The weeks between Purim and Pesach are not empty time. Starting from Shushan Purim the nation's focus shifts to Pesach and preparations begin — the shekalim are called in, roads paved and the Mizbeach and Beis Hamikdash are spruced up in anticipation of Klal Yisroel's impending journey to Yerushlayim. As it gets closer, the lambs are set aside and checked by torchlight, and at last the chametz is sought out by candle.
This series walks that road one day at a time, learning the mishnayos the season itself places in front of us — from Shushan Purim through Erev Pesach. Press play on any card and follow the shiur word for word.
Where these Mishnayos come from
Across 32 read-along cards, spread over the Shishah Sidrei Mishnah
The 17 Masechtos — by seder
Thirty days out, the clock begins. Beis Din fans out to ready the roads, the mikvaos and the Beis HaMikdash itself — the first stirrings of a nation turning toward Yerushalayim, a season in which even a stray lamb found near Yerushalayim is presumed a Korban Pesach.
Shekalim 1:1שקלים א׳:א׳→Shekalim 7:4שקלים ז׳:ד׳→Middos 3:4מדות ג׳:ד׳→The last day of Adar is a hinge — the deadline for sealing the calendar and settling the Temple's accounts, and the yardstick for just how far the olei regel would travel to be there in time.
Shekalim 3:1שקלים ג׳:א׳→Eduyos 7:7עדויות ז׳:ז׳→Taanis 1:3 · Pesachim 9:1–2תענית א׳:ג׳ · פסחים ט׳:א׳–ב׳→Nissan opens the year the Torah counts from — the Month of Pesach begins. Messengers go out to fix the date, and one of the era's oldest disputes surfaces: when the Korban Omer is brought — a question that reached back even to how and when Rosh Chodesh Nissan itself was declared.
Rosh Hashanah 1:1ראש השנה א׳:א׳→Rosh Hashanah 1:3ראש השנה א׳:ג׳→Rosh Hashanah 2:1ראש השנה ב׳:א׳→Taanis 4:5תענית ד׳:ה׳→One week out. Today is the latest a lamb can be born and still reach its eighth day of life — the minimum age to be brought as a korban — and the last day to begin the taharah process, leaving the seven days needed to be sprinkled with the parah adumah's waters and be pure for the Korban Pesach.
Parah 1:4פרה א׳:ד׳→Yud Nissan re-lives Pesach Mitzrayim — the day the original Korban Pesach was set aside. From it flows the four-day inspection of the korban for blemishes — the same careful checking the Mishnah applies even to the daily Tamid, examined by torchlight.
Pesachim 9:5פסחים ט׳:ה׳→Arachin 2:5ערכין ב׳:ה׳→Tamid 3:4תמיד ג׳:ד׳→Kelim 19:2כלים י״ט:ב׳→In Yerushalayim now, the final purity prep: the slaughtering knives are immersed and readied — the last day to complete the taharah and sprinkling process and still be eligible to bring the Korban Pesach in time.
Shekalim 8:3שקלים ח׳:ג׳→The day everything converges — chametz sought out by candlelight, work set down, the Korban Pesach bought and slaughtered to the sound of the flute. A cascade of halachos that Klal Yisroel pegged to this one focal date, all bending toward a single end: readying yourself, and everyone around you, to recline as a free person at the Seder.
Pesachim 1:1פסחים א׳:א׳→Pesachim 4:1פסחים ד׳:א׳→Sheviis 2:1שביעית ב׳:א׳→Maaser Sheini 5:6מעשר שני ה׳:ו׳→Menachos 10:3מנחות י׳:ג׳→Nedarim 8:2נדרים ח׳:ב׳→Nedarim 8:5נדרים ח׳:ה׳→Shabbos 23:1שבת כ״ג:א׳→Chullin 5:3–4חולין ה׳:ג׳–ד׳→Eduyos 5:2עדויות ה׳:ב׳→Kerisos 3:8כריתות ג׳:ח׳→Pesachim 5:1פסחים ה׳:א׳→Shabbos 1:11שבת א׳:י״א→Arachin 2:3ערכין ב׳:ג׳→Pesachim 10:1פסחים י׳:א׳→Pesachim 8:8פסחים ח׳:ח׳→