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Passover (Pesach)

14th Day of the 1st Month

Overview

The Passover (Pesach) is a meal that is eaten at sundown on the evening of the 14th day of the 1st month. 

The Passover is a mo’edim (appointed time) that is to be celebrated each year (forever) according to Torah.

Passover Meal

Torah Requirements

General commandments:

  • The Passover meal is to be eaten in the place that YHVH puts His Name (Jerusalem)
  • The Passover meal is to be eaten inside (none of the Passover meal is to be eaten outside by those partaking of it)
  • The Passover meal is to include lamb (or goat)
  • The Passover meal is to include unleavened bread and bitter herbs
  • Other foods may be included, however any leavened food is prohibited
  • All people eating of it must be in a covenant relationship with YHVH, whether they are a natural born Israelite or not
  • All males eating the Passover must be circumcised
  • Slaves owned by those in the covenant relationship may also eat of the Passover, but the male slaves must be circumcised
  • People not in a covenant relationship with YHVH (foreigners and heathen) may not eat of the Passover meal
  • In the morning, after the Passover, on the 15th day of the 1st month, you may return to your home outside of Jerusalem

Requirements for those “unclean” or on a journey:

  • If a person is unclean due to handling a deceased person, they may partake of the Passover at evening on the 14th day of the 2nd month
  • If a person is on a journey and can not get to Jerusalem on time for the Passover, they may partake of the Passover at evening on the 14th day of the 2nd month

Requirements concerning the Passover offerings (pesach):

  • On the 10th day of the 1st month, a flock animal (sheep or goats), a yearling, without blemish is to be separated for the Passover
  • One flock animal is to be separated for each family (if the family is too small, they are to share with a neighbor)
  • The flock animal is kept for 4 days and is to be sacrificed between twilight and evening at the end of the 14th day of the 1st month
  • The flock animal is to be sacrificed and eaten in the place that YHVH puts His Name (Jerusalem)
  • The flock animal may not be not eaten raw
  • The flock animal may not be boiled or cooked in any way other than roasted by fire
  • None of the flock animal’s bones are to be broken
  • None of the flock animal is to be left until morning (it must be completely eaten or consumed by the fire)
  • 2 silver trumpets are to be blown over the offering

Commandments specific to the first Passover:

  • The Passover was killed by those observing the mo’edim (in their house in Egypt)
  • The blood of the flock animal was to be drained into a basin
  • Using hyssop, the blood of the flock animal was then to be placed on the two side doorposts, and the upper doorpost, of the house of those who killed it
  • Those observing the mo’edim were required to be fully dressed, with shoes on and staff in hand (so as to be ready to leave)
  • The Passover meal was to be eaten in haste

Passover in the Torah

Exodus 12:1 And YAHWEH said to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
Exodus 12:2 This month shall be the head of months for you. It shall be the first of the months of the year for you.
Exodus 12:3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month, they shall each take for themselves an animal of the flock for a father’s house, a flock animal for a house.
Exodus 12:4 And if the house is too small for a flock animal, he and his neighbor next to his house shall take according to the number of souls, each one according to the mouth of his eating, you shall count concerning the flock animal.
Exodus 12:5 A flock animal, a male without blemish, a yearling, shall be to you. You shall take from the sheep or from the goats.
Exodus 12:6 And it shall be for you to keep until the fourteenth day of this month. And all the assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it between the evenings.
Exodus 12:7 And they shall take from the blood, and put it on the two side doorposts and on the upper doorpost, on the houses in which they eat it.
Exodus 12:8 And they shall eat the flesh in this night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
Exodus 12:9 Do not eat it raw, or at all boiled in water, but roasted with fire; its head with its legs and with its inward parts.
Exodus 12:10 And you shall not leave any of it until morning. And you shall burn with fire that left from it until morning.
Exodus 12:11 And you shall eat it this way: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in awe. It is the Passover to YAHWEH.
Exodus 12:12 And I will pass through in the land of Egypt in this night. And I will strike every first-born in the land of Egypt, from man even to livestock. And I will execute judgments on all the Elohe of Egypt. I am YAHWEH!
Exodus 12:13 And the blood shall be a sign to you, on the houses where you are. And I will see the blood, and I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be on you to destroy, when I strike in the land of Egypt.
Exodus 12:14 And the day shall be a memorial for you. And you shall celebrate it as a feast to YAHWEH, for your generations. You shall celebrate it as a law forever.

