Live @ Drisha: Passover

What is our understanding of the relationship among the blood of circumcision, the blood of the Passover sacrifice, and the blood of childbirth?

Why do we begin our history as a people with the story of our enslavement? We will explore the role of slavery in the development of our national identity and in our celebration of Passover.

The afikoman plays a central role in the celebration of the Passover seder. What is the history of the afikoman and what is its relevance for both children and adults? We will survey the traditional sources for an halakhic and historical study of this beloved tradition.

The class will focus on the festival amidah and hallel and the prayers for rain and dew. This is part 1 of a 3 part class. Please go to www.drisha.org/podcast/pesach to listen to the other sessions.

The biblical account of the Exodus has been utilized for millennia as the source-text for discussions on central dichotomies in the human experience (death versus life, slavery versus freedom, and a life of meaning versus a life without). In this lecture, we will explore some of the richest of these readings, and ask how the Passover narratives of the past answered the question, What is the real Passover story?

How do midrashic sources reflect on themes raised by the Passover Haggadah and how does the Haggadah uses such sources to tell its story?

We will engage in a close reading of Song of Songs and examine how it has been understood over the ages. This is part 1 of a 2 part series. Go to www.drisha.org/podcast/pesach for the second session.

As Jews we are constantly reminded, “Be kind to the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” and the Pesach seder begins with the words, “Whoever is hungry, let him come and eat; whoever is in need, let him come and conduct the Seder of Passover.” Shuli Taubes will focus on developing a definition of the word ger (stranger) in Tanakh and rabbinic Judaism and its implications for how we think of ourselves in relation to the exodus from Egypt.

Shir HaShirim is at once the most sacred and most profane book of the Tanach, eliciting reverence and fear — and hence interpretation and re-interpretation — throughout history. This podcast explores how it came to thematize Pesach and how reading it closely might shape our experience of the holiday.

We usually think of the Omer as a commandment to count up to fifty days as a bridge between Passover and Shavuot. What is much less familiar is that in certain post-Biblical works the Omer is considered its own festival. This podcast examines the surprising roots of the Omer. It analyzes passages in rabbinic literature alongside writings from the Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo and the early Church Fathers. Listen and learn about the surprising roots of the Omer Festival!

For many, the songs of the seder are among the evening's true highlights. We will explore the midrashic relationships between the seder and song and focus on the roots and interpretation of three songs: Dayyenu, Echad MiYode'a, and Chad Gadya.

David Silber shares his insights on the Passover haggadah.

The acrimonious international debate that ensued in the mid-nineteenth century, when a machine for baking Passover matzot was invented, touched upon essential questions concerning the development of Jewish law and lent expression to deeply-held convictions regarding the relationship between traditional piety and modernization.

As modern people living in relation to ancient traditions, how can we conceive of the miracles and wonders that are so tightly woven into the holiday’s fabric? Download this podcast to learn more.

David Silber discusses the Passover seder.

The Hagaddah suggests that ten plagues afflicted Egypt, and fifty plagues afflicted them at the Sea. (It even suggests there were fifty, not ten, plagues in Egypt!) Is the number of plagues important? What can the varied enumerations and structures of the plagues as found in Tanakh and rabbinic literature teach us about their desired objective and effect? The Annual Rapoport Family Memorial Lecture 2016

David Silber shares his thoughts on the Passover haggadah.