הכרזת פסח לפי נוסח איטלייני | the Announcement of Pesaḥ on Shabbat haGadol according to the Italian rite

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6 April 2024 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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calendar announcements, Italian Jewry, לוח lu'aḥ, Nusaḥ Italḳi, pre-Pesaḥ, Roman minhag

Jews all over the world announce the new month on the Shabbat before it with a text known as “birkat ha-ḥodesh” or blessing the month. In many rites, such as the Western Sephardic and Moroccan rites, the fast days 17 Tammuz and 10 Tevet are also announced on the Shabbat before them with a text known as “hazkarat tsomot” or announcing fasts. But to my knowledge, only the Italian rite (and possibly the ancient Eretz Yisrael rite from which much of it derives) have a custom of announcing Pesaḥ on the Shabbat before it. This passage, the Announcement of Pesaḥ (Azcaràd Pesah in Italian traditional pronunciation) is recited on the Shabbat before Pesaḥ, commonly known as Shabbat haGadol (Sciabbàd Aggadòl), after the reading from the Torah. Citing the mystical hekhalot literature, it celebrates the sages who established the rules of the calendar.

For upcoming Pesaḥim (as of the date of submission) the announced day will be:

for 5784/2024: יוֹם שְׁלִישִׁי Tuesday
for 5785/2025: יוֹם רִאשׁוֹן Sunday
for 5786/2026: יוֹם חֲמִישִׁי Thursday
for 5787/2027: יוֹם חֲמִישִׁי Thursday
for 5788/2028: יוֹם שְׁלִישִׁי Tuesday
for 5789/2029: יוֹם שַׁבָּת Saturday
for 5790/2030: יוֹם חֲמִישִׁי Thursday
for 5791/2031: יוֹם שְׁלִישִׁי Tuesday
for 5792/2032: יוֹם שַׁבָּת Saturday
for 5793/2033: יוֹם חֲמִישִׁי Thursday

Source (Hebrew)	Source (English)
כָּךְ גָּזְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵֽינוּ סַנְהֶדְרִין גְּאוֹנֵי עוֹלָם בְּבֵית מִקְדָּשׁ שֵׁנִי כְּנִבְנָה וְנִשְׁלַם וְאָז נִרְאָה כִסֵּא אֵשׁ בְּשֶׁלָּם וְעָלָיו מַלְכּוֹ שֶׁל־עוֹלָם מִסְתַּלְסֵל וְעוֹמֵד בֵּין הָאוּלָם וְקִבְּלוּ כֶֽתֶר וְתָפְשׂוּ חוֹתָם נֶעֱלָם וּמִנּוּ וְתִקְּנוּ תַּקָּנַת עוֹלָם וְנִתַּן בְּיַד רִבִּי אֱלִיעֶֽזֶר גָּדוֹל שֶׁבְּכֻלָּם וְהִתְקִין	Thus our rabbis, the Sanhedrin, prides of existence, decreed, in the second Holy Temple, as built and completed, when a throne of fire was seen in their midst and upon it the Sovereign of Existence, exaltant, set astride the cella, and they recieved the crown and grasped the hidden seal,^[1] Find Hekhalot Rabbati 32:1-2 (Wertheimer edition, translation Smith/Scholem) — “וכיון שראו אבותינו את כסא הכבוד שסלסול מתוכו ועומד בין האולם ולמזבח ולמלכו של עולם מיד נפלו על פניהם ועל אותה שעה אמר (חגי ב ט) גדול יהיה כבוד הבית הזה האחרון מן הראשון: שמקדש הראשון לא נזקקתי לי ולבני בקול זה ולכל משרתי ולכסאי והלואי בני למה אתם נופלים על פניכם עמדו ושבו לפני כסאי במדה שאתם יושבים בישיבה ותפשו כתר וקבלו חותם ולמדו חותם ולמדו ספר תורה זה היאך תדרשוהו והיאך תשמשו בו כי היא מעלין נתיבות לבבכם היו צופין לבבכם בתורה:” (And when our fathers saw that the throne of glory was set on high between the altar and the cella, and the King of the World upon it, they at once fell upon their faces, and concerning that moment it says [Haggai 2.9]: “The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former.” For in the first temple I did not communicate with My children but by voice and in this temple ye have compelled Me and My throne and all My servants [to appear]. And would that it might endure! My children, why are ye fallen and lying upon your faces? Stand and seat yourselves before My throne in the order in which you sit in the academy and take hold upon a crown and receive a seal and hear the order of this secret of the Law, how ye shall do it, how explain it, and how practice it, how ascend the roads of your hearts, how your hearts may behold the Law.) and they counted and determined an eternal determination, given by R. Eliezer the greatest of them all, and determined:
לֹא בְדַ״ז פּוּר וְלֹא בַדּ״וֹ פֶּֽסַח וְלֹא גְהַ״ז עֲצֶֽרֶת וְלֹא אַדּ״וֹ רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה וְלֹא אַגּ״וֹ יוֹם כִּפּוּר לְעוֹלָם	Purim is never on Monday, Wednesday, or Saturday; Pesaḥ is never Monday, Wednesday, or Friday; Shavuot is never Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday; Rosh haShanah is never Sunday, Wednesday, or Friday; Yom Kippur is never Sunday, Tuesday, or Friday; …forever.
וּבִרְשׁוּתָם יֶשׁ־לָֽנוּ חַג־הַמַּצוֹת הַזֶּה (יום פלוני) בְּעַם עוֹלָם יְשַׂמְּחֵֽנוּ בוֹ אֱלֹהֵי עוֹלָם׃	And by their merit we have this Pilgrimage of Flatbread (on such-and-such a day) for the eternal people. May the Eternal God let us rejoice in it!

