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Shalom to all, thank you for reading the Parashiyot and thank you Willa for responding, and asking for an explanation of the festivals (Moedim) that follow Passover. As we know, PASSOVER starts , this year, on Monday Evening. This is when the majority of the synagogues and Jewish household will celebrate Passover, however, the festival consists of 7 days, so one has 7 days to celebrate it. Example, at our synagogue in Houston, TX we will go to a nearby hotel and hold the ceremony, then, on Friday, the 4th day of Passover, we will have a special Spanish language Passover service for the Sephardic members and guests. YESHUA is represented as the PASSOVER LAMB, who was "roasted" in the "fires of judgment" As the lambs and goats were roasted in the fires that the families of Goshen had in their dwellings, so was our Savior, Messiah and LORD judged for our sins on the first Passover day in Yerushalayim. One of my short stories is "One Passover in Jerusalem" which I will post on Passover Eve in this forum's literature section. THE 7 DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD follow the first Evening of Passover, at that time, the only animals sacrificed were the lambs and goats. At our Spanish language Passover, we always serve roast lamb and goat meatballs, in memory of the first Passover. The unleavened bread is symbolic of "sinlessness" since "Leaven" (Chamtez) symbolizes sin, since this substance is a 'living organism' which when encounters warm water and sugar, it "puffs up" or "swells up" that is why bread rises. Sin is similar in that our "pride puffs up" and we are giving a message that says, "I am going to do what I want, I am a rebel". By not eating regular bread for 7 days, eating only "Matzah wafers" we are saying, "I am consciously rejecting sin in my life" and making an effort to live by Torah standards, but we must realize that this shouldn't be for only 7 days, it should by 24-7, 365 days a year life style. FIRST FRUITS/SHAVUOT/PENTECOST this celebration comes 50 days after the first day of Passover, this was when the Israelites gave thanks to YHVH for a good harvest and offered up a "Minchah" offering of 2 loaves of wheat bread, it is said that each loaf weighed 5 pounds. The loaves would be "waved" back and forth, sideways and from front to back, symbolizing the "North, South, East, and West" which symbolizes all of creation. the number "4" symbolizes "creation" . This is a "thank" offering to YHVH for the blessings of a good harvest, something like the pilgrims celebrated in November in 1621, but on a smaller scale. This also symbolizes "Yeshua" as the "Bread of Life" (Lechem Chayim) Shabbat Shalom............Rabbi J. Ben Avraham PIC: standing outside the ruins of the synagogue at Capernaum, July, 2015