AND…

Exodus 12:21 And Moses called to all the elders of Israel and said to them, Draw out and take of the flock for you and for your families, and kill the passover.
Exodus 12:22 And take a bunch of hyssop and dip in the blood in the basin. And touch some of the blood in the basin to the lintel and on the two doorposts. And you shall not go out, anyone from the door of his house until morning.
Exodus 12:23 And YAHWEH will pass through to strike Egypt. And He will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and YAHWEH will pass over the door. And He will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.
Exodus 12:24 And you shall observe this Word for an ordinance for you, and for your sons forever.
Exodus 12:25 And it shall be, when you come into the land which YAHWEH shall give to you, as He has spoken, you shall observe this service.
Exodus 12:26 And it shall be, when your sons say to you, What is this service to you?
Exodus 12:27 Then you shall say, A sacrifice of a passover of YAHWEH, who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He struck Egypt. And He delivered our houses. And the people bowed and worshiped.
Exodus 12:28 And the sons of Israel went out and did as YAHWEH commanded Moses and Aaron. So they did.

AND…

Exodus 12:43 And YAHWEH said to Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the Passover. No heathen may eat of it.
Exodus 12:44 And every man’s slave, a purchase of silver, you shall circumcise him, then he may eat of it.
Exodus 12:45 A foreigner and a hired servant may not eat of it.
Exodus 12:46 It shall be eaten in one house. You shall not carry any of the flesh outside from the house. And you shall not break a bone in it.
Exodus 12:47 All the congregation of Israel shall prepare it.
Exodus 12:48 And when a visitor shall stay with you, and will do the Passover to YAHWEH, let every male to him be circumcised, (in covenant relationship) and then he may come near to prepare it. And he shall be like a native of the land. But any uncircumcised (non-covenant person) may not eat of it.
Exodus 12:49 One law shall be to the native, and to the visitor, the one staying in your midst.

Exodus 34:25 You shall not slaughter the blood of my sacrifice with leaven, nor shall the sacrifice of the Passover Feast pass the night until morning.

Leviticus 23:4 These are appointed times of YAHWEH, holy gatherings which you shall proclaim in their appointed seasons:
Leviticus 23:5 In the first month, on the fourteenth of the month, between the evenings is the Passover to YAHWEH.
Leviticus 23:6 And on the fifteenth day of this month is the Feast of Unleavened to YAHWEH; you shall eat unleavened things seven days.
Leviticus 23:7 On the first day you shall have a holy gathering; you shall do no laborious work;
Leviticus 23:8 and you shall bring near a fire offering to YAHWEH seven days; and the seventh day shall be a holy gathering; you shall do no laborious work.

Numbers 9:1 And YAHWEH spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
Numbers 9:2 Also the sons of Israel shall prepare the Passover in its appointed season.
Numbers 9:3 In the fourteenth day of this month, between the evenings, you shall prepare it according to all its statutes, and according to all its ordinances.
Numbers 9:4 And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel to prepare the Passover.
Numbers 9:5 And they prepared the Passover in the first month on the fourteenth day of the month, between the evenings, in the wilderness of Sinai, according to all that YAHWEH had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did.
Numbers 9:6 And there were men who had been defiled by the body of a man, and they had not been able to prepare the Passover on that day. And they came near before Moses, and before Aaron on that day.
Numbers 9:7 And those men said to him, We are defiled by the body of a man. Why are we restrained so as not to be able to offer the offering of YAHWEH in its appointed season, in the midst of the sons of Israel?
Numbers 9:8 And Moses said to them, You stand by, so that I may hear what YAHWEH will command concerning you.
Numbers 9:9 And YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying,
Numbers 9:10 Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your generations shall be unclean by reason of a body, or be in a distant journey, yet he shall keep the Passover to YAHWEH.
Numbers 9:11 In the second month, on the fourteenth day between the evenings, they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs;
Numbers 9:12 they shall leave none of it until morning, nor break a bone of it. According to all the statutes of the Passover, they shall keep it.
Numbers 9:13 But the man that is clean, and is not on a journey, and has failed to prepare the Passover, even that person shall be cut off from his people, because he did not bring the offering of YAHWEH in its appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.
Numbers 9:14 And if an alien shall reside with you, and desires to keep the Passover to YAHWEH; he shall do according to the statute of the Passover, and according to its ordinance. You shall have one statute, both for the alien and for the native of the land.

