Shabbat Chol Hamoed Pesach

By Rabbi Pam Frydman

(A teaching offered on Friday evening when Shabbat began as the first two festival days of Passover were concluding.)

Shabbat Shalom. Tonight is Shabbat and the beginning of Chol Hamoed Pesach, the intermediary days of Passover. Here in our Conservative congregation, we celebrate Passover for 8 days, including two festival days at the beginning, 4 intermediate days in the middle, and 2 festival days at the end.[1]

There are many similarities between Shabbat and the Torah based festivals. On Shabbat and Torah based festivals, we light candles in the evening. We make Kiddush and drink wine or juice both in the evening and at lunch time. And in the morning, after the morning service and the Torah service, we pray musaf, the additional service.

On the intermediate days of Passover, we also have a Torah service and we also pray musaf. However, on the intermediate days, we do not light candles and we do not make Kiddush.

On an inner level, a spiritual level, Shabbat and the festival days of Passover are times when we welcome our Neshama Yeteyra, the special additional part of our soul that appears when we take a break from the ordinary activities of life to be a little more in God consciousness.

Now, I want to remind us that the Torah based festivals include Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot. On Passover, we celebrate freedom from slavery. On Shavuot, we celebrate receiving the Ten Commandments and the Torah at Mt Sinai. And on Sukkot, we recall the wandering in the wilderness following slavery.

On Shabbat and the Torah based festivals, as well as on the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, we have a special opportunity to experience and commune with the depth of our true inner being, our Neshama Yeteyra.

During tonight’s service, we transitioned from the first two festival days of Passover to Shabbat, and we also transitioned from the first two festival days of Passover to the intermediate days of Passover, called Chol Hamoed.

Tonight, during Friday evening worship, we also passed over the six opening Psalms, during which we welcome Shabbat, and we also passed over Lecha Dodi.

Praying the six opening psalms and Lecha Dodi help us transition from weekday consciousness to Shabbat consciousness. However, because Passover festival consciousness and Shabbat consciousness are so similar, we are able to transition from the Passover festival days to Shabbat without our usual warm up that we experience while reciting the six opening psalms and Lecha Dodi. 

On this Shabbat and every Shabbat, and during the upcoming festival days of Passover that begin next Tuesday[2] evening and continue until Thursday night, may we be blessed to feel the presence of our Neshama Yeteyra, our deep inner self, that brings us a taste of the World to Come. Keyn yehi ratzon. So be may it be.

Shabbat Shalom, u’Moadim l’simcha.

[1] The Torah tells us to celebrate Passover for 7 days with a festival day at the beginning and a festival day at the end. Thus, according to the Torah, there are 5 intermediate days of Passover.

In the Diaspora (i.e. outside the land of Israel), Ultra-Orthodox, Orthodox, Conservative, and some Reconstructionist and Renewal congregations and individuals celebrate Passover for 8 days, including two Festival days at the beginning, 4 intermediate days, and 2 Festival days at the end.

In the Diaspora, Reform and some Reconstructionist and Renewal congregations and individuals celebrate Passover for 7 days with a festival day at the beginning, a festival day at the end and 5 intermediate days in the middle. This adheres to the Torah based custom observed in Israel.

Ultra-Orthodox, Orthodox, Conservative, and some Reconstructionist and Renewal congregations and individuals observe Passover for 8 days. This adheres to the custom that began when our people were living in Babylonia and the sages encouraged people to try to celebrate part of each Torah based festivals when it is being celebrated in the land of Israel.

[2] When Passover begins on Wednesday evening, the second festival day ends on Friday evening as Shabbat begins and the seventh and eighth festival days of Passover are celebrated from Tuesday evening through Thursday evening.