Notes

Notes
1	Find Hekhalot Rabbati 32:1-2 (Wertheimer edition, translation Smith/Scholem) — “וכיון שראו אבותינו את כסא הכבוד שסלסול מתוכו ועומד בין האולם ולמזבח ולמלכו של עולם מיד נפלו על פניהם ועל אותה שעה אמר (חגי ב ט) גדול יהיה כבוד הבית הזה האחרון מן הראשון: שמקדש הראשון לא נזקקתי לי ולבני בקול זה ולכל משרתי ולכסאי והלואי בני למה אתם נופלים על פניכם עמדו ושבו לפני כסאי במדה שאתם יושבים בישיבה ותפשו כתר וקבלו חותם ולמדו חותם ולמדו ספר תורה זה היאך תדרשוהו והיאך תשמשו בו כי היא מעלין נתיבות לבבכם היו צופין לבבכם בתורה:” (And when our fathers saw that the throne of glory was set on high between the altar and the cella, and the King of the World upon it, they at once fell upon their faces, and concerning that moment it says [Haggai 2.9]: “The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former.” For in the first temple I did not communicate with My children but by voice and in this temple ye have compelled Me and My throne and all My servants [to appear]. And would that it might endure! My children, why are ye fallen and lying upon your faces? Stand and seat yourselves before My throne in the order in which you sit in the academy and take hold upon a crown and receive a seal and hear the order of this secret of the Law, how ye shall do it, how explain it, and how practice it, how ascend the roads of your hearts, how your hearts may behold the Law.)

Unknown

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Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut)

From a family of musicians, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer believes that creative art is one of the most powerful ways to get in touch with the divine. He composes music and poetry in Hebrew and English. (He also translates and authors his own original works.) Isaac runs a Jewish music transcription service, which will transcribe and set any Jewish music in any language, recorded or written. Contact his service on Facebook or via his music blog.

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

From a family of musicians, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer believes that creative art is one of the most powerful ways to get in touch with the divine. He composes music and poetry in Hebrew and English. (He also authors his own original works and transcribes Hebrew and Aramaic text, adding niqqud and t'amim as needed.) Isaac runs a Jewish music transcription service, which will transcribe and set any Jewish music in any language, recorded or written. Contact his service on Facebook or via his music blog.

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Rabbi Eliezer explaining the Jewish calendar (woodcut)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." (Psalms 90:17)

הכרזת פסח לפי נוסח איטלייני | the Announcement of Pesaḥ on Shabbat haGadol according to the Italian rite

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