Category Books

Passage to Pesach: Preparing for Passover through Text and Tradition »

Authors: Frances Weinman Schwartz
ISBN-13: 9780807408582, ISBN-10: 0807408581
Format: Paperback
Publisher: URJ Press
Date Published: June 2003
Edition: (Non-applicable)

Author Biography: Frances Weinman Schwartz

Book Synopsis

Of all the Jewish holidays, Pesach ranks among the most popular but there is more to it than matzah! This unique book encourages an enriched, textbased understanding of why we do what we do. Pesach is a holiday that helps define Jews as individuals as well as a people. This book will help you discover your own place in the rich Pesach tradition by reflecting on the countless memories and applications afforded by Jewish custom. For individual or group study.

	Acknowledgments	IX
Part I.	Introduction	1
1.	Preparing for Passage	3
2.	Ancient Pesach: How Many Passages?	10
Part II.	Our Tradition's Measured Passage to Pesach: Five Special Shabbatot	21
3.	Shabbat Sh'kalim: Touching the Mundane, Striving for the Sacred	27
4.	Shabbat Zachor: Seeing Our Memories as They Define Us Today	38
5.	Shabbat Parah: Following the Scent of a Red Heifer	52
6.	Shabbat HaChodesh: Tasting Pesach in Public Places, in Private Spaces	64
7.	Shabbat HaGadol: Hearing One Another to Listen for God's Voice	77
Part III.	Pesach as Passage: Cups of Wine, Biblical Promises	89
8.	History of the Haggadah: Telling the Pesach Story through the Ages	95
9.	The First Cup--V'hotzeiti: Matzah, Soul Food of Freedom	104
10.	The Second Cup--V'hitzalti: Seder Plate Objects, Sacred Symbols	114
11.	The Third Cup--V'gaalti: The Many Moods of Miracles	127
12.	The Fourth Cup--V'lakachti: Songs of Blessing and Praise to God	140
13.	The Fifth Cup--V'heiveiti: Elijah, Messianic Herald	154
14.	The Sixth Cup: Miriam, Pesach Prophetess	165
	Epilogue: Passage from Pesach to Shavuot	177
	Abbreviations	185
	Notes	187
	Glossary	207
	Bibliography	217
	Index	223