Chabad.org untangles the mysteries of the Jewish calendar
The intricacies of the Jewish calendar have long fascinated scholars, but so have they stymied ordinary folks trying to plan their Jewish holiday observance.
This year is one of those unusual years when Passover begins on Saturday night. The last time this happened 13 years ago, when Facebook was in its infancy, WhatsApp looked like a typo, and blogspots were all the rage.
This meant that the Internet as we know it had precious little guidance on how Passover is to be observed when it begins immediately after Shabbat departs on Saturday night.
In January of 2020, a year-and-a-half before the event, Chabad.org IT director Rabbi Moshe Berghoff, who is actively involved with Chabad.org’s calendar systems, requested that the editorial team begin to prepare. The result was a practical, user-friendly guide to When Erev Pesach Is Shabbat, which was reviewed and approved by Rabbi Avrohom Altein, senior rabbi of the Ashkenazie Congregation and of two Lubavitch synagogues of Winnipeg, as well as the director of Chabad-Lubavitch institutions of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Berghoff could have scarcely imagined that the unusual Passover would arrive while the world was more than a full year into an all-out battle against a deadly virus, which has kept millions sequestered at home.
Isolated and unable to attend synagogue and in-person classes, those quarantining or sheltering in place rely on resources such as Chabad.org’s 13 Pro Tips for Your Second Passover in Isolation to keep them inspired, informed and ready to celebrate this most unusual Passover.
Among the unusual scenarios to contend with:
On the day before Passover, firstborns usually fast (or attend a festive occasion that overrides the fast). When to do the fast when this day coincides with Shabbat, when fasting is forbidden? The answer: They do so on Thursday. Learn more about the Fast of the Firstborn
A candlelit search for chametz is usually conducted on the night preceding Passover. How is this to be done when this night is Friday night, when Shabbat has already begun? It is done on Thursday night. Learn more about the Search for Chametz
Likewise, the sale of chametz, ordinarily transacted on the morning before Passover, is advanced to Friday morning, as is the ritual burning of one’s remaining chametz. Sell your chametz online and learn how to burn the chametz.
In light of this year’s unusual calendrical sequence, the Chabad.org editorial team made sure that the newly released Chabad.org Haggadah has the pertinent guidance, texts and information for this year.
These issues have also been taken into account by Chabad.org’s Ask the Rabbi service, which has been a lifeline, providing personalized guidance, advice and information as people seek practical solutions as well as moral support.
And lastly, making the leap from high-tech to low-tech, Chabad.org is producing a “Refrigerator Poster” with blanks that users can manually fill in with a pen using www.chabad.org/Zmanim, ensuring that they will know what to do and when for the duration of the holiday.
