Chag HaMatzot

Leviticus 23:6-8 says ‘On the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Matzot to Adonai. For seven days you are to eat matzah. On the first day you are to have a holy convocation and you should do no regular work. Instead you are to present an offering made by fire to Adonai for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation, when you are to do no regular work.”  

During this time as we eat the matzah we are reminded of the simplicity of life without sin. We are also reminded of the need to leave the “Egypt” (representing an enslaved life) in haste.  

The first and last days of this feast are a Holy Convocation, Mikra Kodesh in Hebrew.  The word Mikra has more of the meaning of calling, reading, and in some instances proclaiming.  Scripture reveals to us that G-d’s people would gather together in convocations (callings) in the Temple of Jerusalem to “proclaim” the holiness of the day any partake in the public reading of the Torah.