B"H

Thursday Iyar 15, 5777 / May 11, 2017 (30th day of the Omer)

In this week’s Parsha, Emor, the Torah speaks about all the holidays which we celebrate during the year. “And G-d spoke to Moshe, saying: Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: The appointed holidays of G-d, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are My appointed holidays. Six days shall work be done; but on the seventh day is a Shabbat of rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any manner of work. It is a Shabbat unto  G-d in all your dwellings.”

After mentioning the observance of Shabbat, the Parsha goes on to mention all the holidays; Pesach, Shavuot, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shmini Atzeret and the mitzvot (commandments) associated with each holiday.

Q.Why does the Torah begin with the Pesach holiday and not with Rosh Hashana (New Year)?

A. Due to the Exodus, which took place on Pesach, the month of Nissan has been given the honor to be called, “The first month.” Remembering the Exodus is also a daily mitzvah. The Torah sets Pesach as the first holiday and all other holidays are dependent on Pesach.

Shavuot is identified as fifty days after Pesach; Rosh Hashana the first day of the seventh month(the seventh to Pesach); Yom Kippur, the tenth day of the seventh monthand Sukkot, the fifteenth day of the seventh month. We count all the holidays from Pesach, remembering the Exodus.

If one wants to know which day of the week the holidays will come out, one just has to know the days of the week in which Pesach fell out. It works as follows:

Tisha B’Av(the day of the destruction of the Temples) is the same day as the firstday of Pesach.

Shavuot(when we received the Torah) will be on the same day as the secondday of Pesach.

Rosh Hashana, Sukkot & Shmini Atzeret, are the same day of the week as the thirdday of Pesach.

Simchat Torahwill be on the same day as the fourthday of Pesach.

Yom Kippurwill be on the same day as the fifthday of Pesach.

Lag B’Omeris always on the same day as the sixthday of Pesach.

This year the first day of Pesach was Tuesday (beginning Monday night). Now one can figure out which day of the week the upcoming holidays will be. Example: First day Rosh Hashana will be Thursday (beginning Wednesday night), same as the third day of Pesach. Thus, all holidays are connected and rooted in Pesach.

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY