidre (Aramaic for “all vows”) is a public abrogation of religious vows made by Jews during the preceding year. This only concerned unfulfilled vows made between a person and God, and did not annul vows made between individuals. A tallit (square prayer shawl) was worn during the afternoon prayers, the only twilight service of the year in which this was done.
It was the great day of service for the high priest. Great precautions were taken to ensure that he could officiate in a state of complete ritual purity. We have the following information about the course of the day: “Seven days before the Day of Atonement, the high priest would withdraw from his house to the council chamber” (Yoma 1:1). During these days, he personally attended to the service, celebrating the morning and evening sacrifices, called the tamid, daily. On the evening of the eve of the “great day of atonement,” he was handed over by the elders of the Sanhedrin to the senior priests, who led him to an upper room in the residence of the Abtinas family, in the inner courtyard of the temple. This priestly family was known for its skill in preparing incense. The “great day of atonement” itself began for the priest with the cultic bath by immersion and the washings, which were repeated several times throughout the day. He then donned the white garments. Meanwhile, the bulls and goats were being prepared for the day’s sacrifice. The first bull sacrificed was called the “high priest’s bull.” It was sacrificed in atonement for his sins and those of his household. The high priest would approach him, lay his hands on him, and in the meantime, make confession of his sins:
“O Name, I have been in debt, I have been delinquent, I have sinned before you, I and my house. Oh, O Name, make atonement for my debts, errors, and sins that I have incurred, committed, and committed before you, I and my house, as it is written in the law of Moses, your servant, in this way: for on this day he will make atonement for you, that you may be cleansed; you will be cleansed before Yahweh from all your sins.”
The last Yahweh seems to have been spoken by the priest in a low voice; At the same time, the priests sang the praise:
“Blessed be the name of the majesty of your kingdom forever and ever.”
Next, two goats were cast by lot: one, called the scapegoat, for Yahweh; the other for Azazel. The first was slaughtered in the temple, the other was sent into the wilderness. Both had crimson ribbons around their heads and were placed, respectively, at the place where one was to be slaughtered and where the other was to be expelled. After the casting of lots and the preparation of both goats, the second confession of sins was made in the same manner and form as the first, adding “and the sons of Aaron, your holy people,” where “I and my people” was said. The second confession implores the forgiveness of the sins of all the priests. The bull was then slaughtered; the high priest collected its blood in a sprinkling vessel and gave it to the priests. He, for his part, took a brazier and carried it into the sanctuary. At its threshold, he would throw the incense on the coals and take them into the temple, cross the sanctuary, pass through the curtains to the Holy of Holies, and incense it until it was covered with smoke. Only the high priest was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies, and he could do so only on the Day of Atonement. After a short prayer in the sanctuary, he would go out again, take the blood of the slain calf, carry it to the Holy of Holies, and sprinkle the sacrificial blood seven times with his fingers on the place where the ark had stood before Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of the temple, then return through the sanctuary to the temple courtyard. There the goat that had fallen to Yahweh by lot was slaughtered. Its blood, likewise collected in a cup by the high priest, was taken to the Holy of Holies and sprinkled there in the same way. At a third entrance into the Holy of Holies, the curtains separating the Holy of Holies from the sanctuary were sprinkled with the remaining blood of the bull and the goat. The golden altar of smoke offering was then purified of sins with the blood of the lamb and the goat; the remainder was poured out on the ground west of the altar of burnt offering in the forecourt.
Next, work began on the second goat, the Azazel goat. The high priest also laid his hands on it, making a third confession of sins, this time in the name of the people. After they had been freed from sin, he and the priests performed their services for the people. The confession read:
"O Name, your people, the house of Israel, have sinned, and have erred before you. Oh, O Name! Make atonement for the debts, errors, and sins that your people, the house of Israel, have incurred, committed, and committed before you, as it is written in the Torah of Moses your servant, as follows: for on that day, may I make atonement for you, to cleanse you from all your sins; you will be clean before the LORD.
