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07 come from if not from Tanach, Mishna, or Gemara?

A Message from our Rashi, in Siddur Rashi, asks this same question and concludes

Chazzan that there’s no clear answer. He does, however, quote other
sources that assume this name was used as far back as the
Yitzy Spinner first and second centuries C.E.

The prevailing answer requires us to look at the conclusion of
the Haftorah, and to then read a bit between the lines:

W know that the first night of Pesach is called “Leil Shimurim.”
The Targumim, in explaining this Passuk above, teach that

Just as the original Leil Shimurim occurred before the first
Pesach, so too will the appearance of Eliyahu HaNavi happen
before Pesach. The Passuk here calls this day of Eliyahu’s
arrival “The Great Day of HaShem.”
I remember learning, as a young student, the ‘alternate’
names of the various Chagim. Pesach is also known as Chag Our ascribing the name ‘Shabbat HaGadol’ to the Shabbat
Ha-Aviv (the Holiday of the Spring). Sukkot is also known as before Pesach, we not only identify its miraculous history, but
Chag Ha-Asif (the Holiday of Harvest). We spent so much time we also pray for its potential. May this year’s Shabbat HaGadol
focusing on the actual names of the days that appeared in our be the true Shabbat Hagadol - the one on which Eliyahu will
yearly cycle.
finally arrive and usher in the true redemption.
The names by which we refer to these days are significant. On behalf of our children, Rachel and I wish you all a Chag
Pesach because Hashem ‘passed over’ the houses of the Jews; Kasher V’Sameach, filled with joy and laughter, surrounded
Sukkot because we spend a week in Sukkot; Shavuot because by family and friends.
it concludes a period of seven weeks. Even Rosh Hashana and
Yom Ha-Kippurim require no explanation.
Chazzan Yitzy Spinner
We can even look at the Four Parshiyot that we just experi-
enced, and each one is self-evident based on the particular
reading for that day - Shkalim, Zachor, Parah, and Ha-Chodesh.

Other days in our calendar cycle are named simply for the
day on which they fall, like Tisha B’Av, Lag B’Omer, and Rosh
Chodesh.

Just before Pesach, however, we have a special Shabbat that is
known by a unique name: Shabbat Ha-Gadol “The Great Shab-
bat”. There is no other Shabbat throughout the yearly cycle
that is known by this name. Additionally, there’s no mention in
Tanach, Mishna, or even Gemara of a Shabbat Ha-Gadol. Where
did this name come from, and what’s it all about?

I remember being taught that the tenth day of Nissan, just
days before the Jews left Egypt, was a Shabbat. It was on
that day that the sheep for the Korban were collecting, and
marched through the streets towards the Jews’ homes for jnau raf dj
slaughter. The Egyptians didn’t harm the Jews at the sight of
their deity being prepared for slaughter, a great miracle, and so
it was The Great Shabbat, Shabbat Ha-Gadol.

While this reason satisfies curiosity, it doesn’t answer a simple
question: Why this name? Why not the Shabbat of Silence? Why
the Great Shabbat, and additionally, where did this name even

SCOPE Magazine Passover 2022 7