Positive Mitzvah 159: Resting on the First Day of Passover
Exodus 12:16 "And on the first day, there shall be a holy gathering"

We are commanded to regard the first day of Pesach, the fifteenth day of Nisan, as a sacred holiday. On this day, we should stop all work (see Negative Mitzvah 323).

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Negative Mitzvah 323: It is forbidden to work on the first day of Passover
Exodus 12:16 "And on the first day ... no manner of work shall be done"

We are commanded not to do work on the first day of Pesach.

Outside of Eretz Yisrael, this Negative Mitzvah applies to the second day of Pesach, as well, which is still Yom-Tov.

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Positive Mitzvah 160: Resting on the Seventh Day of Passover
Exodus 12:16 "And on the seventh day, there shall be a holy gathering"

We are commanded to regard the seventh day of Pesach as a sacred holiday.

On this day, we should stop all weekday work (see Negative Mitzvah 324).

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Negative Mitzvah 324: It is forbidden to work on the seventh day of Pesach
Exodus 12:16 "And on the seventh day...no manner of work shall be done."

We are commanded not to do work on the seventh day of Pesach.

Outside of Eretz Yisrael, this Negative Mitzvah applies to the eighth day, as well, which is still Yom-Tov.

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The fall of the communist dictatorships of the Eastern Bloc was a kind of miracle that has no historical precedent. Never before were so many people affected by such radical change with so little violence. The miracles of the Gulf War were open miracles. The same scud missiles that took countless lives in Iran were impotent when they fell in the Holy Land. The soldiers and officers of the Allied Forces saw inexplicable miracles in their victory. Other miracles took some thought to realize that they were miracles, that the laws of nature were not the only thing at play here. But anyone who saw what occurred in the Gulf War saw openly that this was miraculous. And yet people ask, "Where are the miracles today?"

From: Bringing Heaven Down to Earth by Tzvi Freeman - tzvif@aol.com