Now the last Yahweh was also pronounced, and the priests and the people sang and confessed:
“Praise be to the name of the majesty of your kingdom forever.”
Next, the Azazel goat, the scapegoat of the people proper, was handed over to the one who was to lead it into the wilderness. He was accompanied by the elders of the people, who, as their representatives, walked with him on the path of atonement. Once they had arrived near a predetermined rock, they remained behind while the goat’s driver led him to the rock; there, the crimson sash was cut in two, one part tied to the rock, the other to the goat’s horns, and he was thrown backward from the rock so that he crashed. The scapegoat took the sins of the people with him into the wilderness, the supposed dwelling place of the demons, and disappeared with them. Meanwhile, the bull and the goat were being burned on the altar of burnt offering in the Temple. As soon as news of the arrival of the Azazel goat in the desert reached the temple, the high priest would read aloud the prescribed passages (Lv 16:1ff and 23:26-32) and pronounce the eight Torah blessings for the Temple service, followed by thanksgiving and supplications for the forgiveness of sins, for the sanctuary, Israel, and the priests, plus a blessing as a final prayer.
The day ended with another great sacrifice of a ram, performed by the high priest for himself, after another bath and wearing his golden garment, and another for the people, sacrificing seven lambs without blemish. After the evening sacrifice, which followed, the high priest was escorted home again, “and he made a feast for his friends, because he had again left the temple in peace.”
The effects of the “Day of Atonement” were summed up in this sentence: “For a man’s transgressions toward God, the Day of Atonement makes atonement; but for those between any man and his neighbor, the Day of Atonement makes no atonement until that individual makes satisfaction to his neighbor.” This principle was the result of many discussions among the doctors of the Law, which continued even when the “Day of Atonement” could no longer be celebrated in the prescribed manner. The result of the “Day of Atonement” was that all Israelites acquired a renewed heart and became pure as angels. “If the Israelites, who are immersed in sin because of the evil impulses within them, turn to repentance, God forgives their sins year by year and renews their hearts so that they may fear Him.”
The problem with these interpretations lay in that they often emphasized national sin rather than individual sin, placing more importance on performing annual purification rites than on personal repentance for the sins committed by each man or woman, and the amendment of those faults. This is one of the chapters most contested by Jesus of Nazareth in his preaching.
¶ Feast of Tabernacles or Booths
In Hebrew: Sukkot or Januyot.
The festival of Sukkot or Chanuyot (Greek: Scenopegia) commemorated the tent-life of the Jews as they traveled through the wilderness. It was a joyful festival that prohibited all work for seven days, and where everyone built huts, booths, or tents and slept in them at night. They also stayed by the harvest piles or by the vats and jars of the produce. Its scriptural foundation is in Leviticus (Lv 23:24).
It was celebrated from the 15th to the 22nd of the month of Tishri, that is, it lasted 7 days after the 15th. Originally, it was a harvest festival, because before that, it was celebrated in the vineyards. Hence the displays of joy and sleeping in huts or tents. Normally, at the end, a supplication was made for a season of abundant rains, and for a bountiful harvest the following year. The festival was also linked to events in Jewish history. Staying in booths, where one ate and slept, was obligatory in Israel for men and boys, and voluntary for women and children, slaves, and the sick. It commemorated the period of stay in the desert and the miracles of help and preservation experienced by Israel. There were many symbols in this festival, almost all associated with the divine presence and its action in the lives of men.
Pilgrims were required to carry four types of tree branches: a bundle of green, closed palm branches (lulab), willow branches (aravot), citron (ethrog), known as the apple and forbidden fruit of Paradise, and branches of leafy trees (hasadim). These branches were collectively called the Arbat Minim. The origin of this commandment is in Leviticus: “And you shall take on the first day branches of goodly trees, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, and willows from the brooks, and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days” (Lev 23:40). It was said that whoever had the largest and most curved branches had more faith in the Lord, and therefore they grew to considerable height. These branches were waved in the four directions of the compass with shouts and prayers, a ceremony called Netilat lulab. Hence this festival also received the name “Feast of Branches.” Outside of Jerusalem, the proper place for waving the festival branch, to which every Israelite was obligated, was the synagogue during the divine service.
