Pesach Is Coming!: Drinking Blood, Yizkor on the Eighth Day, and Smiting the Egyptian
Q. Leviticus 7:26 says, "You shall not eat any blood." Why then do we say the red wine consumed at the Passover seder alludes to blood, when we are prohibited to consume blood? Thank you!
A. Thanks for your question. It's kind of like asking why we can eat animal crackers when we can't eat lions or bears; they're not actually lions and bears, they just resemble them. Similarly, the red wine symbolizes blood, but it's not actually blood, nor is it intended to suggest the act of drinking blood (which, as you note, is prohibited). It's just to remind us of the events surrounding the Exodus. (Similarly, the bone and the egg represent the Passover and holiday sacrifices, the salt water represents tears, etc., but they're all just symbols.)
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Q. In the Torah it says you shall eat matzah for seven days, and the seventh day shall be a holy convocation. What is the purpose of the Yizkor memorial on the eighth day?
A. Thanks for your question. You're conflating things that evolved separately. Biblically, the holiday is only seven days long; an eighth day is observed outside of Israel by rabbinic enactment (see more here). Yizkor was originally recited only on Yom Kippur; the custom evolved to also recite it on other holidays, typically on the last day. In the US and elsewhere, this would mean the eighth day (which happens to be or rabbinic origin), but in Israel it would be on the seventh day (which is Biblical). You can read more about Yizkor here.
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Q. I have a question re: Moses's actions when he had to escape. When Moses hit the Egyptian, couldn’t he have used his authority to reprimand the Egyptian instead? Or was Moses so enraged that he lost control of his emotions, possibly revealing his character type?
A. Thanks for your question. The Jewish slaves in Egypt had no rights, so a member of the royal family standing up to a guard who was doing his "patriotic duty" by whipping one would have raised some eyebrows at the very least. Imagine a high-ranking member of the Nazi party stopping a concentration camp guard from beating a Jewish prisoner. You can bet that such aberrant behavior would be grounds for an investigation!
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