430 years before Pesach there was Pesach!

Two sacrifices are represented on the Seder Plate - Pesach (bone) and Chagigah (egg)

For the past ~3300 years Pesach or Passover has arrived when the 14th of Nissan transitions to the 15th and Jewish families of the world gathered for their Seder dinner to celebrate and acknowledge the moment the enslaved Jews of Egypt were finally freed. But, why and how have so many revered Rabbi's taught that 430 years before that fateful Pesach night the generations that descended from Abraham, Sarah, then Isaac, Rebecca and Jacob had already followed similar practices eating unleavened bread and sacrificing domesticated sheep or goats for the feast?

On the Seder night, the poor-man's bread, known as the Afikomen is broken, one piece is eaten the larger piece is put aside. Then a long held custom, for some play's out during the course of the meal when the children carefully await the right moment to 'steal' and hide the remaining Afikomen. The kids know the Seder meal cannot be completed because the Afikomen is the last item that must be eaten before recitations and the blessing over the fourth cup of wine, which marks the conclusion of the meal. When it comes time to eat the remaining Afikomen the inevitable negotiation begins and continues until the kids concur that a suitable exchange has been reached and the Afikomen returned. 

The strange custom reflects on ancient events that preceded the unleavened bread taken out of Egypt.

Abraham was the first to experience the prophecy of a future exile from the land he had inherited, this occurred 430 years prior to the Egyptian exile of his progeny. One sunny 14th of Nissan day 3 angels arrived to tell Abraham and Sarah of the future birth of their son Isaac. Elderly Sarah was busy making unleavened bread and Abraham ran off to slaughter cattle for the feast with his heavenly guests. They announced a year later Isaac would be born and that occurred on 15 Nissan.

   

Isaac was blind and at 122 years, five years before his mothers age at her death he called to his oldest son Esau to trap some game (two deer) and prepare it so Isaac could bless him with the rites of the first born over the feast. Isaac's wife Rebecca seized the moment for their younger son Jacob insisting he disguise as his brother Esau and deliver his father a meal of goat and lamb, that Rebecca would prepare to obtain the blessing in place of his older brother. Perhaps Rebecca anticipated an enraged Esau would force Jacob's flight to safety in exile, to the land of their estranged family where Jacob would ultimately be married, build his own family and 20 years later return to the land his father never left. 

When Esau discovered his blessings had been 'stolen' he pleaded; "Bless me too father!" Isaac answered; “Your brother came with cunning-wisdom - בְּמִרְמָ֑ה (b'mir'mah) and took away your blessing". The deception by Rebecca and Jacob is thus recalled in the custom for kids to express cunning-wisdom over the Afikomen. But, what's the underlying logic of the custom? The numerical value of b'mir'mah, 287 is the same as Afikomen connecting the custom over stolen, poor-man's, unleavened bread with the deception of Esau and the entrapment of Isaac. This is confirmed because Rebecca told Isaac to send Jacob away from the Hittites, amongst whom they lived to find a wife at their estranged family where, in exile Jacob would be out of sight of his enraged brother. 

The word 'Seder' [S-D-R] is associated with [S]od (secret), [D]rosh (inquiry) and [R]emes (hints) which allude to the deeper, often hidden associations in Jewish customs that parallel its written Torah. Here we see a further association with Pesach. On his birthday, Isaac ordered two animals, but why would Isaac need two animals, the man was blind and nearing the end of his days surely he couldn't eat that much? When the tabernacle or temples once stood the custom on Pesach was to bring two animal sacrifices known as Korban Pesach and Korban Chagigah (the extra sacrifice). The latter because the Torah expressly requires the bones of the Pesach sacrifice not be broken. The roasted animal had to eaten with delicate care to keep the carcass in tact. A feast with Esau - the hunter, a man with violent tendencies seems to have required another animal sacrifice to ensure the Pesach sacrifice would be cherished.

