As on other Pilgrim Festivals, one of the FIVE SCROLLS is read on Passover. On Passover, it is the SONG OF SONGS. The connection is seen in the book's description of the spring season.
Counting of the Omer (Sefirat ha-Omer). In accordance with the law recorded in Leviticus 23:15 ff., the OMER is counted from the second night of Passover.
Pesah Sheni (Second Passover). People unable to participate in the festive ceremonies of the paschal sacrifice were permitted to observe the rite one month later, i.e., on 14 Iyar.
Ma'ot Hittim ("money for wheat") is a special charity fund to provide the poor with all the necessities for the Passover celebration.
Some Passover Customs. The SAMARITANS in Erets Israel observe the Passover rites on Mount GERIZIM near Shechem. To this day, the slaughter of the paschal lamb is the climax of their ceremony. A number of sheep are set aside on 10 Nisan. On the eve of the 14th they are slaughtered, roasted for six hours in ovens dug in the earth and distributed to the families to be eaten in their homes with bitter herbs, to the accompaniment of song and dance.
The ETHIOPIAN JEWS (Beta Israel) cease to eat leaven three days before the festival, consuming only dried peas and beans until Passover eve. Then they fast until their high priest slaughters the paschal lamb on an altar in the courtyard of the synagogue. The blood is sprinkled around the entrance to the building.
In the Caucasus, the Jews wear clothes of "freedom" with wide, loose sleeves, some with a dagger or even a pistol in their belt. They reenact a drama in which one of their number goes out, knocks on the door and pretends he has just arrived from Jerusalem. All the others ask him for news of the Holy City and whether he has a message of liberation and redemption. Certain Sephardim and Eastern communities also enact a drama, eating the meat hastily, standing, with loins girded and staff in hand, like the Israelites in Egypt. Some wrap the afikoman in a cloth which they put over their shoulder and leave the room saying, "This is how our ancestors left Egypt."
The secret Jews of Spain and Portugal, the MARRANOS, observed the festival on 16 Nisan in order to avoid suspicion on the previous day. They clandestinely baked unleavened bread on that day and held a secret seder at which they consumed a whole roast sheep, while wearing traveling shoes and holding staffs in their hands. Marranos in Mexico smeared their doorposts with the blood of lambs, like the ancient Israelites, and beat the waters of a stream with willow branches to symbolize the crossing of the Red Sea.
