Dolores Jones

The Plus of Preparation

Preparation is a significant and integral part of every biblical holiday. The planning during the week prior to each Sabbath usually culminates on Friday in a bustle of cleaning, last minute shopping, food preparation and welcoming guests. Then the candles are lit and the peace of Shabbat is ushered in like a radiant, beautiful Queen. Without some advance planning and preparation, this would not be possible. The same principle applies to the Shabbatot, the set-apart days, of the annual Festival Cycle. Preparations for the annual festival of Pesach, or Passover, begin at least a month before the holiday, with a planned schedule of thorough housecleaning – the model for “spring cleaning”! Invitations are given or received for the Seder meal, which is prepared for in fine detail. …

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Passover is, as it were, the “firstborn” of the biblical festivals. God set it in place when He proclaimed at the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt: “You shall therefore keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year” (Exodus 13:10). As a first, Passover also sets a precedent for the purpose of the mo’edim, the set times of the Festival Cycle. Arnold Eisen describes this basic purpose well in saying that they are a remembrance that we are between redemptions.  “We are commanded to recall the past, in order to remember the present – to see it clearly, to know it fully, in all its possibilities – in the light of our future full redemption.”   These appointments with God offer unique opportunities that enable us to look back on God’s mighty deeds, to live in His light in the present, and to look forward in faith. …

PASSOVER – PESACH – OverviewRead More »

Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are unleavened.For Messiah our Passover also has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 1Co 5:7-8

As we enter into the Season of our Redemption let us “clean out the old leaven”. Passover is God’s first “appointed time” in the Torah. It is the beginning of the spring festival cycle beginning with Passover, Feast of First Fruits, and concluding with Shavuot (Pentecost). Passover begins at “twilight” of 14 Nissan, this year, 5772, is Friday, April 6th. The Seder is celebrated the first night in Israel and both the first and second nights in the Diaspora. In order to fulfill the commandment, one may also celebrate it on any night during Passover week, which for most people, is their respective Community Seder events.

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