Shabbat Hachodesh

These feasts only seem to be feasts of commemoration. In reality, the historical element in them is living and present, and what is said to every participant at the first festival holds for them all: that he must celebrate the feast as though he himself had been delivered from Egypt. The beginning, the middle and the end of this national history, the founding, the zenith, and the eternity of the people, are reborn with every new generation.

Franz Rosenzweig (20^th Century)

Thus said the Lord God: On the first day of the first month, you shall take a bull of the herd without blemish, and you shall cleanse the Sanctuary. The Kohen shall take some of the blood of the purification offering and apply it to the doorposts of the Temple, to the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and to the doorposts of the gate of the inner court. You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month to purge the Temple from uncleanness caused by unwitting or ignorant persons.

Ezekial 18 – 20

Another major festival complex is in the spring, comprised of the one-day Pesach or Passover festival, followed by the seven-day Matzot, or Unleavened Bread, festival (Leviticus 23:5-8)

Marc Brettler (Contemporary)

As the first desert Passover is to be observed, some men defiled by a burial and hence prevented from participating, complain; and God, consulted by Moses, institutes a special Passover in the second month for people in their position…(numbers 9:9)…Under the eyes of a forgiving master, the delayed Passover of seven days is followed by a week of joy and sacrifice: bordering ona third Passover. Few governments, ancient or modern have had to take measures like this, to deal with an oversupply of voluntary contributions to worship…

David Daube (20^th Century)

The difference between a slave and a free person is not just a matter of social standing. One may find an educated slave whose spirit is free, and a free person with the mindset of a slave. What makes us truly free? When we are able to be faithful to our inner self, to the truth of our divine image – then we can live a fulfilled life, a life focused on our soul’s inner goals. One whose spirit is servile, on the other hand, will never experience this sense of true self-fulfillment. His happiness always depends upon the approval of others who dominate him, whether this control is de jure or de facto.

Abraham Isaac Kook (20^th Century)

For you, Peach is a sentimental matter, and I am not trying to belittle it: sentiments are of great importance. Nevertheless, for you it is only a sentimental matter, whereas for me, Pesach is an existential issue – an issue dealing with our existence in the present, on this day and at this hour – and not a remembrance of an event, which may be historical or again, may be legendary…

Yeshayahu Leibowitz (20^th Century)