Page 4 - RMBA Upper School Haggadah 2018

The Names of the Chag

The Name of The Holiday - Romi Belleli (7th Grade)
Have you ever wondered why we call it Pesach, yet the Torah calls it Chag Hamatzot? The
rela onship between the Jews and Hashem is like a marriage. We praise each other like a
husband praises his wife. Therefore the Jews say thank you to Hashem for passing over their
houses. During Makat Bechorot, Hashem told the Jews to put blood on their doorposts. He told
them to do this so that when the firstborn sons of Mitzrayim were killed, He would pass over
the Jewish houses. Hashem is also proud of the Jews for following him all throughout the me
while they were in Mitzrayim, so He calls it Chag Hamatzot. The rela onship that the Jews, as
one na on, have with Hashem is a mutual rela onship. Hashem guides us and in return we
follow the rules and tradi ons of His Torah.
What is the Real Meaning of “‫ ?”פסח‬- Rachelle Abitbol (6th Grade)
Most people think that the word Pesach means that when God went through ‫ מצרים‬killing every
Egyp an first born, He “skipped” or “passed over” the houses of the Jews. And to some people
it means to “hop”. There are many thoughts about this specific word but are these really the
case, or is there perhaps a deeper meaning?
The Hebrew verb ‫ פסח‬means “to limp” or “to stagger” (from the pronuncia on piseach). It
refers to the fact that God “passed over” the Jews homes for the last plague. The word “to limp”
is usually a reference to a weak act. That’s because when God punishes people, He has mercy
and does not punish people with full strength. So even if some mes things don’t go our way,
God does everything for a reason, and is merciful even when He needs to punish.
Meaning of the Word Pesach - Jonny Abitbol (12th Grade)
Most people are familiar with the word "Passover" and are aware that it refers to God passing
over the houses of the Jews during the plague of the firstborn in Egypt. Simply put, we are
grateful to God for sparing us during that plague. The kabbalists say Pesach can be read as two
words, revealing a deeper meaning: Peh Sach which means "the mouth speaks." These two
words are spelled with four le ers: Peh, Heh, Samech, and Chet. Therefore, the Oral Tradi on
uncovers that the le er Heh was skipped over. The lesson that can be learned from this is that
we are supposed to teach our kids the story of Pesach so that they will learn and ask ques ons
so that they will be able to teach their kids. “The mouth speaks” means to keep the tradi on
going by rela ng the beauty of our religion.
Retelling the Story: What does the word ‫ פסח‬mean? - Nathan Plumb (12th Grade)
Every year, we gather our families and friends, prepare delicious foods, and sit down for a night
of reclining, singing and most importantly talking. We read through the Haggadah, learning
again the story of the enslavement and eventual Exodus of the Jewish people. We ask the four

3