Pesach - פֶּסַח - Passover

Pesach - Passover

Pesach  -  פֶּסַח -  Passover  

Chag HaPesach, which literally means “Pilgrimage of the passing over" or just “happy Passover” is a major Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals (Shalosh Regalim – Passover, Shavuot (Pentecost) and Sukkot (Tabernacles)). It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and is observed this year after sunset on Saturday 12th April 2025 (in Judaism, the 24 hour day commences after sunset based on Genesis - "So there was evening and there was morning—one day" (Genesis 1:5)

Because it remembers and celebrates the deliverance from the Egyptian oppression, it is also called Z'man Cheruteinu, the season of our freedom. Other names include Chag Ha-Matzot (the Festival of Matzah), and Chag Ha-Aviv (the Springtime Festival)

It is considered such a momentous event in redemptive history, that tradition tells us that on Pesach, we are to consider ourselves as if we, personally, were delivered from slavery in Egypt. We identify with ‘so great a salvation’ (Hebrews 2:3-4).

The Passover Haggadah (prayer book used at Pesach) demands that each person see him or herself as having personally come forth out of Egypt. Accordingly, the seder is one of the most sensory-heavy rituals of the Jewish year. During the seder, we don’t just tell the story of the Exodus, we see, smell, feel, and taste liberation. Many of the elements of this sensory experience appear on the seder plate (k’arah), which serves as the centrepiece of the seder table.

The seder plate traditionally holds five or six items, each of which symbolizes a part (or multiple parts) of the Passover story.

What’s On the Seder Plate

1. Karpas (a green vegetable, most often parsley)

Karpas represents the initial flourishing of the Israelites during the first years in Egypt. In the course of the seder, we dip the karpas in salt water (Ashkenazi custom) or vinegar (Sephardi custom), in order to taste both the hope of new birth and the tears that the Israelite slaves shed over their condition. Karpas also symbolizes the new spring.

2.   Charoset

This is a mixture of grated apples (allowed to go brown), mixes with red wine and chopped pecan or almond nuts symbolizes the mortar that the Israelite slaves used to construct buildings for Pharaoh. The name itself comes from the Hebrew word cheres or clay.

3.   Maror

This bitter herb allows us to taste the bitterness of slavery. Today, most Jews use horseradish as maror.

4.   Zero’ah

Traditionally, the z’ro’ah is a shank bone that is roasted in an oven. It symbolizes the lamb that Jews sacrificed as the special Passover offering when the Temple stood in Jerusalem. The zeroa does not play an active role in the seder, but serves as a visual reminder of the sacrifice that the Israelites offered immediately before leaving Egypt and that Jews continued to offer until the destruction of the Temple. 

5.   Roasted Egg – Beitzah

On the Passover seder plate, it reminds us of a holiday sacrifice offering and symbolizes the cycle of life. Even in the most painful of times, there is always hope for a new beginning.

Then, in addition to the items on the seder plate, the seder table should also have three pieces of matzah wrapped or covered in a cloth, and a container of salt water or vinegar in which to dip the karpas. This is located near but not on the seder plate.

Early on in the seder, there is an unusual tradition.

The leader of the seder takes out the middle piece of Matzoh and breaks it into half, one half is replaced in the middle pocket. The other half is wrapped in a white serviette and hidden from view, so that the children don’t know where it is hidden. This is called yachatz or dividing, and it is the 4th step in the order of the service.

Tradition says that the three matzot (plural of matzah) symbolize Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The middle piece is broken to symbolize the binding of Isaac – Akeidat Yitzchak - when God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as a test to see if Abraham would listen to him. And of course, Avraham was willing for he completely trusted in HaShem. It was only as he was about to plunge the knife into Isaac that we read in Genesis 22:11-12 that “the angel of ADONAI called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham! Abraham!” He said, “Hineni!” 12 Then He said, “Do not reach out your hand against the young man—do nothing to him at all. For now I know that you are one who fears God — you did not withhold your son, your only son, from Me.” 

The middle piece that is hidden from view is called the Afikomen matzah. After the meal, the children are encouraged to go and find the afikomen matzah and when they do, they all receive a reward. Then, this afikomen matzoh is broken into small pieces and everyone present at the table eats a piece of this matzah together with the 3rd cup of wine, which is known as the cup of redemption.

4 cups of wine are consumed at different stages of the service based on

Exodus, chapter 6: 6-8

“I am ADONAI, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.     I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 I will take you to Myself as a people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am ADONAI your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 So I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, and give it to you as an inheritance. I am ADONAI.”

The 1st cup of wine (I will deliver you) is consumed at the beginning of the service, and the 2nd cup (I will deliver you) immediately before the seder meal. Then, when the service commences after the meal, we take the piece of afikomen matzah together with the 3rd cup of wine (the cup of redemption) and we eat both together. The final cup of wine concludes the service.

And because the afikomen matzah is connected with Akeidat Yitzchak (the binding of Isaac), where HaShem provided a ram to be offered in Isaac’s place as a sacrifice, the afikomen taken together with this 3rd cup symbolizing redemption. It clearly points to THE LAMB OF GOD – Messiah Yeshua - who “was slain before the foundations of the earth were laid” (Rev 13:8).

The ram was offered in the place of Isaac on Mount Moriah (the Place), and Yeshua was offered on the same mountain, in the place of all of mankind. Both were sacrificed by their fathers on the same Mount Moriah and both demonstrate that one life can be sacrificed for another.

The afikomen ritual has been part of the Pesach service since the 2nd Temple period, and therefore, it was a component of the final meal that Yeshua observed with His talmidim (disciples) and when Messiah took a piece of the afikomen matzah together with the cup of redemption, Yeshua elevated this Jewish custom to a higher level and imparted a heavenly revelation.

And, the most pivotal revelation is the fact that afikomen is the only non-Hebrew word in the entire ceremony. It is Greek in origin and the Greek word aphikomenos, is a participle that translates as “the coming one”. 

The messianic reference to Yeshua is evident and undeniable.

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