Page "Passover" Paragraph 19

When the Temple in Jerusalem was standing, the focus of the Passover festival was the Passover sacrifice ( Hebrew korban Pesach ) also known as the " Paschal Lamb ").

Every family large enough to completely consume a young lamb or wild goat was required to offer one for sacrifice at the Jewish Temple on the afternoon of the 14th day of Nisan ,() and eat it that night, which was the 15th of Nisan ().

If the family was too small to finish eating the entire offering in one sitting, an offering was made for a group of families.

The sacrifice could not be offered with anything leavened ,() and had to be roasted, without its head, feet, or inner organs being removed () and eaten together with unleavened bread ( matzo ) and bitter herbs ( maror ).

One had to be careful not to break any bones from the offering, () and none of the meat could be left over by morning ().