This was the festival of festivals, since every sacrifice omitted at the other festivals could be made at this one. On this occasion, offerings for the temple were received. It was a combination of the pleasures of the holidays with the solemn rites of religious worship. It was a time of Jewish rejoicing, mingled with sacrifices, Levitical songs, and the solemn sounds of the priests’ silver trumpets. UB 162:4.1
At night, the extraordinary spectacle of the temple and its throngs of pilgrims was brilliantly illuminated by the great candelabras burning sparklingly in the Court of the Women, as well as by the glow of hundreds of torches placed in the temple courtyards. The entire city was gaily decorated, except for the Roman castle of Antonia, the only somber sign during the festival of the occupation of Rome.
At the festival, seventy oxen were sacrificed, symbolizing the seventy nations of paganism. The water ceremony symbolized the scattering of the divine spirit. This water ceremony occurred after the procession of the priests and Levites at dawn. The worshippers descended the steps leading from the Court of Israel to the Court of the Women, while successive notes were played on silver trumpets. Then, the worshippers descended to the Beautiful Gate, which opened into the Court of the Gentiles. Here they turned to face west, repeat their songs, and continue the symbolic water procession. UB 162:4.3
On the last day of the festival, nearly 450 priests officiated with a corresponding number of Levites. At dawn, pilgrims gathered from all parts of the city, palm branches in hand. These pilgrims were divided into three groups for this morning ceremony. One group remained at the Temple to attend the morning sacrifices; another proceeded in procession down from Jerusalem to near Maza to cut the willow branches destined to adorn the sacrificial altar (they were taken from sacred ground belonging to the Temple). The third group formed a procession to march from the Temple, following the priest with the water. He, to the sound of silver trumpets, carried the golden jar containing the symbolic water, departing through the Ophel to near the Pool of Siloam, near the Gate of the Fountain. Once the jug was filled from the pool, the procession marched back to the temple, entering through the Water Gate and proceeding directly to the Court of the Priests, where the priest carrying the jug of water joined the priest carrying the wine as a drink offering. These two priests then proceeded to the silver funnels that led to the base of the altar and poured the contents of the jugs into them. The performance of this rite of pouring the wine and water signaled the moment when the assembled pilgrims began to sing Psalms 113 to 118 inclusive, alternately with the Levites, the songs of Hallel or Alleluias. As they repeated these verses, they waved their bundles of branches toward the altar. Then the sacrifices for that day were performed, associated with the repetition of the day’s psalm, relegating Psalm 82 to the last of the feast, beginning with the fifth verse UB 162:4.4.
¶ Feast of the Consecration, Dedication, Restoration, or Cleansing of the Temple
Hebrew: Hannukah.
A feast commemorating the restoration of the temple worship by the Maccabees. It was held on the 25th day of the month of Kislev. It lasted eight days and was celebrated like the Feast of Tabernacles, with branches and palm leaves and the singing of hymns.
The Feast of the Dedication of the Temple was a late festival in Israel’s history. On the 25th of Kislev in 164 BC, three years to the day after the Temple was desecrated and destroyed under Antiochus IV Epiphanes, worship was restored by Judas Maccabeus and his followers. The festival was held from November to December, which could coincide with the winter solstice. We are informed about the festival and its origin in 1 Maccabees 4:36-59; 2 Maccabees 1:9.18; 10:1-8, and Josephus, AJ XIII 7:7.