Numbers 10:1 And YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying,
Numbers 10:2 Make two trumpets of silver for yourself. You shall make them of hammered work, and they shall be to you for the calling of the congregation, and for causing the camps to pull up stakes.
Numbers 10:3 And when they blow with them, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the door of the tent of meeting.
Numbers 10:4 And if they blow with one, then the rulers, the heads of the thousands of Israel, shall assemble to you.
Numbers 10:5 And when you blow an alarm, the camps that lie on the east side shall then pull up stakes.
Numbers 10:6 And when you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that lie on the south side shall pull up stakes; they shall blow an alarm for their journeys.
Numbers 10:7 But when the assembly is gathered, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm.
Numbers 10:8 And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets. And they shall be to you for a never ending statute throughout your generations.
Numbers 10:9 And when you go into battle in your land against the foe distressing you, then you shall blow with the trumpets, and you shall be remembered before YAHWEH your Elohim. And you shall be saved from your enemies.
Numbers 10:10 And in the day of your gladness, and in your appointed times, and in your new moons, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. And they shall be to you for a memorial before your Elohim. I am YAHWEH your Elohim.

Numbers 28:16 And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the Passover of YAHWEH.

Deuteronomy 16:1 Observe the month Aviv, and perform the Passover to YAHWEH your Elohim. For in the month of Aviv, YAHWEH your Elohim brought you out of Egypt by night.
Deuteronomy 16:2 And you shall sacrifice a Passover to YAHWEH your Elohim of the flock, and of the herd, in the place which He shall choose to cause His name to dwell there (Jerusalem).
Deuteronomy 16:3 You shall eat with it no leaven. You shall eat unleavened bread with it seven days, even the bread of affliction. For you came out of the land of Egypt in haste, so that you may remember the day that you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.
Deuteronomy 16:4 And there shall be no leaven seen with you in your borders seven days; nor shall any of the flesh which you sacrificed the first day at evening remain all night until the morning.
Deuteronomy 16:5 You may not sacrifice the Passover offering inside any of your gates, which YAHWEH your Elohim gives you.
Deuteronomy 16:6 But at the place which He shall choose to cause His name to dwell there (Jerusalem), you shall sacrifice the Passover offering at evening, at the going of the sun, at the time when you came out of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 16:7 And you shall cook and eat in the place which YAHWEH your Elohim shall choose (Jerusalem). And in the morning you shall turn and go into your tents.

Jewish Passover Traditions

There are a number of Jewish traditions associated with Passover that are not found in the Torah, but are found in the Jewish Talmud (religious law).  These traditions are steeped in Kabbalah – the mystical side of the religion of Judaism.  The information given below is to help you discern the truth of scripture from the man-made doctrines of Judaism.

In the Jewish mindset, the period of time from the Passover through till the end of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is all part of the “Passover”.   As such, they refer to all the days, from the 14th day of the 1st month through the 21st day of the 1st month, as the “Passover”, rather than referring to it as the “Feast of Unleavened Bread”.

The Seder – A Kabbalistic Tradition

The Seder is a special meal for the Jewish people, observed as part of the Passover meal on the evening of the 14th day of the 1st month.  In the diaspora, the Seder is also observed the following evening (the 15th day of the 1st month), on the evening of the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

The Seder is a long, relaxing dinner, combined with a reading of the Exodus story, meant to invoke the strong feelings of Israel going out of Egypt.  However, most of the aspects of the Seder are steeped in Kabbalistic doctrines.   

According to Kabbalah, some of the central themes of the Seder include:

  • Liberation and Transformation – The Seder is seen as a vehicle for personal transformation for the participants… a chance to break free from the chains of self-imposed limitations and “connect with a higher consciousness”.
  • Re-experiencing the Exodus – The Seder encourages the participants to not just remember the historical event of the Exodus but to re-experience the spirit of freedom and liberation on a personal level.
  • Connecting to the Divine – The Seder provides a unique opportunity for the participants to tap into the energy of God and experience a heightened sense of connection to the spiritual realm.
  • The Ten Sephirot – The ten elements on the Seder plate are interpreted as reflecting the ten divine emanations, representing the structure of the universe and of human consciousness.
  • Purposeful Suffering – The Seder also incorporates the concept of purposeful suffering, understanding that even hardship can be a tool for spiritual growth and connection to the Divine.

According to Kabbalah, even the food elements on the Seder plate have mystical spiritual significance:

  • Matzah: Represents the three intellectual attributes (wisdom, understanding, and knowledge) and the bread of affliction, symbolizing willingness to receive sustenance from above.
  • Shankbone (Zeroa): Represents kindness and generosity, the first triangle of emotional attributes in Kabbalah.
  • Egg: Represents harmony and balance, the middle emotional triangle in Kabbalah.
  • Bitter Herbs: Represent the three primary emotional attributes of restraint, balance, and harmony, as well as the suffering experienced by the Jewish people in Egypt.
  • Charoset: Represents perseverance, the victory of individuation, and confidence in God’s strength.

The Seder is not found anywhere in scripture, however many believers have erroneously tried to connect it to the “last supper” as both involve drinking wine and eating bread.