It feels like it was just yesterday. That mad rush of cleaning, cooking, checking every corner of your home for hames, and making sure everything was ready for the Sedarim. The table was set, the Seder plate prepared, the Dibrei Torah and all the halachot reviewed. All you needed was your guests to arrive on time. You probably told them an hour early just in case.
As Pesah finally arrived and you sat down with your family and friends for two amazing nights of inspiration, hopefully they delivered. Two nights of connection, real meaning, real family and friends. Even if it did not go exactly as planned, you showed up and gave it your best. You landed.
Now that Pesah has ended, it can feel as if we left something behind. Even though we return to our daily lives, to work and school, our Sedarim and Pesah as a whole gave us something very real and inspiring. The question is what we do with it now?
The word Seder means order and Rabbi Frand (Perashat Bo) shares that we are expected to carry what we felt at the Seder forward. The emunah and inspiration we drew from the Seder is meant to carry us through the remainder of the year.
The connection, the story, the inspiration, the sense that something real happened those nights. That feeling was meant to last for more than two nights. When something truly moves you, when someone leaves a real impression on you, you don’t just let it fade. You hold onto it. You bring it back with you. We did not stay up those late nights talking and sharing, discussing and reliving the Exodus, just to close the Haggadah and move on.
In reality, Pesah is the first half of a process that concludes at Shabuot when we receive the Torah. The Ramban teaches (Vayiqra 23:15) that the Omer we count each night is not just a countdown. It is a bridge from freedom to purpose, from leaving Egypt to standing before G-d at Mt Sinai. Our journey does not end when the Seder plate is put away.
This Shabbat we read Perashat Shemini, where the Mishkan was finally inaugurated and the first sacrifices were brought by Aharon and his sons. The Or HaHayim teaches (Vayiqra 1:2-9) that a sacrifice is deeply symbolic, representing the person’s admission of their shortcomings and desire for spiritual elevation.
The Seder works the same way. During the Seder, we reflect on the past, specifically our redemption from Egypt, and are required to see ourselves as if we personally experienced the Exodus. In doing so, it creates a sense of gratitude and recognition of G-d’s role in our lives. Rabbi Uri Lati may have said it best that our “masah is referred to as lehem oni (poor man’s bread) not only because it is flat, but because it reminds us to leave space for G-d. The only thing that needs to "rise" is our emunah.”
As we continue to count the Omer making our way toward Shabuot and beyond, ask yourself what you are taking with you from those two nights and from Pesah as a whole. The feeling is real. The story is ours. Take it with you.