It was called “the Feast of Tabernacles in the month of Kislev.” The records indicate that the Israelites celebrated the festival for eight days “with gladness and joy” and that Judas Maccabeus ordered it to be repeated annually. It was celebrated in the manner of the Feast of Tabernacles, with the carrying of cloth, green branches, and palm branches, singing hymns to the Lord, etc. It is also called the “Feast of Lights” because lights were lit progressively each day on an eight-branched candelabrum with a larger one, or hanukiah. On the first night, only the largest branch and one candle are lit, and each night a candle is added, until the last day, when the entire candelabrum is lit. This fact commemorates the miracle of the oil lasting eight days. These luminaries had the symbolic meaning of the fact that during the desecration of the Temple, “the exercise of religion appeared unexpectedly like a ray of light,” thanks to the Maccabean renewal. The rabbis called it the festival of Hanukkah.
The precept readings from Scripture are Numbers 7:1ff and Zechariah 2:13ff, where 4:2ff had special importance.
It was customary for children to play with a sevivon or dreidel, a type of spinning top. This Hanukkah spinning top had four faces, each with a Hebrew letter: נ (Nun); ג (Gimel); ה (He); ש (Shin); or פ (Pei). The four letters stood for Nes gadol haia sham, which means “A great miracle happened there.” In Israel, the fourth letter was פ instead of ש, and the face stood for Nes gadol haia po, which translates to “A great miracle happened here.”
It was also customary to eat levivot and sufganiot, dough cakes (nowadays made with potatoes) and dough balls filled with jam.
¶ Purim or Feast of Lots
In Hebrew, from Persian: Purim.
A festival commemorating the date the Jews escaped the massacre decreed by Haman during the reign of Ahasuerus. It was celebrated on the 14th and 15th of the month of Adar (February-March), after the 13th day of the festival in memory of the battle against Nicanor. The 14th and 15th were days in memory of Mordecai and Esther. According to history, the dates were chosen by Haman by drawing lots. It was traditional to read the Book of Esther (Esther 9:11-32); people also drank and made displays of joy (gifts, food, etc.). It was a national holiday, especially for the eastern diaspora.
Although Purim is considered one of the most joyful days of the Hebrew calendar, Jews were required to fast and pray on the eve of Purim in remembrance of the Persian Jews who fasted and prayed to God to save them from the impending conflict that would lead to their annihilation and extermination at the hands of Haman and his followers in the army of the Persian Empire. On Purim, the Megillah (Hebrew: מְגִילַת אֶסְתֵּר, Megillat Esther, “Scroll or Book of Esther”) was read. This reading was done at great speed, and those listening were required to make noise with rattles or other instruments as Haman’s name was pronounced, so that it would be erased. This helped to engage children.
After the fast, a great feast was held, during which it was customary to drink wine and recite songs, including the prayer known as Shoshanat Ya’akov. It was also obligatory to send gifts to friends (Hebrew: מנות משלוח, Misloah Manot) and give charity to the poor (Hebrew: לאביונים מתנות, Matanot La’evionîm). It was also customary to dress up small children, for Esther and Mordechai disguised themselves to save their people.
On Purim, special sweets called “Ears of Haman” were prepared. Men were permitted to drink wine up to the point of “confusing the names of Haman and Mordechai,” that is, becoming drunk.
Shoshanat Ya’akov (The Rose of Ya’akov) is a Jewish prayer found in the Song of Songs (Hebrew: Shir Hashirim) in which the Jewish people are compared to a rose. Shoshaná (rose) is a reference to Shushan (the city of Susa in ancient Persia), as the Book of Esther says, “the city of Shushan celebrated and rejoiced” (Est 8:15).
A translation of Shoshanat Ya’akov would be:
«The rose of Jacob (Ya’akov) was filled with excitement and joy when they had Mordechai dressed in royal blue. You have always been their salvation, their hope in every generation, to make it known that all who put their hope in You will not be put to shame, nor will all those who trust in You be forever in disgrace. Cursed be Haman, who sought to destroy me; blessed be Mordecai the Jew. Cursed be Zeresh, Haman’s wife, who terrorized me; blessed be Esther, who interceded for me. Cursed be all the wicked; blessed be all the upright; and may Harvonah be remembered favorably.»
¶ Feast of Passover
In Hebrew: Pesah; in Greek: Paskhal; in Latin: Pascham.
