Counting the feasts of Pesach and Matsot

Pesach is a mo’ed, an appointed time, set specifically on the 14th at evening. It is the night the seh (lamb or goat) was slaughtered and eaten with matsah and bitter herbs, and Israel remained inside their homes all night while YHWH passed over Mitsrayim. That night stands on its own as a distinct event.

“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening is YHWH’s Pesach.” (Wayiqra 23:5)

The Feast of Matsot begins the following evening, on the 15th, and runs for seven full days through the 21st. These are the days that are counted as the seven-day mo’ed of UnYeasted Bread, with the first and seventh days being miqra’ei qodesh (set-apart assemblies).

“On the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to YHWH; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a set-apart assembly; you shall do no ordinary work. But you shall present a fire-offering ('isheh) to YHWH for seven days. On the seventh day is a set-apart assembly; you shall do no ordinary work." (Wayiqra 23:6-8)

It's my personal take that drawing near with an offering by fire - ‘isheh, represents something brought near and given over completely into YHWH’s fire, nothing held back. In that same way, drawing near to YHWH is not passive, it’s a response, a movement toward Him with your whole self. Personally, I read Torah and we sing and engage emotionally. There's no mizbeach or Tent of Presence to approach at this time.

Back to counting - the chart demonstrates the 14th is Pesach and then begins counting Day 1 of Matsot on the 15th. It is not an eight-day feast, but it spans eight calendar days as one continuous flow. So, you have seven days of Chag (Feast of) Matsot, preceded by the mo'ed (appointed time of) Pesach, all moving together from evening to evening.

“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unyeasted bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.” (Shemot 12:18)

So we are to eat unyeasted bread from the 14th until the evening of the 21st. So what you end up with is one continuous flow of eating, but two distinct appointed times within that flow. However, Pesach is a sacrifice that can only be performed in the place where YHWH causes His Name to dwell, Yisra'el (Divrei Hayamim Bet “I have chosen Yerushalaim that My Name might be there…”), by those who are clean and within the covenant. No foreigner (nakry) should eat the Pesach. Those in exile are not able to offer the Pesach sacrifice as instructed, since it must be sacrificed in the place where YHWH causes His Name to dwell.

“You are not able to slaughter the Pesach within any of your gates which YHWH your Elohim is giving to you; but rather at the place which YHWH your Elohim chooses to cause His Name to dwell, there you shall slaughter the Pesach in the evening, at the going down of the sun, at the appointed time of your coming out from Mitsrayim.” (Debarim 16:5–6)

But, we're also told to remember Pesach forever,

“And this day shall be for you a zikaron (memorial), and you shall observe it as a feast to YHWH throughout your generations; as a lasting statute you shall keep it as a feast.” (Shemot 12:14)

These seem contradictory at first, but to prevent us from collapsing categories, what is apparent is the Pesach is a sacrifice that is also remembered as a zikaron, and can be observed/guarded as such by remembering it and looking forward to observance after restoration. But what we cannot do is slaughter the pesach (lamb or goat) as a sacrifice living in exile. This limitation is not set on the Feast of Matzot, which is to be observed throughout all generations forever.

“And you shall guard the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Mitsrayim; therefore you shall guard this day throughout your generations as a lasting statute.” (Shemot 12:17)

People balk at this, but the truth is Israel didn't leave Mitsrayim on Pesach, but on the first night of Matsot. The Hebrews stayed in their homes all night on Pesach, packing and plundering Egypt the next morning. So, it all makes more sense when you keep everything in its correct category.

“And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, on that very day, all the hosts of YHWH went out from the land of Mitsrayim. It is a night of vigil of YHWH for bringing them out of the land of Mitsrayim; this same night is a vigil of YHWH for all the children of Yisra’el throughout their generations.” (Shemot 12:41–42)

Also reinforced in Debarim 16:1, "...for in the month of Abib YHWH your Elohim brought you out of Mitsrayim by night.”

Since they didn't leave their homes on Pesach night, and spent the next day packing and gathering, the night they actually left Mitsrayim was Matsot, and that's exactly why it's called UnYeasted Bread, because that was the first night the Hebrew people baked and ate the dough they brought out with them, after they had been driven out - the first meal they had outside of Egypt.

Once these categories are kept distinct, Pesach as a sacrifice in the land, zikaron as the ongoing remembrance, Matsot as a seven-day feast, and understand that matsah is a food and Matsot is a festival, the passages no longer conflict. The timeline, the instructions, and the limitations all align.

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