Finally, at the Pesach Seder four cups of wine are consumed, each representing a stage of the exile said to have lasted 86 years with the last being the harshest. 86 years x 5 stages = 430 years of exile, the period about which Abraham prophesied. The fifth cup of wine poured at each Seder table is poured and returned to the bottle for the soul of the prophet Eliyahu who, is said will appear to announce the final redemption when all Jews will be united in Jerusalem. The Seder concludes, even for Jews living in Jerusalem with the saying - "Next Year in Jerusalem"!

The Abraham Accords - The Patient Soul!

Translators struggled to interpret the end of the Bible's six-day Genesis creation story because it contains too many allusions to secrets that are lost in any translation attempt.

2:4 Such is the story (generations) of heaven and earth when they were created. When the LORD God made (prepared) earth and heaven

אֵ֣לֶּה תוֹלְד֧וֹת הַשָּׁמַ֛יִם וְהָאָ֖רֶץ בְּ_הִבָּֽרְאָ֑ם בְּי֗וֹם עֲשׂ֛וֹת יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶ֥רֶץ וְשָׁמָֽיִם׃

In Hebrew, the verse suggests earth and heaven were a preparation (עֲשׂ֛וֹת), but for what? Generations of heaven and earth?

The verse includes the first use of "The Name" יְהוָ֥ה "Ha Shem". It suggests the creation of earth and heaven were a preparation for a special soul, alluded in the small 'הִ' heh of the word בְּ_הִבָּֽרְאָ֑ם (B'hibaram). The sub-script 'heh' reflects it's smaller written form in a kosher Torah scroll. 

The preceding six creation days exclusively use the name אֱלֹהִ֖ים Elo-h-im (Elokim) - 32 times. אֱלֹהִ֖ים  Elokim is understood as a mystical concealment of the ultimate spiritual Name - יְהוָ֥ה - Ha'Shem through which it relates to the physical world. Perhaps that's why the letters of אֱלֹהִ֖ים Elokim equate to the numerical value 86, also shared with הטבע ha'teva - 'the nature' inherent in physical creation. Kabbalah relates the 32 times to the archetypal soul that comprise 10 nuanced concealments, referred to as vessels or attributes and 22 paths that connect them.

The word תוֹלְד֧וֹת toldot is rarely spelled in its complete form, with two vav's (וֹ ). In the story of Noah it is incomplete. The story of Isaac also uses the incomplete form (תוֹלְד֧ת) because only one of his two sons, Jacob would carry the ascendant Jewish soul. The complete form appears only one other time in the entire 24 books of the Bible. During the story Peretz, (Ruth 4:18) its meaning is conveyed definitively as - 'generations' justifying that creation was indeed a preparation of earth and heaven for generations that would ascend from the soul root.

2048 years after creation three angels (Genesis 19:1) were dispatched to announce that Abram, at the age of 100 would finally have a son to his wife Sarah. One angel informed Abram, one destroyed the city of Sodom and the other rescued Abram's nephew Lot with his wife and daughters from the impending destruction in Sodom.

The letter 'heh' was added to Abram when it became Abraham - אַבְרָהָ֔ם - (Genesis 17:5) and the בְּ_הִבָּֽרְאָ֑ם B'hibaram soul root descended. The letters of בְּ_הִבָּֽרְאָ֑ם B'hibaram can be rearranged to spell בְּ'אַבְרָהָ֔ם b'Abraham. The former can mean 'He created the heh' alluding to special soul, the latter means 'in Abraham'. 

Lot's wife died on escape from Sodom. Lot and his daughters were fearful, stranded in a remote cave. The daughters feared cessation of their blood line, so they engaged a semi-conscious Lot incestuously. The תוֹלְד֧וֹת toldot soul complement was reserved for one daughters descendant Ruth, a convert to Judaism through whom the soul complement descended. 

Ruth would deliver the counterpart to Boaz and fully complete the בְּ_הִבָּֽרְאָ֑ם B'hibaram soul journey. That event occurred through the lineage of Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Boaz and Ruth to Peretz, Jesse and David. In 2884 the messianic soul root in David was recognized by the Jewish people when he was crowned king and in the middle of history arrived in Jerusalem in 2891. This year 5782 is exactly double that midpoint, signaling the end of history. 

Thus, the mystical creation secrets of Torah are indelibly inked, but lost in translation.