SHALOM!

Thirty days ago we cleaned our homes and souls of leaven, and matzahed our way through the week-long festival of Passover. And now, Pesach Sheni—a Second Passover!

Pesach Sheni 2018 is observed on April 29 (14 Iyar).

In Israel, it’s the 15th Iyar.

The Feast of PASSOVER is the most important feast on the Hebrew/Jewish Calendar as PASSOVER marked the birth of the nation of Israel through the release from Egyptian slavery as well as rebirth of the People of Israel through YAHUSHUA’S Sacrificial death as the final sin sacrifice.

We are currently in the Hebrew Month named Iyyar (also written as Iyar).

For those of you who missed the first PASSOVER observance or celebration, here is another chance to have your PESACH SEDER!

Ypu need to remove CHAMETZ from your house or living environment aftee which you can concentrate on removing chametz from your life.

The dates for 2018 are as follows:

sun-down Saturday 28th to sun-down Monday 30th April 2018

It’s a minor observation but with great significance.

There are various links that will guide and help you through the time of observation. Please look through out Calendar under Spring Feasts in the meantime.

You can observe it for just the first two days or the full 8 days ending on sun-down Sunday 6th May 2018.

You need to go shopping in advance as the first two days and last two days of the feast are HIGH SABBATHS hence no work of any kind is to be done!

Many people make a point of eating matzah shmurah at least at the Seder, on the first night of Passover, and outside the Land of Israel, on the second night as well, for it is then that there is an obligation to eat matzot. There is no obligation to eat matzah during the remaining days of Passover.

Shmurah means “watched,” and it is an apt description of this matzah, the ingredients of which (the flour and water) are watched from the moment of harvesting and drawing.

There is a widespread custom to eat matzah on the 14th of Iyar, known as Pesach Sheni (the “second Passover”), the day when those who were impure and/or unable to bring the Paschal lamb on Passover were given a second chance to do so. Just as the matzah eaten as the afikoman by the Seder commemorates the matzah and Paschal offering eaten in Temple times, so is this matzah a remembrance of the second Passover.

But if this is the case, a question arises: The Paschal lamb (and its accompanying matzah) was consumed on the evening of Iyar 15, but the widespread contemporary custom is to eat matzah on the day of Iyar 14, when the Paschal lamb was slaughtered and prepared. Why?

Now, it should be noted that some do in fact have the custom to eat matzah on the eve of the 15th rather than on the day of the 14th of Iyar.

In the time period between Passover and the holiday of Shavuot, the emphasis is on the work of preparing and refining ourselves. Thus, we count the Omer, each day taking another step closer to the holiday of Shavuot, when we received the Torah. Appropriately, when it comes to celebrating the second Passover, the main emphasis is on the time of preparation, Iyar 14.2

Note that you continue COUNTING THE OMER during PESACH SHENI.

What Are The Origins of PESACH SHENI?

A year after the Exodus, YAH instructed the people of Israel to bring the Passover offering on the afternoon of the fourteenth of Nissan, and to eat it that evening, roasted over the fire, together with matzah and bitter herbs, as they had done the previous year just before they left Egypt.

“There were, however, certain persons who had become ritually impure through contact with a dead body, and could not, therefore, prepare the Passover offering on that day. They approached Moses and Aaron . . . and they said: ‘. . . Why should we be deprived, and not be able to present YAH’S offering in its time, amongst the children of Israel?’” (Numbers 9:6–7).

In response to their plea, YAHUVEH ELOHIM established the 14th of Iyar as a “Second Passover” (Pesach Sheni) for anyone who was unable to bring the offering on its appointed time in the previous month.

Numbers 9:6-14 Names of God Bible (NOG)

⁶But there were some men who had become unclean^[a] from touching a dead body, and they couldn’t celebrate the Passover that day. They came to Moses and Aaron ⁷and said, “We are unclean because we touched a dead body. Why won’t you let us bring our offerings toYahweh at the same time the rest of the Israelites bring their offerings?”

⁸Moses answered them, “Wait here until I find out what Yahweh commands you to do.”

⁹Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites: ¹⁰Suppose you or any of your descendants is unclean from touching a dead body or is away on a long trip. You may still celebrate the Passover. ¹¹You will celebrate it on the fourteenth day of the second month at dusk. You must eat the Passover animal along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ¹²You must never leave any of the meat until morning or break any of the animal’s bones. You must follow all the rules for the Passover when you celebrate it. ¹³But if you are clean^[b] and not on a trip and yet don’t bother to celebrate the Passover, you must be excluded from the people. You didn’t bring your offering to Yahweh at the right time. You must suffer the consequences for your sin.

¹⁴“Foreigners living with you may want to celebrate Yahweh’s Passover. They must follow these same rules and regulations. The same rules will apply to foreigners and native-born Israelites.”

What is the Significance of Pesach Sheni?

The day represents the “second chance” achieved by teshuvah, the power of repentance and “return.” In the words, it’s never a ‘lost case.’”

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SHALOM!

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It’s a HIGH SABBATH/SHABBAT HA GADOL for those brethren who were unable to have their PESACH SEDER last month (Nisan/Abib) for one reason or the other, for example,