Passover in the Temple

During the time of the Beit Hamikdash, Pesach was the most fascinating of the pilgrimage festivals, mainly because of the קרבן פסח. Unlike Succot and Shavuot, where only the males had to make an appearance at the Temple, Pesach required that the women also be present in Jerusalem. Everyone was obligated to partake of the Korban Pesach. The meat of this sacrifice needed to be eaten within the walls of Jerusalem. The penalty for not taking part in the Pesach sacrifice was כרת, being cut off from the Jewish people. Brit Milah and קרבן פסח are the only two positive commandments that have a punishment for its non observance. And both of these Mitzvot saved the Jewish people when they were in lockdown in Egypt. It always amazed me how the logistics of the קרבן פסח were handled at the time of the Temple. Perhaps thirty people were able to eat from one lamb. And when we consider that there could have been millions of Jews in Jerusalem for Passover, that’s a lot of lamb! And parts of each lamb, needed to be offered on the altar. Everything was well calculated and synchronized, to service the festival pilgrims. As we are confined to our homes, we should long for a return of the excitement and holiness of Pesach in the Beit Hamikdash.