As our holy days begin, no matter what we do, the sun will set — it’s sacred time! We light candles to bring the transition into our homes, to take some ownership of, to participate in, the liminal moment.

Other than Shabbat, we begin our holy days with a blessing, a bracha: shehecheyyanu…laz’man ha-ze. We thank Adonai for enabling us to be here now, reminding us to be present in that hallowed period

To close out of sacred time, a ceremony of havdala, “separation.” We bid farewell to Shabbat, to a festival, thanking God for those hours or days and for differentiating between the sanctified and the quotidian.

On Sunday night, we will pass from Pesach to chol, a regular weekday, and we can eat whatever we wish! I hope that we can all appreciate what made these Pesach days fulfilling, even as we look forward to how we will make them even more special next year. (Jerusalem, anyone?)

Shabbat shalom/chag sameiach/shavua tov!