Post History

Preparing for preparing for Pesach

There is an idea in Jewish law that it is incumbent upon each of us to begin to study the laws of a holiday 30 days before the holiday so as to prepare ourselves and help us become comfortable with that holiday.

Much discussion has ensued about the scope and specific intent of this practice. Some discuss whether it is applicable to all holidays or just some, others about whether that means pushing off other elements of learning in order to focus primarily on the upcoming holiday 9and what kinds of conflict this might cause).

Some resources:

https://halachayomit.co.il/en/Default.aspx?HalachaID=1346&PageIndex=3

https://www.ou.org/holidays/hilchos-chanukah-30-days/

https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/6482/why-30-days-of-preparation-for-a-%D7%97%D7%92

https://www.torahmusings.com/2021/03/how-much-holiday-preparation/

 

The real wrinkle to me is the fact that 30 days before Passover is Purim. I’m not as interested in the question of “how do I study for Passover if I have a question about Purim” because I think that the calendrical proximity is its own answer. In a sense, practicing the rituals and observing the obligations of Purim IS a preparation for Passover.

On the most explicit level, the events of the Purim story, the idea of salvation from an oppressive force leading up to an acceptance of the Torah (as Shavu’ot is to Pesach, “kiymu v’kiblu” is to Purim) closely parallel our rescue from Egypt. So even simply reading the megillah is a pre-reading of the Haggadah as it tells a story of miraculous redemption – it is a Magid in its own rite (sic). That Esther decreed her fast for the people beginning on the 14th of Nisan (according to the interpretation presented on this chart https://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/1359/jewish/Table-of-Dates.htm) means that observing the fast of Esther is a preparation for the Fast of the Firstborn which directly precedes Passover.

The other Mitzvot of the day similarly key us in to how we should be understanding Passover. One major Pesach obligation is making sure that the poor among us has Kimcha D'pischa, proper flour with which to make matzah https://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/273/Q5/. What better was to teach us this Passover law than to make a similar one 30 days earlier? We are required not only to have a se’udah, a feast (like we will be required to have a seder on Passover) but we must give food-gifts to others to make sure they have a feast and we must donate to charity (mishlo’ach manot and matanot l’evyonim are then both ways for us to learn the laws of Passover).

There are other connections that allow Purim to set us up for Paschal success. We learn about Haman on Purim, while Passover’s Exodus story includes our receiving the manna (Hamon, in Hebrew). The megillah speaks of Mordechai as the author of the text as Moshe wrote the Torah text (for more on this connection, listen to https://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/851709/ari-mirzoeff/short-purim-vorts-4-the-connection-between-moshe-rabbeinu-and-mordechai-hatzadik/ ). 

Reading about the list of the ten sons of Haman presages our study of 10 plagues. The Megilla (8:17) speaks of the fear of the Jews which fell upon the nations – “ki nafal pachad hayehudim aleihen” and reading that should help one understand the fear that is described which fell on the Egyptians in Sh’mot 15:16 (tipol aleihem eimata vafachad) and pointed out in Tehillim 105:38 (ki nafal pachdam aleihem). So learning about the story of Purim calls forth so many aspects of the Passover story that observing the laws and obligations of Purim is tantamount to preparing for Passover!

It isn’t about echoes or repeated tropes, but about how there is a larger plan in place which allows us not just to see fanciful connections, but actual interwoven words, themes and events. Our calendar is not a linear series of chronological events, separated by blank spot, but is a spiraling process through which we see the innate interconnectedness between all formative historical moments. Purim is 30 days before Passover because we cannot, in a sense, be truly prepared for Passover without it.

[secondary note -- Purim is always 30 days before Passover because in a leap year, the second Adar holds the holiday. This same fact is why Tu B'Shvat is not the same sort of preparation for Purim though it is often observed 30 days prior. Because 7 times every 19 years, it is 60 days before Purim in Adar II it cannot be said to have the same connection.]