13. הלל “Hallel.”—The rest of Hallel is sung, followed by Ps.
cxxxvi., and the whole of נשמת with the concluding blessing.—The
fourth cup of wine is then taken, and the usual prayer after the
partaking of wine is recited.
14. נרצה “Completed.” [117]—The Seder-Service is completed; it
concludes with a prayer for the rebuilding of the Temple and the
restoration of Israel to Zion. The prayer seems to have been originally
the conclusion of a Piyyut or liturgical poem on the Passover
Sacrifice.
The Haggadah contains, besides, several hymns and songs, of which the
following are found in the ordinary editions of the work:—
1. ויהי בחצי הלילה “And it was in the middle of the night.” The
author reflects on the various marvellous events in our history that
happened in the night-time.
2. ואמרתם זבח פסח “And ye shall say, It is a sacrifice of Passover.”
A song referring to wonderful events which, according to Tradition,
took place on Passover.
3. כי לו נאה “To him praise is seemly.” A praise of God as the only
Being worthy to be called King and Ruler.
4. אדיר הוא “He is mighty.” A praise of God, and an expression of
hope that He will soon rebuild the Temple.
5. אחד מי יודע “One, who knows?” A popular song enumerating persons
and objects in Jewish History and Tradition, as well as in Nature
according to numbers up to thirteen, with the object of emphasising the
Unity of God.
6. חד גדיא “One kid.” A popular song that illustrates the working of
Divine Justice in the history of mankind.
Passover as an agricultural feast was kept “in the season of the month
of ripeness” (למועד חדש האביב), when the barley sown in the winter
had become ripe. On the second day of Passover an offering was brought
of “the beginning of the harvest;” it consisted of an omer [118] of
barley (Lev. xxiii. 9 sqq.). Before this offering was presented it was
not allowed to eat of the new corn (ibid. 14).
From the bringing of the Omer to “the harvest feast” the days are
counted, viz., forty-nine days, and the fiftieth day is the feast of
harvest (חג הקציר), or “the day of the first-fruit offering” (יום
הבכורים).
The counting commences on the second evening. It is done either
immediately after Maarib, or later on during the Seder-Service; it is
preceded by the following blessing: ברוך … אשר קדשנו … על ספירת העומר
“Blessed art thou ... who hast sanctified us by thy commandments and
hast commanded us ... to count the days of the Omer.” The following is
the way of counting: היום יום … לעומר “This day is the first day
since the Omer.” From seven upward the number of weeks is likewise
expressed, [119] היום יום … שהם … שבועות … לעומר “This day completes
... that is ... weeks ... since the offering of the Omer.”
The celebration of Passover serves to inculcate into our hearts the
first principle of our faith: the existence of God, the Supreme Being
who rules the whole universe, in whose hand are the destinies of kings
and peoples, whose power was recognised by the Egyptians when they were
punished for their misdeeds, and whose might was seen by the Israelites
when He divided the Red Sea for them, and fulfilled the Divine promise
made to the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The season of Passover, in which we celebrate our liberation from
earthly taskmasters, is called זמן חרותנו “The season of our
freedom.” The deliverance from Egypt, the first step leading to the
fulfilment of the promise, “And I will take you unto me for a people,”
has been poetically conceived as the betrothal of Israel to God, and in
the Piyyut for Passover ample use has been made of this idea. It has
further found expression in the custom of reading the Song of Solomon
on the first Sabbath after the first two days of Passover, and by some
also on the Seder-evening after the conclusion of the ordinary Service.
The Service is, in general outline, the same as on Sabbath. It consists
of Maarib, Shacharith, Musaph, and Minchah. The Morning-Service
includes Hallel, the reading of the Law, and Lessons from the Prophets
(קריאת התורה and הפטרה). The following sections, containing
description of, or reference to, Passover or to the departure from
Egypt, are read consecutively on the eight days: Exod. xii. 21–51, on
the Passover celebrated by the Israelites in Egypt; Lev. xxii. 26 to
xxiii. 44, on “the seasons of the Lord;” Exod. xiii., xxii. 24 to
xxiii. 19, and xxxiv. 1–26: Num. ix. 1–14, on the second Passover;
Exod. xiii. 17–xv. 26, the crossing of the Red Sea; Deut. xv. 19 (on
Sabbath, xiv. 22) to xvi. 17 contains laws referring to the three
Festivals. On Sabbath chol-ha-moëd, Exod. xxxiii. 12 to xxxiv. 26.—In
addition to these sections verses from Num. xxviii.–xxix., referring to
the sacrifices prescribed for each day of the Festival, are read from a
second sefer.
The Lessons from the Prophets are the following:—Josh. v. (preceded in
the German Ritual by iii. 5–7), on the first Passover kept by the
Israelites in Palestine; 2 Kings xxiii. 1–9 and 21–25, on the Passover
celebrated in the days of King Josiah; 2 Sam. xxii., the song of David
after deliverance from his enemies, a parallel to the Song of Moses;
Isa. x. 32—xii., on the defeat of Sennacherib, and the blessings of the
Messianic days. According to Tradition the defeat of Sennacherib took
place on Passover; moreover, the celebration of the deliverance from
Egypt suggests the reflection on the final Redemption of Israel. The
Lesson from the Prophets chosen for Sabbath chol-ha-moëd is taken from
Ez. xxxvi. 1–14. The prophet sees in a vision how the dry bones of the
dead are awakened to fresh life by the Will and the Spirit of the Lord:
a precious lesson for us, designed to strengthen our hope of a revival
of every good and noble idea, though for the present it be dormant
within us. Nature around us awakening to fresh life in the spring
supplies a parallel to the vision of Hezekiel.
The Machzor (lit. Cycle) or Prayer-book for the Holy-days contains
numerous additions to the ordinary prayers. They are called Piyyutim,
and vary according to the custom and the taste of the congregation. The
Piyyut added in the second paragraph of the Musaph-amidah on the first
day of Passover is called tal, “dew,” or prayer for dew; the rain
season having come to an end, we pray that the vegetation may, during
the hot season, be refreshed by the regular descent of the dew. The
praise for “sending down rain” in the same paragraph, viz., משיב הרוח
ומוריד הגשם, “Thou causest the wind to blow and the rain to fall,” is
discontinued after the shacharith prayer of the first day of Passover.
In the Portuguese Ritual the words מוריד הטל, “Thou causest the dew
to fall,” are introduced instead.
Similarly, there is an additional prayer for rain (גשם) in the Musaf
of Shemini-atsereth. The time chosen for these prayers is in accordance
with the meteorological conditions of Palestine. This custom, however,
does not exclude the addition of prayers for rain or dew, according to
the needs of the country in which we live.