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Point to the shank bone

וּני ֵתוֹבֲא י ֵתָּבּ לַﬠ אוּה וּרבּ שׁ ָ וֹדָקַּה ח ַסֶָפּ ֶשׁ םוּשׁ לַﬠ ?ה ָמ םוּשׁ לַﬠ ,םָיַק הָיָה שׁ ָדּ ְק ִמַּה תיֵבּ ֶשׁ ן ַמְז ִבּ םיִל ְכוֹא וּני ֵתוֹבֲא וּיָה ֶשׁ ח ַסֶפּ
דֹקִּיַּו ?לי ִצּ ִה וּני ֵתָּבּ ת ֶאְו , םי ַר ְצ ִמ ת ֶא וֹ פְּג ָנ ְבּ םי ַר ְצ ִמ ְבּ ל ֵא ָר ְשִׂי ינ ְבּ י ֵתָּבּ לַﬠ ח ַסֶָפּ ר ֶשֲׁא ,'הַל אוּה ח ַסֶפּ חַבֶז ם ֶתּ ְר ַמֲאַו :ר ַמֱאֶנּ ֶשׁ , םי ַר ְצ ִמ ְבּ
.וּוח ַתּ ְשִּׁיַּו םָﬠָה

The Pesach which our ancestors ate when the Second Temple stood: what is the reason for it? They ate the Pe-
sach because the holy one, Blessed be He “passed over” the houses of our ancestors in Egypt, as it is written in
the Torah: “And You shall say, ‘It is the Passover offering for G-d, who passed over the houses of the Israel-
ites saving us in Mitzrayim but struck the houses of the Egyptians.

What Is The De inition Of The Word “Pesach?”‐ Jake Teller (8th grade)

The known definition of the word Pesach is “to pass over,” the way Hashem did to the houses of the Jews dur-
ing the tenth plague in Egypt. However, there is another definition of this word used by some Rabbis, including
Rashi, Mechilta, Onkelus, and Rav Saadya Gaon. They explain that the word Pesach means “to have compas-
sion.” In a commentary on Parshat Bo, Rashi translates this word as “and he took pity or spared,” while also
adding that “one can also translate it as, and he skipped.” This comes up when Hashem had compassion on the
Jewish firstborns and therefore decided not to kill them.

The lesson here is that the entire holiday of Pesach is centered around compassion. There are many examples of
this in our Hagaddah, including the act of including the poor in our Seder, the actions of the midwives, Shifra
and Puah, the tradition of taking some wine out of our glasses in memory of the Mitzrim, and the lack of com-
passion that Paroah showed towards the Jews. In order to fulfill the obligation from Raban Gamliel of recalling
the precise meaning of the word Pesach, we must recall both definitions of this word,which are “to pass over,”
and “to have compassion.”

What Does the Word Pesach Mean? ‐ Ashley Taibel (6th Grade)

A lot of people assume that there is only one definition of the word Pesach which means “to pass-over,” and the
reason this holiday has this name is because Hashem passed over the homes of the Jews during the last of the
ten plagues.

Another correct definition of the word is compassion. This is the translation provided by Rabbi Yonatan in the
Mechilta. Another correct translation is “to protect.” This translation appears in multiple places such as Tosefta
Sotah (Chapter 4), Targum Yonatan, and the Mechilta.
Now that you know the answer to “What does Pesach Mean?” the next time someone asks you that question,
they might be surprised with some of your answers.