Pascal Sacrifice ‘Exercise’ Yields Majestic Street Theater in Preparation for Passover, Redemption
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The slaughtered "Pascal" goat's blood was collected in a gold vessel to be sprinkled on a makeshift altar, in the middle of a JCC basketball court.
Photo Credit: Yori Yanover / JewishPress.com
The air inside and outside the community center in the Shmuel HaNavi neighborhood in Jerusalem was rife with the kind of excitement one finds in rock concerts. Hundreds (maybe as many as two thousand) of religious Jews, mostly in Haredi garb but quite a few in “modern” street clothes, and an enormous band of local children, pushed, shoved, pressed, retreated temporarily before the loud demands from organizers, then got back to pushing as relentlessly as before. If the measure of such an event was how intensely thrilled folks were to be in it – this one broke a few records. If the core idea of the entire event, which was to urge our Redemption from above by starting it down below, right here on Earth, then this one had to have cut through a whole bunch of “klipot” (evil shells).
The Moriah synagogue in the Shmuel HaNavi synagogue was packed with Jews eager to take in hyper-realistic terms regarding the Pascal sacrifice.
The organizers, the Movement for the Renewal of the Holy Temple and The Temple Institute (special thanks to Hillel Weiss who was very helpful to this reporter) are comprised of hard core believers in the principle of “acting as if” – or, if you will, attempting to do the maximum on our part in adhering to the commandments which are connected to the sacred labors of the holy Temple, gone now some 1942 years, so that up in Heaven a complementary response would usher in the Messiah and bring about the rebuilding of the actual holy Temple.
This yearnings, coupled with the voracious curiosity of a crowd of many hundreds of Jews of all sizes and weights and fragrances and sounds and colors, made for the most fantastic street theater yours truly has encountered in years. Move over, Occupy Wall Street, make room for Occupy Temple Mount.
The crowd of adults and children was the event – their eagerness making an indelible comment regarding the yearning for Redemption.
The event began with a scholarly discussion of all the many aspects of the Pascal sacrifice, a two hour session before a very deeply interested crowd of mostly men in the neighborhood Moriah synagogue, with a huge assembly of children who watched the slanted, crooked, computer-generated slide show on the bare wall with an intensity and joy that easily topped those of any kid playing any video game. There’s a family of Jews waking up early in the morning to start the journey, along with a bull for the holiday sacrifice and a lamb or a goat for the Pascal sacrifice, Rabbi Israel Ariel, head of the Temple Institute, would narrate, pointing at a colored illustration up on the wall, and the children would stare, mystified, never taking their eyes from the simple images.
Some girls were watching the scene intently from above.
The audience sat through two hours of detailed discussions of precisely what must be done, when, where, how much, and all the other W’s of religious super-realism, in case, God willing, come Friday, Nissan 14, 5772, the Prophet Elijah would appear on CNN alongside the next King of Israel, and proclaim that it’s on. At that point, asked Rabbi Tzvi Idan from the podium, where does one go for a Pascal sacrifice? Never mind all the other crucial questions having to do with integrating a modern-day society with the tenets of a Biblical one.
Some kids were extremely creative about picking their perching points.
But the scholarly stuff, although daring and amazingly well thought out, couldn’t match the visceral, irrepressible excitement that followed outside, on the grounds of the Shmuel HaNavi Matnas (the local equivalent of a JCC, but with fewer swimming pools). As soon as the teaching was over, the court yard in front of the spacious, three-story building became packed with big and small Jews, as well as a band of reporters, photographers and cameramen of both sexes – that last part raised a few grumpy comments from some organizers, but the ladies with the cameras, including the Jewish Press’ videographer Yarden Yanover, who were the model of tznius in their manner of dress – stood their ground and kept shooting.
tell a friendAbout the Author: JewishPress.com Senior Internet Editor Yori Yanover has been a working journalist since age 17, before he enlisted and worked for Ba'Machane Nachal. Since then he has worked for Israel Shelanu, the US supplement of Yedioth, JCN18.com, USAJewish.com, Lubavitch News Service, Arutz 7 (as DJ on the high seas), and the Grand Street News. He has published two fun books: The Cabalist's Daughter: A Novel of Practical Messianic Redemption, and How Would God REALLY Vote.
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35 Responses to “Pascal Sacrifice ‘Exercise’ Yields Majestic Street Theater in Preparation for Passover, Redemption”
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@Moishe Sachs You based your arguments, stemmed from your Abrahamic faith. It is very consistent. You worded it in line with what your ancestors have received from HaShem.