A solemn Jewish festival commemorating the Exodus from Egypt and the passage (Passover) through the desert. On the 14th of Nisan, the first month of the religious year, coinciding with the full moon, the Passover was celebrated at sunset. From the 15th to the 21st of Nisan, the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Feast of the massot) was celebrated.
In Aramaic, Pesah means “passage,” meaning that Yahweh “passed by” in the sense that he “saved.” But it is possible that the Egyptian word from which it is derived meant “blow” (God struck) in connection with the tenth plague of Egypt that allowed the Jews to escape.
Originally, it was a festival that offered the first fruits (the lamb from the flock, the unleavened bread from the barley harvest, etc.). With the events of the Exodus, it was filled with the historical meaning of that journey. Moses seems to have instructed them to celebrate the Passover rite by killing a lamb or a goat, offering it to God, draining its blood, and staining the doorposts of their houses with its blood, eating it while wearing travel clothes. The festival lasted for seven days.
This was the great Israelite pilgrimage festival, during which many thousands of Jews from all over the world came to Jerusalem. It was part of the three great festivals (Shelóshet Ha’regalim), along with Shavuot and Sukkot, during which it was customary to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. It was preceded by purification ceremonies the week before. The Passover lamb could only be slaughtered and eaten in Jerusalem. While the Temple stood, the Passover festival outside Jerusalem was a festival without the Passover lamb. Pilgrims gathered in groups of at least ten diners for the Passover feast. In this way, many people were able to consume the Passover lamb, a one-year-old lamb or goat, since no remains of the Passover lamb were to remain. Women and children took part in the festivities and the banquet. The poor also participated in the Passover banquet, since it was part of the customary charity of the People of God that wealthy groups facilitated unrestricted participation in the banquet. The Passover lambs were purchased about four days before the feast. They were slaughtered in the temple on the eve of Passover night after noon, while the great Hallelujah was being sung. At sunset, the great banquet began, lasting until midnight, during which no one was allowed to leave Jerusalem. Therefore, the venue for the banquet had to be sought and prepared in advance. Since this was a festive banquet, the guests lay on cushions. Besides the Passover lamb, the banquet included wine, bread, vegetables, lettuce, and a kind of jam consisting of a mixture of wine or vinegar, crushed or ground figs, dates, almonds, and other fruits, seasoned with cinnamon and other spices.
The Seder ceremony followed this custom:
- Seated at the table, in the evening, the preparation of the “first cup” took place. The father or head of the table would pronounce a blessing, the qiddus, and then the cup would be drunk. First he would pronounce this praise: “Praise be to you, Yahweh, our God, King of the world, who created the fruit of the vine.” Then he would recite the qiddus, which said: “Praise be to you, Yahweh, our God, King of the world, who gave to your people Israel feast days for joy and remembrance. Praise be to you, Yahweh, who sanctifies Israel and the seasons.”
- The members of the family would perform the “first ablution of the hands” of the evening, without a blessing (Urjatz). A jug of water was brought to the table so that the host of the Seder could perform the ablution without moving from his place.
- An appetizer of celery (carp) dipped in salt was eaten.
- Then came the yachatz, the dividing into two pieces of one of the three unleavened breads (matza). The larger piece was set aside, while the smaller piece was left with the other unleavened breads.
- Then the “second cup” or “Haggadah cup” or Mishpat was poured, and the Pesá or Passover rite took place. It was introduced by a child or other diner’s question about the meaning of the feast: “Ma nishtana halaila hazé micol haleilot?” (“Why is this night different from all the other nights?”). The father would respond with the story of the Exodus from Egypt; the liturgical foundation was provided by Dt 26:5-11, provided with the necessary interpretations.
- The “second ablution” followed with the prayer “Al Netilat Yadaim” (“You who commanded us to wash our hands!”), and the matzah was eaten immediately.
- The first part of Hallel was recited, and then the second cup, called the Haggadah cup or Mishpat, was drunk.
