14. Passover has four names: The holiday of Pesach (פסח “Passed-over” and “sacrifice” in Hebrew), the holiday of liberty (חירות), the holiday of Matzah (מצה) and the holiday of spring (אביב). The number 4 features in the Passover Saga, representing the four women who shaped the life of Moses (Batyah – Pharaoh’s daughter, his savior; Yocheved – his mother; Miriam – his sister; and Ziporah – Jethro’s daughter, his wife); Joseph’s four enslavements- twice to the Midianties, once to the Ishmaelites and once in Egypt; the 4 times that the word “cup” was mentioned by Pharaoh’s jailed wine-butler when recounting his dream to Joseph; the 4 Sons (human characters) of the Haggadah; the 4 glasses of wine drunk on the eve of Passover; the 4 Questions asked on the eve of Passover and the 4 stages of the divine deliverance from Egyptian bondage. The 4th Hebrew letter (ד) is an acronym of God.
15. Passover is the first of three Jewish pilgrimages, followed by Shavou’ot (Pentecost), which commemorates the receipt of the Ten Commandments, and Sukkot (Tabernacles), and named after Sukkota – the first stop in the Exodus.
“Next Year in the rebuilt Jerusalem!”
