Pesach; Exodus 12:21-51; Numbers 28:16-25 by Rabbi Denise L. Eger

The reading for both the first day and Shabbat during Pesach comes both from Exodus and Numbers. In Exodus we read of the preparation required of those in Egypt for the first Passover. They had to slaughter a lamb and then take the blood of that lamb and paint it upon the doorjambs and lintel. This blood offering becomes a sign for God to literally, pass over the houses of the Israelites during the last plague, the death of the first-born. It is a play on words, with the name of the holiday –Pesach—Passover. Any home that does not have the blood painted on the entryway will be struck with that plague. Any home that does have the blood offering on the doorway will be protected.

This tenth plague is most difficult and painful to imagine. The screaming that filled the night air as the Egyptian families discovered their first-born child dead must have rung out, filling the towns. That sound can only have haunted the Israelites and frightened all who listened.

Yet, that physical symbol on the doorposts offered the Israelites and their families protection from that horror. The blood on the doorposts was an outward symbol required by God. Tradition teaches that the mezuzah on our doorposts today harkens back to that outward symbol of protection. The Israelites had to claim their identity in order to be freed from slavery. They had to actively mark themselves apart from the Egyptians and perhaps from other slave groups. They had to cast their lot with those that would follow Moses. This is why Moses calls the elders together, to tell them what God wants of them.

With the arrival of the tenth plague, the Israelites awaken to a new reality the next morning—freedom is at hand. It is that awakening and that freedom that our Seder meal celebrates. Through the symbols of our Seder meal we reenact those moments of the plagues and pouring out ten drops of wine for each. But most importantly, like the Israelite families who gathered in their homes during the night of the tenth plague, huddling together, eating their Passover lamb offering –we too gather our families together, to eat our Passover Seder meal, huddled around our Haggadot, retelling the tale.

May the story of Passover’s freedom touch you deeply so that you can say with confidence, “ In every generation, one on is to imagine that I am the one who left Egypt.”

Happy Passover.

Posted by Lee at April 10, 2006 09:52 AM