Rabbi Daniel Siegel – Head of Jewish Life

Passover
Pass Nicht

There is a great likelihood that the holiday you have been calling Passover is not.

Our Pesach Haggadah, which we read at our Seder, begins with the words:

All who are hungry come and eat (יכל/yechal),
all who are needy come and יפסח/yifsach.

The general translation of יפסח/yifsach, being of the root letters /פסחpesach, is partake of the Pesach meal, corresponding to the word eat.

Later in the Haggadah we recite the words of Rabban Gamliel (from the Mishnah): “Whoever does not explain these three things on Pesach has not fulfilled his obligation”. The first of these three things is “Pesach”. The explanation immediately follows: “Pesach is that which our ancestors ate when the Temple existed” – meaning the Paschal lamb/sacrifice (Korban Pesach).

Following the question: “For what reason (did they eat the Pesach sacrifice)?”, the critical statement appears: “Because the Holy One Blessed be He פסח/Pasach the houses of our ancestors in Egypt, for it says (in Exodus 12:27) ‘You shall say it is the Pesach sacrifice to the Lord, Who פסח/Pasach the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but our houses He saved’”.

So, what is Pasach, and therefore Pesach?

The first English translation of the Bible, by the leading Protestant Reformer Tyndale, renders פסח/Pasach as Passover. Perhaps this translation, preserved by the King James version, originated with the Vulgate, St. Jerome’s 4^th century Latin translation of the Bible, which renders פסח/Pasach “ac transibo”.

The Biblical author(s), however, were meticulous in the words they used. When referring to the Egyptian houses in which the first born would be killed the word עבר/pass over or through is used. “I will pass through (עברתי/avarti) the land of Egypt in that night, and I will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:12). The word pasach, employed with regard to the Israelites was to have a contrasting meaning: “The Lord will pass through (עבר/avar) to smite the Egyptians, but seeing the blood upon the lintel and sideposts the Lord will פסח/Pasach..and not allow the destroyer to come into your (Hebrew) houses to smite (Exodus 12:23).

We now have an indication of what the word פסח/Pasach (and hence Pesach) might mean. The following verse from Isaiah provides more clarity: “As flying/hovering birds, so will the Lord of hosts shield Jerusalem, shielding and saving, protecting (פסוח) and rescuing. The root word פסח/pasach means protect. When, therefore, we say in the Haggadah (quoting the Bible) that the Lord פסח״/Pasach the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but our houses He saved”, God is being depicted as a safeguarding agent against destruction.

Interestingly, in two of three occasions here in Exodus, the 3^rd century BCE Greek translation of the Septuagint renders פסח/pasach as defend and protect. The 10^th century philologist Menachem ibn Saruk, likewise, believes that the word means to spare or save, associating it with an act of chemlah/compassion. The first century BCE Aramaic translation of Onkelos and the 2^nd century Rabbinic Mechilta similarly associate פסח/Pasach with pity (חסה) resulting in divine protection.

As we near the end of the seder and the haggadah narrative, we say:

“Lord, You smote the first born on the night of guarding, Pesach.
Mighty One, Your first born You protected (פסחת/pasachta), through the blood of Pesach.
To prevent the destroyer from entering my doors, on Pesach.
You shall say ‘It is the Pesach sacrifice’.”

The Kabbalist, Isaac Luria, referred to Pesach as Peh Sach (The Mouth that Speaks). In our history of persecution, we lacked a voice to freely express ourselves as individuals and as a people. Throughout the generations, Pesach was seen as a night to tell our story and to pray for a protective agent that might bring about our redemption as we recount our ancestors’ deliverance from Egypt.

Today, as we celebrate Chag HaPesach in the safety and security of our homes, may we remember that it is the Holiday of Compassionate Protection and not pass over those in need. May we empower those who are hungry for freedom to find their voice and help them to live freely beyond the constraints of the narrow space of mitsrayim.