To other respondents who regard the practice as barbaric, before anything else, THIS IS TO INFORM you, you SHOULD know what has transpired between Adonai and the Jewish people. It was Adonai Who performed the first sacrifice of animal when He resolved the problem of sin Eve and Adam committed which opened their eyes made them be conscious that they were naked, thus, paved for corruption to enter into a man’s life, so they (both of them) made fig leaves as their aprons to cover their bodies but HaShem has the perfect idea to cover them, He gave Eve and Adam coats of skins, naturally from animals, which was suppose to be more durable from wear and tear with their bodies’ movements. Genesis 3:7-21
It was G_d Himself Who introduced slaughtering an animal as sacrifice for man’s sins. FROM THAT TIME ON, THIS ACT OF SLAUGHTERING, EITHER BULLOCK, GOAT, LAMB, A PIGEON ACCORDINGLY AS THE ALL MIGHTY, advised later more elaborately to Moses, AND SACRIFICING WAS SYMBOLIC OF THE COMING REDEMPTION OF THE JEWS, OF MANKIND, JEW OR GENTILE FROM THE ETERNAL CONSEQUENCE OF SIN(S). IF YOU REFUSE TO BELIEVE THE BIBLE, IT IS SAFER FOR YOU TO REFRAIN FROM CRITICIZING THE JEWS OTHERWISE YOU ARE THE MORE NAILING YOURSELVES TO PERDITION. G_D OF THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH IS OUR CREATOR, THE GIVER OF LIFE AND THE TAKER OF IT.
History witnessed the coming of Messiah, once He is recognized by His Friends’ descendants, sacrifices and offerings shall cease because HaMaschiach offered Himself, He is the PERFECT SACRIFICE.
Consult the Holy Scriptures, the so-called the Holy Bible, containing every explanation of man’s existence, why’s and wherefores of human nature, norms and mores.
@Moishe Sachs You based your arguments, stemmed from your Abrahamic faith. It is very consistent. You worded it in line with what your ancestors have received from HaShem.
To other respondents who regard the practice as barbaric, before anything else, THIS IS TO INFORM you, you SHOULD know what has transpired between Adonai and the Jewish people. It was Adonai Who performed the first sacrifice of animal when He resolved the problem of sin Eve and Adam committed which opened their eyes made them be conscious that they were naked, thus, paved for corruption to enter into a man’s life, so they (both of them) made fig leaves as their aprons to cover their bodies but HaShem has the perfect idea to cover them, He gave Eve and Adam coats of skins, naturally from animals, which was suppose to be more durable from wear and tear with their bodies’ movements. Genesis 3:7-21
It was G_d Himself Who introduced slaughtering an animal as sacrifice for man’s sins. FROM THAT TIME ON, THIS ACT OF SLAUGHTERING, EITHER BULLOCK, GOAT, LAMB, A PIGEON ACCORDINGLY AS THE ALL MIGHTY, advised later more elaborately to Moses, AND SACRIFICING WAS SYMBOLIC OF THE COMING REDEMPTION OF THE JEWS, OF MANKIND, JEW OR GENTILE FROM THE ETERNAL CONSEQUENCE OF SIN(S). IF YOU REFUSE TO BELIEVE THE BIBLE, IT IS SAFER FOR YOU TO REFRAIN FROM CRITICIZING THE JEWS OTHERWISE YOU ARE THE MORE NAILING YOURSELVES TO PERDITION. G_D OF THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH IS OUR CREATOR, THE GIVER OF LIFE AND THE TAKER OF IT.
History witnessed the coming of Messiah, once He is recognized by His Friends’ descendants, sacrifices and offerings shall cease because HaMaschiach offered Himself, He is the PERFECT SACRIFICE.
Consult the Holy Scriptures, the so-called the Holy Bible, containing every explanation of man’s existence, why’s and wherefores of human nature, norms and mores.
This is discusting, What kind of Diety would want an innocence throat cut and blood sprayed on an altar? Are you some kind of Aztec? And why would a Diety want a Human such as Christ to be tortured and savagly killed? Does this make God happy or pleased to see such violence or the snuffing out of a life? Oh and what about this Genital mutilation called circumcision? I don’t think God screwed up his design of a penis. You would think this would all go away once we left the cave. I wish I could just sit all the Jews and Muslims and Christians down in a room and say ” All this stuff is just stories and legends and opinions. None of it is true. You have been doing all this fighting over nothing. Maybe you could look at each other as just people who are ALLl genetically related. Yes the Diety is the God of the Universe and all this crap these naked apes are doing pisses him off. You over populate, Kill all his innocence, polute his planet and follow rules written 3000 years ago by people who barely left the cave. Enough already! At least you don’t run around in mastodon skins cause someone told you to.
This is discusting, What kind of Diety would want an innocence throat cut and blood sprayed on an altar? Are you some kind of Aztec? And why would a Diety want a Human such as Christ to be tortured and savagly killed? Does this make God happy or pleased to see such violence or the snuffing out of a life? Oh and what about this Genital mutilation called circumcision? I don’t think God screwed up his design of a penis. You would think this would all go away once we left the cave. I wish I could just sit all the Jews and Muslims and Christians down in a room and say ” All this stuff is just stories and legends and opinions. None of it is true. You have been doing all this fighting over nothing. Maybe you could look at each other as just people who are ALLl genetically related. Yes the Diety is the God of the Universe and all this crap these naked apes are doing pisses him off. You over populate, Kill all his innocence, polute his planet and follow rules written 3000 years ago by people who barely left the cave. Enough already! At least you don’t run around in mastodon skins cause someone told you to.
Shalom Amen
Shalom Amen