YOM TOV - The First Festival Days

Passover is a 7 day (8 days outside of Israel) holiday. The first day (first two days outside of Israel) are Yamim Tovim - days which are observed with the same rules as the Sabbath. (Cooking from an existing flame and carrying, however, are permitted).

Candle lighting

Shabbat and all Jewish holidays always begin the evening before. Because Passover begins on Saturday night (immediately following Shabbat), candles are lit no earlier than one hour after sunset on both the first and second night of Yom Tov.

Because one may not create a fire on Shabbat or Yom Tov, the candles must be lit from a pre-existing flame. For this reason, many people light a yahrtzeit candle (25 hour candle) before Shabbat, or leave a burner lit on the stove before Shabbat.

The procedure for lighting candles for a holiday varies slightly from Sabbath candle-lighting:

* The blessings are said before lighting the candles.
* The end of the blessing is changed to represent the Yom Tov [festival] and includes Shabbat, when applicable:

Ba’ruch ah’tah Ah’do’nai, Eh’lo’hay’nu melech ha’o’lam, ah’sher kidishanu b’mitz’vo’tav v’tzee’vanu l’hahd’leek nayr shel [Shabbat v’] Yom Tov.

Blessed are you Lord, our God, Ruler of the world, who sanctified us through His commandments and commanded us to kindle the lights of the [the Sabbath and] Yom Tov [festival]

An additional blessing, Sheh'heh'cheh'yanu, is pronounced to acknowledge the good fortune of being able to experience the holiday:

Ba’ruch ah’tah Ah’do’nai, Eh’lo’hay’nu melech ha’o’lam, sheh'heh'cheh'yanu v'kee'manu v'hee'gee'anu la'zman ha'zeh.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this season.

Evening services are held in the synagogue.

The Seder

Due to its length, intricacies and importance, the Seder will be covered more thoroughly in upcoming Jewish Holiday Treats.

Changes In The Morning Synagogue Service

* During Shacharit, the morning service, the Festival Amidah is recited.
* Hallel
1. Hallel is a collection of Psalms that are recited on the festivals and Rosh Chodesh (the new month).
2. Hallel can be found in the siddur (Jewish prayerbook).
3. Full Hallel is recited on the first two days of Passover. Half-Hallel is recited on the remaining days of the holiday.
* The Torah Reading
1. On the first day of Passover, Exodus 12:21-51 is read in synagogue.
2. On the second day of Passover, Leviticus 22:26-23:44 is
read in synagogue.
3. The maftir (additional reading) on both days is Numbers
28:16-25.
4. The haftorah (prophetic message) on the first day is from the Book of Joshua, 3:5-7, 5:2-6:1, and 6:27.
The haftorah on the second day is from Kings II, 23:1-9 and 23:21-25.
* The Prayer for Dew
1. On Passover, the prayer for rain, which began on Shmini Atzeret (the final days of Sukkot), is discontinued and the prayer for dew is now recited.
2. The cantor recites the prayer for dew during the repetition of the Mussaf (additional) service on the first day of Passover.
3. In the Silent Amidah, morid ha'tal, "He who makes the dew descend," is inserted. Morid ha'tal is added to each service until Shmini Atzeret. Many congregations, however, merely omit the previously said mashiv ha'ruach u' morid ha'geshem.
4. In the weekday Amidah, v'ten bracha, "and give blessing," replaces v'ten tal u'matar liv'racha, "and give dew and rain for a blessing," in the 9th blessing.

The Festive Lunch

* The Festival day Kiddush (blessing over wine), found in the siddur (prayer book), is recited.
* Ha'Motzee - After a ritual washing of the hands, the blessing is made over two whole matzot, the pieces of which are sprinkled with salt.
* A festive meal is eaten, followed by the Grace After Meals with the addition of Y'aleh V'Yavo, "He will go up and he will come..." for the Passover holidays and the holiday insertion towards the conclusion of "Harachamon."

Mincha, the afternoon service is recited with the special Festival Amidah (and the special insertions for Shabbat, when applicable).

Havdalah

At the conclusion of the second day of Yom Tov, Havdalah, separating holy days from week days, is recited in the evening Amidah. This Havdalah is followed by the formal Havdalah, which consists of only the blessing over grape juice (HaGafen) and the Havdalah blessing (HaMavdil), which can be found in the prayer book

One may not prepare on the first day of Yom Tov for the second day of Yom Tov. One should wait until after nightfall to set the table, prepare the Seder plate, or any other activity not meant for the enjoyment of the first day itself.

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