- Then the unleavened bread was distributed, a small portion to each diner, and before eating it, a blessing (motzi) was said: “Praise be to you, Lord our God, King of the world, who brings forth bread from the earth.” The diners answered “Amen,” and then the bread was distributed to them. The father of the house took the last piece and began to eat, which was the signal to all that the feast had begun.
- The feast began with the first course, the starter, which consisted of various bitter vegetables (maror), which were made more digestible by dipping them in a sauce called charoset. They also offered each other pieces of bread spread with sauce and vegetables.
- Normally, the Passover lamb or goat (one year old) came next.
- The reserved piece of unleavened bread was left for last. The banquet ends with a prayer of thanksgiving through “the third cup,” called the “cup of blessing.” This prayer of thanksgiving may have been as follows: “Praise be to you, Lord our God, who feeds the whole world with your goodness, your grace, and your loving-kindness. We give you thanks, Lord our God, because you have allowed us to possess a good and large land. Have mercy, Lord our God, on Israel your people, and on Jerusalem your city, and on Zion the seat of your majesty, and on your altar and your temple. Praise be to you, Lord, who builds Jerusalem.”
- Finally, the Hallel (Ps 115-118) was sung, and a “fourth cup” was still drunk after blessing it, or “the cup of Hallel.” After that, the meal was over. The diners usually continued until late at night, talking and having a pleasant time.
The entire meal was full of symbolism and meaning:
- The wine cups: expressed the joy of the Jewish people at being freed from Egypt.
- Unleavened bread (matzah): expressed the haste of the Jewish people upon leaving Egypt, since the bread they had taken on their journey had not had time to ferment.
- Bitter herbs (a shredded horseradish, maror): produced tears and expressed the bitterness for the slavery of their ancestors.
- Sauce (charôset): represented the mortar with which the Jewish slaves had to build the Pharaoh’s constructions.
- Celery or parsley dipped in salt (carpas): commemorated the taste of the exodus.
- Lettuce or salad, together with radish (jazeret): represented the plants that the Jews had to eat in the desert.
- The Passover lamb: It expressed the compassionate behavior of God, who killed all the firstborn of the Egyptians and saved those of the Jews, because they smeared their doorposts with the blood of the lambs. The name “Passover,” which is the Latin word, comes from pesach, which in Hebrew means “passage” or “overthrow,” because God passed through and overthrew the Egyptians. In conclusion, the lamb had a meaning of death for Israel’s enemies, and that is why the animal was killed. Animal sacrifice was a constant ritual practice in those days, not only among Jews but among all civilized people. The idea was that divine favor was earned through the blood of the innocent animal victim, and that there was no divine hearing if these bloody acts were not performed. We know that Jesus even eliminated the lamb from the ritual because he did not agree with these sacrificial visions (UB 179:0.3), something that Paul failed to grasp (UB 188:4.1-3, UB 196:2.1, UB 149:2.3).
The events of the Passover were associated with the memories of the Exodus from Egypt; the memory of those great events was alive in them. The doctors of the Law said: “In every generation a man is forced to consider himself when he came out of Egypt.” The cultic celebration brought the later participants back to the original situation and thereby made them participants in God’s action. Hence these words: “Therefore we are obliged to give thanks, to exalt, to praise, to magnify, to exalt, to celebrate, to bless, to exalt, and to sing to him who performed this miracle for our fathers and for us all, leading us from slavery to freedom, from affliction to joy, from mourning to a day of celebration, from darkness to great light, and from submission to salvation, and we will sing before him the hallelujah.”
The Israelites called the “Passover night” the “night of watches,” and they associated that night, which God himself watched over and guarded, with messianic hopes, modeling their thoughts on the liberation from Egypt. The “Passover night” would be the hour of the future appearance of the Messiah for Israel. According to this, the great Hallel was to be given not only a historical and retrospective interpretation, but also a messianic and prospective one.
