The Four Parshiyot: Special Shabbatot Before Passover

Four Bridges to Passover

Most Shabbatot follow a predictable rhythm. The weekly Torah portion is read, the haftarah follows, and the service proceeds as usual. But in the weeks leading up to Passover, something changes. Four consecutive (or nearly consecutive) Shabbatot receive special additional Torah readings — extra passages that interrupt the regular cycle and redirect the congregation’s attention toward the approaching season of redemption.

These are the Arba Parshiyot — the Four Parshiyot — and each one does something distinct: one is about money, one is about memory, one is about purity, and one is about time. Together, they prepare the Jewish people, layer by layer, for the experience of Passover.

1. Parshat Shekalim — The Half-Shekel

When: The Shabbat before (or on) the 1st of Adar Reading: Exodus 30:11-16

The first of the four readings recalls the machatzit hashekel — the half-shekel tax that every Israelite male was required to contribute to the Temple. The money funded the communal sacrifices that began each year on the 1st of Nisan. Since the collection was announced a month in advance (on the 1st of Adar), this reading served as the public notice: it is time to give.

The half-shekel was deliberately modest — the same amount for rich and poor. The message was egalitarian: everyone has an equal stake in the communal worship. No one’s contribution matters more than anyone else’s. In a society with vast economic disparities, the half-shekel was a radical statement about shared ownership of sacred space.

Today, with no Temple and no tax, the reading survives as a reminder of communal responsibility. Many communities observe a custom of giving three half-coins to charity on the Fast of Esther (before Purim), echoing the ancient practice.

2. Parshat Zachor — Remember Amalek

When: The Shabbat before Purim Reading: Deuteronomy 25:17-19

This is the most intense of the four readings — and, according to many authorities, the only Torah reading that is a biblical obligation (d’oraita) rather than a rabbinic enactment. The passage commands: “Remember what Amalek did to you on your way out of Egypt… you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under the heavens. Do not forget.”

Amalek attacked the Israelites in the wilderness, targeting the weak and the stragglers — those at the rear of the march who could not keep up. The attack was not strategic; it was predatory. The Torah frames Amalek as the embodiment of gratuitous cruelty, the enemy who strikes not for territory but for the pleasure of inflicting pain on the vulnerable.

Parshat Zachor is read the Shabbat before Purim because Haman, the villain of the Purim story, is identified as a descendant of Agag, king of Amalek. The narrative thread connects: the same evil that attacked Israel in the wilderness reappears in Persia, and the commandment to remember ensures that the Jewish people never forget the face of genocidal hatred.

Because of its special status, many communities take extra care with Parshat Zachor. Synagogues may repeat the reading for latecomers. Women who do not normally attend Shabbat morning services often make a special effort to be present. The atmosphere in the synagogue is noticeably more serious — this is not merely a reading but a commandment being fulfilled in real time.

3. Parshat Parah — The Red Heifer

When: The Shabbat after Purim Reading: Numbers 19:1-22

If Zachor is about memory, Parah is about purification. The reading describes the ritual of the parah adumah — the red heifer — one of the most mysterious commandments in the Torah. A perfectly red cow was burned, its ashes mixed with water, and the resulting mixture sprinkled on anyone who had become ritually impure through contact with a dead body.

In Temple times, this purification was essential preparation for Passover. Anyone who was ritually impure could not bring the Paschal lamb sacrifice. Reading Parshat Parah was the public announcement: if you are impure, now is the time to purify yourself before the holiday arrives.

The red heifer ritual is famously paradoxical: the person who prepares the purifying mixture becomes impure in the process, while the impure person who receives it becomes pure. Even King Solomon, the wisest of men, is said to have declared: “I have labored to understand this, and it is far from me” (Ecclesiastes 7:23, as interpreted by the Midrash).

Without the Temple, the literal purification cannot take place. But the reading endures as a spiritual prompt: Passover is coming. It is time to examine yourself. What needs to be cleansed?

4. Parshat HaChodesh — The New Month

When: The Shabbat before (or on) the 1st of Nisan Reading: Exodus 12:1-20

The final reading brings us to the threshold of Passover itself. It recounts God’s instructions to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, just before the Exodus: “This month shall be for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you.”

The passage continues with the detailed instructions for the Passover offering — selecting the lamb on the 10th of Nisan, slaughtering it on the 14th, smearing blood on the doorposts, eating it roasted with matzah and bitter herbs. These are the original Passover instructions, given while the Israelites were still slaves, before the final plague and the dramatic departure.

Parshat HaChodesh is about beginnings. The establishment of the Jewish calendar — with Nisan as the first month — was the first commandment given to the Jewish people as a nation. Before any law about Shabbat or kashrut or ethics, God gave them control of time. “This month shall be yours.” A slave has no control over time; a free person does. The calendar itself is an act of liberation.

The Architecture of Preparation

Read together, the Four Parshiyot create an elegant sequence:

1. Shekalim — Contribute to the community (communal responsibility)
2. Zachor — Remember evil and resolve to fight it (moral vigilance)
3. Parah — Purify yourself (spiritual preparation)
4. HaChodesh — Mark the new beginning (entering the season of freedom)

From the practical (money) to the moral (memory) to the spiritual (purity) to the temporal (time) — the Four Parshiyot guide the Jewish people through a comprehensive preparation for Passover. By the time the seder night arrives, you have been readied in body, mind, and soul.

A Living Calendar

The Four Parshiyot are easy to overlook. They do not come with candle-lighting or special foods or dramatic rituals. They are readings — words on parchment, chanted in the familiar melody of Torah cantillation. But they are among the oldest continuous observances in Judaism, attested in the Mishnah (Megillah 3:4) and practiced without interruption for at least two thousand years.

In a tradition that believes words have power, that reading is itself a form of action, the Four Parshiyot do their work quietly. They turn ordinary Shabbatot into stepping stones, carrying the community from the cold end of winter into the warmth of spring, from the randomness of everyday life into the purposefulness of the Passover season. By the time the matzah is baked and the table is set, you have already been on a journey. The Four Parshiyot are the road.