"Seven days you must eat unleavened bread."
Leviticus 23:6

In regard to Jewish Holidays, the number seven seems to bear special significance. During the seven days of Passover, we recall the Exodus and the splitting of the Red Sea seven days after the children of Israel left Egypt. "Seven days you shall eat matza (unleavened bread)." According to our sages, the seven days of unleavened bread correspond to the seven days that each plague lasted in Egypt. Then we count seven weeks to Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, in which we remember the giving of the Torah. In the seventh month we celebrate the seven-day holiday of Succot by living in a succah (booth) for seven days. This helps us remember Israel's journey through the desert and their entrance into the Promised Land.

The Hebrew wording in Deuteronomy describing the seventh day of the Feast of Unleavened bread is almost identical to the wording in the Sabbath (seventh day)commandment in Exodus. Compare the two passages:

"Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly for Yahveh your Elohim. You shall not do any work." Deuteronomy 16:8

"Six days shall you labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of Yahveh your Elohim. In it you shall not do any work." Exodus 20:9-10

The following verse of the Exodus passage connects us with the seven-day creation week: "Because in six days Yahveh made heaven and earth...and rested the seventh day. That is why Yahveh blessed the Shabbat Day and made it holy." Exodus 20:11

The Passover and the Sabbath share another strong connection beyond their tie to that special number seven. We are also commanded to "remember" and to "keep" both holidays. In Exodus 20:8, Yahveh commands us to "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." In Deuteronomy 5:12, 15, Yahveh again uses the same words: "Keep the Sabbath Day...and remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and that Yahveh your Elohim brought you out of there...therefore Yahveh your Elohim commanded you to keep the Sabbath Day." "Remember" and "keep" are important words. We are to remember and to keep all that Yahveh tells us. This is such a simple command, yet it can be so difficult.

And what exactly are we commanded to remember at Passover? We remember the Exodus, not the resurrection. Passover is not the same as Easter, and Easter is not Passover with a Christian flavor. Easter can never be a substitute for Passover in the Church. Passover neither has nor needs a substitute. It is as valid today as it was long ago, and it will always be worthy its own celebration. There is no need to reinterpret the story of Passover to "make it fit" with other traditions.