As many northerners can attest, the coming of spring heralds a new beginning and a promise of flowering buds and bulbs peeking out from thawing winter soil.
It is also the time of year, where in Israel, observers called Karaite Jews watch for the ripening of barley called “Abib” that will signify the coming of the biblical New Year (today, called “Nissan”) at the next new moon.
Fourteen days later at twilight, Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread will be celebrated.
The Jewish people were instructed to commemorate the exodus from Egypt by bringing the Passover sacrifice and celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzot) at this time of the New Year, according to karaite.org.
Exodus 34:18 states: “You will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days you will eat unleavened bread, as have I commanded you, at the time of the month of the Abib, because in the month of the Abib you went out of Egypt.”
On March 11, the barley was found to be ripe or Abib and so Passover will be celebrated 14 days after the next new moon by Karaite Jews and many gentile torah followers.
However, for those Jews worldwide who follow the pre-calculated rabbinical calendar, Passover begins at sunset March 25 and ends at nightfall April 2, an eight-day period of observance, abstinence and reflection.
We chatted with local Jewish leaders about their views on the concept of Passover as a new beginning.
Rabbi Yitzchok Minkowicz of Chabad Lubavitch of Southwest Florida, an orthodox sect, affirms that Passover occurs in the month of Nissan on the biblical calendar and heralds a new beginning that was also the time of the beginning of the relationship of the Jewish people to God.
Jewish people went from one slavery to a new slavery, from a people who were slaves doing Pharaoh’s will in Egypt, transformed into a people doing the will of God, thus becoming slaves to God’s will.
“The new birth created a new connection to God evident in every second and now every second is a new beginning.”
He explained that typically, reality is about “I” or the self in the past, present and the future, but when we are connected to God, there is no past, present or future.
“When a person lives in the moment connected to God it is about God and about what he wants. At Passover, we reflect that God runs the world and that nothing happens without him and that everything happens with him,” Minkowicz said.
Giving thanks to Him allows us to be truly happy and joyful — the real definition of true freedom and in that regard, every moment is a new beginning.
Cantor Donna Azu of Temple Shalom, a reformed Jewish congregation, explained that there is a phrase, “Z’man cheyruteinu” or “the season of our freedom” that is found in the Passover readings and liturgy.
The concept expresses the theme of Passover and reminds us of the rebirth and retelling of the exodus and the liberation of the Jews from Egypt and slavery, Azu said.
“It is the time to recall our spiritual redemption and freedom from physical and mental tyranny. I love this holiday because unlike other holidays, we celebrate Passover at home with family and reflect on our history and our heritage,” said Azu.
Rabbi Edward Maline of the Jewish Congregation of Marco Island views the holiday as a new beginning or rebirth every time the victory of freedom from oppression is achieved.
He explained that in every generation since the exodus, the issue of freedom is relevant due to new challenges that seek to imprison and incarcerate the people of God. It is always targeted and undermined in the world today.
Examples include the volatility in the Middle East that is ruled by dictators who seek to oppress and deprive people of freedom of their liberties like freedom of speech, of assembly and of religion.
“Issues like gun control raise the struggle for freedom from violence and freedom from attack. There are many dimensions of freedom such as physical, religious and social. And, there are many ways in which freedom is undermined in the world today like the new plague of terrorism,” said Maline.
Chabad Lubavitch of Southwest Florida
Services: 7:15 p.m. service, 8 p.m. first seder March 25; 7:15 p.m. service, 8 p.m. second seder March 26; 10:45 a.m. Yizkor service, 7:15 p.m. service April 2
Where: 5620 Winkler Road, Fort Myers
Cost: $54 per person; $36 child (age 3-12). Reservations required.
Information: (239) 433-7708
Services: 10 a.m. March 26, 6 p.m. Community Seder; 6 p.m. March 29 Vanderbilt Beach; 10 a.m. April 2 Yizkor service
Where: 4630 Pine Ridge Road, Naples
Information: (239) 455-3030
Jewish Congregation of Marco Island
Seder: 6 p.m. March 25
Cost: $35 members, $45 others; $15 ages 4-12 members; $20 other children. Reservations must be made by today, March 23
Where: 991 Winterberry Drive, Marco Island
Information: (239) 642-0800