Passover's Fifth Question

Why is it so important that Passover is celebrated in the spring? 

The simple answer, of course, is that the Bible says so.   According to the Talmud, the rabbis understood the verse” You go free on this day, in the month of Aviv” (Exodus 13:4) to limit Passover to early spring.  They come to this conclusion because the Hebrew word for spring is Aviv.  It literally means “ fresh ears of Barley”  - which by the way – mature at this time of year.   And, like most simple answers to complex questions, such an answer, though interesting, leaves us wanting and unsatisfied.

Another explanation is that the month of Aviv is a transitional month. As spring arrives the harsh, bitter, winds of winter are just beginning to subside and milder breezes are starting to tease us to go outside with greater regularity.  This is the time of year when the daffodils and crocus begin breaking through the earths crust, and the rhododendron and the azalea begin showing their true colors. But none of it has fully developed.   Still there are days we are reminded that winter is still with us.  The flowers have not yet matured.  But seeing and sensing the transition our hopes rise as our anticipation of what will be grows. 

Picking up on these emotions of ours our early rabbinic personalities captured these feelings in the observance of Passover.  In doing so they injected them with a sense of historic purpose.  As spring celebrates natures liberation from the bonds of winter, Passover celebrates a nation’s moment of redemption from over four hundred years of enslavement.

At no other time in the year does nature and history come together in such harmony than at Passover.  In doing so we are reminded that just as nature is real, so too is the realm of spirituality; that the divine realm, which transcends nature, is as real as the miraculous annual rebirth of nature we witness each spring.

Why is Passover observed in the spring?  Because, just as springtime reinforces the promise of redemption and hope, Passover (and for that matter Judaism) is rooted in the historic belief that freedom will triumph over oppression, that good will triumph over evil and that life is stronger than death.

With these thoughts in mind, Erin and I extend to you a heart felt “ Hag Ha-Pesach Samecah”.  May the food at your Seder be delicious, may your conversation be lively, and may the night be one worthy of being remembered for blessing.