Jewish Passover: Holiday of Freedom

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Jewish Passover, or Pesach, is celebrated up to these days to keep alive the memory of the great liberation that took place in the Jewish history – the day when ancient Hebrew people cast off the yoke of Egyptians and became free with the help of God and the prophet Moses.

The Jewish Passover celebrates the miracle of Jewish people’s freedom and independence. It is an eight-day holiday that starts on the 15th of the first month of the Jewish year, Nisan (in March or April).

The history of this holiday goes back to the time when Jewish people were held in servitude by Egyptian pharaohs. They were used as slaves to build pyramids, do hard exhausting work and serve Egyptians.

Only after 10 plagues sent by God did the Egyptian Pharaoh, Ramses II, let Jewish slaves go free and leave his lands. The 10th plague was sent to slay the Egyptian firstborns.

Jewish people were to put fresh blood of a spring lamb on their doorway, so that the holy spirit would not kill their firstborns. That is how God “passed over” Jewish houses and did not harm them.

When Jewish people left Egypt, they could cook and eat only Matza, the bread made of unleavened dough. After a lot of travel and attempts to escape Egyptians, Jewish people found their way out of desert sands through the bottom of the Red Sea.

Since then Jewish Passover has become a holiday of freedom for most Jewish people. In order to prepare yourself for the celebration of Jewish Passover, you need to find and burn all the leavened bread in your house the day before the Passover.

However, now Jewish people prefer to give their bread away to the needy, sell it to people of other religions or finish it before the holiday instead of burning it. It takes a lot of time and effort to prepare the traditional Jewish Passover meal, Seder.

That is why Jewish people buy required ingredients and prepare the menu several days in advance. Since the whole family has to get together for such an important holiday, most family members make travel arrangements and plan their meeting in someone’s big house.

In this respect the Passover is like a great family reunion that unites Jewish families for as long as the tradition is observed.

This year (2010) Jewish Passover will start at sunset on the 29th of March, and continue till the 6th of April. After the sunset of the 29th Jewish people will celebrate the beginning of this holiday with a traditional Seder meal.

Most common traditions of Jewish Passover include eating particular foods (Matza, Charoset, etc), telling stories and sharing happy moments with relatives in the bosom of the family. The most important part of the Jewish Passover is the meal.

The Passover feast is called Seder, and it is filled with traditions, legends and songs. The history of Jewish people and Jewish Passover becomes the main subject of discussions during the week of Passover. However, the story time usually starts on the very first Passover evening.

Old and wise adults tell stories and teach their children about their background and heritage. They relate on Moses, God, miraculous parting of the Red Sea, and other great Jewish legends. After they are done with these interesting talks and discussions, it is time for the nourishing meal.

Every food item on a Seder plate has a special meaning. The important part of the Seder meal is a piece of lamb because lamb blood was used to protect Jewish people in the slaying of the firstborns. Bitterish herbs signify the tears and sufferings of Jewish people before they were freed.

The greens dipped into salted water show the anguish of Jewish slaves and the hopes they had. A mix of fruit and nuts, Charoset, is served to let people remember their forefathers who were slaves and passed away long before the liberation.

During this holy event, most Jewish people eat Matza. Matza is made of raw dough to remind people of their ancestor who left the country, and did not have time to let their dough raise and bake the bread. Jewish people simply took the dough with them as it was, and baked flat bread in the desert.

Now this unleavened dough became the basic ingredient for Matza – the main dish on the table of any Jewish Passover feast. Passover is a Jewish holiday that helps Jewish people keep their traditions alive and pass them on to the new generations.

admin @ March 18, 2010

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