Passover lasted only one night, the “Christmas Eve of Israel.” It was followed, starting on the 15th of Nisan, by the feast of massot, the Unleavened Bread, also popularly called Passover, which lasted seven days, so that the entire series of eight festive days was jointly called Passover. It was a period of joy, especially for pilgrims who came to Jerusalem from afar; They arrived before the festival and remained in Jerusalem throughout it, while the majority of pilgrims from the surrounding area left Jerusalem on the second day after the “Passover night.” That the Massot festival was also a thanksgiving festival for the harvest is evident from the fact that on its third day, the 16th of Nisan, the firstfruits of the new harvest were offered in the temple.
¶ Feast of the Harvest, of the Firstfruits, or of the Fifty Days
Hebrew: Shavuot; Greek: Pentecost.
It was given other names depending on the explanation given for the holiday:
- Jag HaShavuot (Feast of Weeks): It was so named because it was celebrated at the end of the seven weeks of Sefirat Ha’omer, the daily count of which had begun on the second night of Pesach.
- Zeman Matan Toraténu (Time of the Giving of our Torah): According to Jewish tradition, this is the date on which the Jewish people received the Torah (the Law) on Mount Sinai.
- Jag Hacatsir (Feast of Harvest): In the land of Israel, this is the time of the harvest, especially that of wheat.
- Jag Habicurim (Day of Firstfruits): The festival of Shavuot marked the beginning of the season for offering the “first fruits,” “Bicurim”.
- Atséret (Conclusion): In rabbinic sources, Shavuot is referred to as a “conclusion,” as the sages consider it to be linked to the festival of Pesach, being its historical conclusion.
This was the festival that commemorated among the Jews the day God gave the Tablets of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. It also served as a way of giving thanks to God for the harvests. It was celebrated 49 days, seven weeks, after Passover, that is, on the 50th day counting from the Feast of Paschal.
Just as the Feast of Tabernacles, after seven days of celebration, had a grand final feast on the eighth day, Passover and Massot also had their final feast, although fifty days away from the main feast, something the rabbis did not consider strange. Only winter justified, in the case of the Feast of Tabernacles, moving the final feast back to the main feast.
Originally, a separate harvest thanksgiving feast at the end of the harvest was associated with Passover and Massot. The fact that it was set fifty days after the 16th of Nisan demonstrates its character as a harvest festival. It was called the Feast of the “fiftieth day” (Pentecost), the “Feast of Weeks,” or the “Feast of the Last Day.” It is clear from the festive precepts of Lev 23:16-22 that this was a festival of thanksgiving for the shedding of the flocks and the completion of the harvest. In Palestine it lasted one day; in the Diaspora, two.
Rabbinic tradition linked it to the giving of the Law at Sinai, establishing, accordingly, the readings indicated for it.
Dairy products were eaten at the festive meal. Sweet cheese crepes (blintzes) were typical of Shavuot.
¶ The Jewish Festive Calendar
| Month | Feast |
|---|---|
| October (Tishri) | 1, New Year; 10, Forgiveness; 15, Tabernacles |
| November (Heshvan) | |
| December (Kislev) | 25, Hannukah |
| January (Tevet) | |
| February (Shevat) | |
| March (Adar) | 13, Nicanor; 14 and 15, Purim |
| April (Nisan) | 14, Easter |
| May (Iyyar) | |
| June (Sivan) | 5, Pentecost |
| July (Tammuz) | |
| August (Ab) | |
| September (Elul) |
¶ References
- Joachim Jeremías, Jerusalén en tiempos de Jesús (Jerusalem in the time of Jesus), Ediciones Cristiandad, 1977.
- Johannes Leipoldt and Walter Grundmann, El Mundo del Nuevo Testamento (The World of the New Testament), two volumes, Ediciones Cristiandad, 1973.
- The Urantia Book: UB 123:3.5, UB 164:4.1, UB 185:0.3, UB 194:1.1
- Wikipedia — Holidays Jewish
- Wikipedia — Rosh Hashanah
- Wikipedia — Yom Kippur
- Wikipedia — Weighing
- Wikipedia — Shavuot
- Wikipedia—Purim
- Wikipedia—Hanukkah