Passover

Saturday, April 19th at sundown will be the beginning of the Jewish celebration of Passover. We wish all of our Jewish WISDOM sisters a joyous holiday. Please read about the holiday of Passover below. The information is taken from the website http://www.holidays.net/passover/ and the book Understanding Judaism by Rabbi Benjamin Blech.

Gail Katz
WISDOM President



Passover is the 8 day observance commemorating the freedom and exodus of the Israelites (Jewish slaves) from Egypt during the reign of the Pharaoh Ramses II.

A time of family gatherings and lavish meals called Seders, the story of Passover is retold through the reading of the Haggadah. With its special foods, songs, and customs, the Seder is the focal point of the Passover celebration. Passover begins on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Nissan. As the Jewish day begins at sundown the night before, for the year 2008, the first night of Passover will be April 19th.

The Story of Passover
About 3000 years ago the Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians under the rule of the Pharaoh Ramses II. According to the Book of Exodus - Moses, a simple Jewish shepherd, was instructed by God to go to the pharaoh and demand the freedom of his people
Moses' plea of let my people go was ignored. Moses warned the Pharaoh that God would send severe punishments to the people of Egypt if the Israelites were not freed. Again the Pharaoh ignored Moses' request of freedom. In response God unleashed a series of 10 terrible plagues on the people of Egypt:

Blood
Frogs
Lice (vermin)
Wild Beasts(flies)
Blight (Cattle Disease)
Boils
Hail
Locusts
Darkness
Slaying of the First Born


The last plague was the most terrible – every first born Egyptian died at the stroke of midnight on the fifteenth of the month of Nissan. Jews, on the other hand, were to mark their doorposts with the blood of a sacrificed lamb so that God could “pass over” the houses in which His people lived.

When the Pharaoh finally agreed to freedom, the Israelites left their homes so quickly that there wasn't even time to bake their breads. So they packed the raw dough to take with them on their journey. As they fled through the desert they would quickly bake the dough in the hot sun into hard crackers called matzohs. Today to commemorate this event, Jews eat matzoh in place of bread during Passover.

Though the Jews were now free, their liberation was incomplete. The Pharaoh's army chased them through the desert towards the Red Sea. When the Jews reached the sea they were trapped, since the sea blocked their escape.
It was then that a miracle occurred. The waves of the Red Sea parted and the Israelites were able to cross to the other side. As soon as they all reached the other side the sea closed trapping the Pharaoh's army as the waves closed upon them.
Then, as the Israelites watched, the waters of the Red Sea swept away the Pharaoh's army, and the Jews realized they were finally free.

Passover celebrates this history. The first 2 nights of the 8 day holiday are celebrated with lavish meals called Seders, in which the stories and history of Passover are celebrated. Special foods, plates, and silverware are all a part of the Seder.

The holiday of Passover is observed in the holiest sanctuary of all, in the home. It involves those people most responsible for carrying on the tradition, the children. It has a fixed order, which is why it’s called seder (literally “order”), and it even has its own prayer book, a haggadah, the most widely reprinted book in Jewish history. Christians know this meal as the Last Supper. That was the meal Jesus partook of with his disciples before his execution by the Romans. For Jews, it is probably the ritual celebrated by more of its people than any other.

The order of the seder requires a good deal of preparation. It includes:

Wine (four cups),
Matzot,
A green vegetable, such as parsley to symbolize spring and rebirth
A mixture of chopped apples, nuts, wine, and spices, symbolizing the mortar that the slaves made for bricks in Egypt
Bitter herbs, a symbol of the bitterness of slavery
A roasted egg, symbol of a festival sacrifice brought in the days of the Temple
A roasted bone, symbol of the Paschal lamb
Salt water, symbol of the tears of the Jewish ancestors who cried for God’s help and were answered
A special cup for Elijah, because this prophet is supposed to appear on Passover to announce the ultimate redemption and the coming of the Messiah
The Haggadah, so that everyone, especially the children, can take turns reading, asking questions, giving commentaries, and spending the night by talking about the tragedy of slavery, reflecting on the beauty of freedom, and expressing the gratitude they owe to God for their blessing.

Jews are forbidden to eat or even own any bread, even the smallest crumb during Passover. Weeks before Passover, many Jews being to clean their house so that not a trace of the bread they eat all year round is found in their homes during this festival. Jews are also not allowed to eat any grains or foods that contain yeast.