Yoshiyahu's Pessah

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1. The Korban Pesach - Sacrifice or Feast?

   Prof. Jonathan Grossman

   The Pessach God commands the nation to bring in Egypt includes various sacrificial elements - but one of the essential elements of a sacrifice - an altar - is absent. This essay posits that the homes of Bnei Yisrael were made into an altar for the purpose of sacrificing the Pessach. This supposition sheds light on the function of the Pessach sacrifice in this parasha and throughout Tanach.

2. Yoshiyahu and the Return to God

   Rabbi Alex Israel

   Despite who is father and grandfather were, Yoshiyahu is unsurpassed as a champion of God worship, cleansing the kingdom of its idolatry and returning the nation to God. A process that begins in his youth, it further intensifies with the shocking discovery of the Sefer Torah. The precise identification of this Sefer Torah and its ramifications are debated amongst commentaries. However, the aftermath of this discovery is a purging of idolatry on an unprecedented scope including in the territories of the non-existent Northern kingdom that culminated in a mass celebration of Pessah in Jerusalem.  

3. The Tragedy of Yoshiyahu

   Rabbi Alex Israel

   Yoshiyahu's dramatic religious revolution led him to two erroneous conclusions, giving him the confidence to confront Pharaoh Nekho who lead his army through Israel in order to confront the emerging Babylonian empire. Firstly, he believed that the religious level that was achieved was one that would make God support him against an idolatrous king. Secondly, he believed that the revolution was sincere and accepted among the people, when in fact in the short amount of time since the major change it was imposiible to uproot norms and beliefs that had set in over such a long period. This folly decision led to his death by the archers' arrows ending abruptly the reign of a righteous king. The lack of real change among the people means that wheels of Hurban that were set in motion by Menashe were not stopped - though they might have had the chage been sincere.

   Modern Biblical scholars claim that Devarim was the Sefer Torah that Yoshiyahu discovered and it was written in his time and not by Moshe. The claim of the 7th century authorship is refuted by a series of simple proofs.

4. Introduction to Sefer Tehillim

   Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom | Hour and 10 minutes

   What is Tehillim? What is the purpose of the book? How does one properly study the book of Tehillim? This lecture discusses the various options as to the purpose of the book, and outlines a methodology for the proper study and approach to mizmorei Tehillim through a close examination of chapter 23. 

5. Pesach and the Feast of Matzot – Two Holidays Rather than One

   Rabbi Dr. Yoel Bin Nun

   In the Torah, Pesach (Passover) and the Feast of Matzot (Chag Ha-Matzot) are two connected holidays, rather than a single holiday that begins with the Paschal offering. But Pesach also appears in the Torah and in the Prophets on its own, without the Feast of Matzot, in various forms and sometimes even without a date, in the sense of miraculous rescue. Through a close examination of the text we can understand the relationship between these two aspects of the holiday and the crucial role that each plays.