At last the house was purified, and Zeffen and Sorlé came back to it.
The time of the Passover drew near; and the floors must be washed, the walls scoured, the vessels cleansed. In the midst of these cares, the poor women forgot, in some measure, our affliction; but as the time drew nearer our anxiety increased; how, in the midst of this famine, were we to obey the command of God:
"This month shall be the first month of the year to you.
"In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house.
"Ye shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats.
"And ye shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month.
"And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs shall they eat it."
But where was the sacrificial lamb to be found? Schmoûlé alone, the old schamess, had thought of it for us all, three months before; he had nourished a male goat of that year in his cellar, and that was the goat that was killed.
Every Jewish family had a portion of it, small indeed, but the law of the Lord was fulfilled.
We invited on that day, according to the law, one of the poorest of our brethren, Kalmes. We went together to the synagogue; the prayers were recited, and then we returned to partake of the feast at our table.