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Beit HaMikdash

פסח

Pesach in the House

14 to 21 Nisan, in springJerusalem fills. Families who registered together bring one lamb or kid, and eat it that night in the city with matzah and bitter herbs.
Reconstruction: pilgrims carrying baskets of first fruits climb a stepped limestone street toward the Temple; the Sanctuary's square front with its doorless opening and stacked lintels rises at the top of the street.

Where it happened

The same model, lit for Pesach. Highlighted areas carry the festival's rites.

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Plan of the Temple courts with the areas used on Pesach highlighted

The rites of Pesach

Pilgrimage

Torah text: Stated in the Five Books of Moses.

Pesach is the first of the three pilgrimage festivals. The Torah commands the people to appear 'in the place which He shall choose'.

The offering in three groups

Mishnah / Talmud: Recorded in the Mishnah or Talmud, the rabbinic texts that preserve Temple practice and law.

The Mishnah describes the Pesach offering brought in three groups. The court filled, the doors closed, trumpets sounded, and priests stood in rows holding basins of silver and gold passed hand to hand to the altar.

Hallel

Mishnah / Talmud: Recorded in the Mishnah or Talmud, the rabbinic texts that preserve Temple practice and law.

While each group was inside, the Levites sang Hallel, Psalms 113 to 118, repeating it if needed. The same psalms are sung today at the Seder and in synagogue.

Why the Seder speaks of the Temple

Mishnah / Talmud: Recorded in the Mishnah or Talmud, the rabbinic texts that preserve Temple practice and law.

The Seder plate keeps a shank bone for the Pesach offering. The Mishnah's Seder closes with Rabbi Akiva's prayer to reach future festivals and eat of the offerings, and many families end the night with 'Next year in Jerusalem'.

שָׁלוֹשׁ פְּעָמִים בַּשָּׁנָה יֵרָאֶה כָל־זְכוּרְךָ אֶת־פְּנֵי ה׳ אֱלֹהֶיךָ בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחָר בְּחַג הַמַּצּוֹת וּבְחַג הַשָּׁבֻעוֹת וּבְחַג הַסֻּכּוֹת וְלֹא יֵרָאֶה אֶת־פְּנֵי ה׳ רֵיקָם׃

Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which He shall choose; on the feast of unleavened bread, and on the feast of weeks, and on the feast of tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty;
The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation

Pesach today

Pesach is kept at home around the Seder table. The Temple is present in the shank bone, the Hallel and the closing words.