If you’ve never messed up in your life, you can stop reading.
But if you’ve ever looked back with regret and embarrassment at some of the things you’ve done, today is a good day.
Today is Pesach Sheni—the “Second Passover.”
It’s the Jewish day of hope.
Hardly anyone talks about it. Even for the most religious Jews, the day means little more than not saying the supplicatory prayers and maybe eating some matzah.
For me, though, it’s the coolest Jewish day of the year, the day that commemorates what every human being craves: a second chance.
It started, as many stories do, with some kvetching. Israelites who had become ritually impure and could not prepare the Passover offering on the appointed day, decided they wanted a second chance.
So they approached Moses and Aaron and said: “Why should we be deprived, and not be able to present God’s offering in its time, amongst the children of Israel?”
In response to their plea, God established the 14th of Iyar as a day for the “Second Passover” for anyone who was unable to bring the offering on its appointed time in the previous month.
That day is today.
The day of second chances, the day that reminds us it’s never too late to do good.
That theme is so wonderfully broad one can argue it encompasses all other Jewish holidays. That’s because it’s more than a theme—it’s a mindset.
If the Torah and our Jewish holidays aim to make us better human beings and add holiness to our lives, a mindset of “never too late” will always apply. In many ways, Judaism and the Jewish people have survived precisely because we’ve never given up.
“Never too late” also applies to any self-help book you’re currently reading or class you’re taking on learning how to paint or play an instrument.
There’s always a second chance to grow. That never goes out of style.
Right now, we’re counting the 49 days between the end of Passover and the beginning of Shavuot, the day we received the Torah at Sinai. This is a period of both anticipation and spiritual refinement. Pesach Sheni reminds us it’s never too late to work on refining our characters.
The notion of a second chance also connects to the essential Jewish idea of teshuvah, repentance and “return.” It’s never too late to reconnect with your tradition and your people.
Since no one today has any biblical reason to miss Passover, Pesach Sheni has fallen off the radar. It has lost its relevance because we’ve taken it too literally.
But behind this humble and obscure day of the Jewish calendar lies an idea that can reenergize our lives. Hope always gives us a second chance.
It’s never too late to internalize that message of Pesach Sheni.
How cool is that?
Shabbat shalom.
