The 7th Day

The 7th day of Pesach is the last one in Israel because in the Torah there are only 7 days to the holiday. (We have 8 in the Diaspora because of calendar issues we won’t go into here).

Unlike Sukkot, the last day of Pesach is not a holiday unto itself. (The 8th day of Sukkot is called Shimini Atzeret). Therefore, we do not make a Shehechyanu in Kiddush tonight. Still, the 7th day of Pesach is a special part of the holiday and has all the restrictions of the first days. What makes it so special is the miracle that was done for our people on the 7th day after the exodus. It was on the 7th day that the Egyptians drowned in the Re(e)d Sea. The Torah however, makes no mention of this fact.

Why not? Because we Jews do not make holidays based on the downfall of our enemies. We don’t say, “They had it coming.” We don’t say, “They deserved it for what they did to us.” Instead we imagine Gd feeling sad that some of His creation had to die. We take some of the wine out of our cups to remember, with sadness, the defeat of our enemies. The 7th day of the holiday is a time to pray for peace, for an end to all oppression. It is a time to remember who we are and why Gd took us out of the land of Egypt in the first place.