The blessing over the first cup of wine uses the phrase, “Adonai our God... You gave us this Festival of Matzot, the time of our freedom, a holy occasion.” In Hebrew, the words for holy occasion are mikra kodesh (מקרא קדש). The word mikra derives from the root kuf, reish, alef  (ק–ר–א), meaning “to call.” As a mikra kodesh the festival is literally a “holy calling,” as though the day itself calls forth to us to respond to it. 

Each of the festivals has its own “call.” On Pesach we are called to freedom. The sense of call makes for a different type of freedom than that of simply breaking all restraints. We respond to it by examining our own enslavements and asking how we can become more free and bring others more freedom.

-- Arthur Green


haggadah Section: Kadesh