Pesach or Pesakh (Hebrew: פסח PSḤ) was a Khazar Jewish general mentioned in the Schechter Letter.
Pesach was military commander of the region around the Strait of Kerch who defeated the armies of the Rus' prince HLGW (Hebrew: הלגו), most likely Oleg of Novgorod, around the year 941 in the Taman region.
Golb and Pritsak argue that the term PSḤ should be read as "the Beg" or "Ebe-shad".[1]
The letter associates Pesach with the term BWLŠṢY (Hebrew: בולשצי) with the phrase בולשצי הוא פסח המיקר, or, "BWLŠṢY who is Pesach haMYQR". This has given rise to two interpretations:
Assuming BWLŠṢY does represent the title of baliqchi, it might indicate that Pesach commanded ships or a port, instead of soldiers on the ground, as baliqchi is thought to roughly translate to "Fisherman" (or, in alternate translation "Fish-Lord") in the Khazar language; leading scholars to hypothesize that the office was actually a naval rank within the Khazar military.
The term haMYQR is similarly obscure. Schechter proposed reading "the Reverer" or emending to המיחד haMYḤD "the Uniter".[2] David Kahane proposed the alternate reading השומר haŠMR "the guardian".[3] Golb and Pritsak agree with המיקר but read המיוקר haMeyuqqar "the Honored".[1]