passover

• Passover


  Also known as Pesach, one of the most important Jewish festivals that celebrates the Israelites' liberation from slavery in Egypt
• Passover


  • Reminds Jews of their ancestry and heritage, re-tells the story of the Jewish liberation from slavery
• Passover


  The term comes from the idea that the spirit of God or the angel of death "passed over" the homes where Jews had marked their doorposts with lamb's blood
• God instructed the Jews to remember and celebrate Passover
• Moses


  • An important figure in Passover, as God spoke to him through a burning bush and asked him to free the Jews from slavery in Egypt
• Passover origin and meaning

  1. God saw the misery of the Jewish people in Egypt

  2. God sent Moses to free the Jews from slavery

  3. Pharaoh refused to free the slaves

  4. God sent the ten plagues of Egypt

  5. The death of the firstborn resulted in the Jews being freed
• Removing Hametz


  Before Passover, the home must be rid of any food that can rise or be leavened, to remember how the Jews had to leave Egypt quickly with unleavened bread
• Items on the Seder Plate


  • Salt water (representing tears and sweat of slavery)
  • Haroset (a paste representing the mortar used by Jewish slaves)
  • Lamb bone (representing the sacrificed lamb)
  • Bitter herbs (representing the bitterness of slavery)
  • Roasted egg (representing the hardness of Jewish determination)
  • Parsley (representing new life)
• Seder Meal


  • Includes matzah (unleavened bread), four cups of wine, and the Haggadah (a book retelling the Exodus story)
• The extra cup of wine is placed for the prophet Elijah, who is believed to announce the arrival of the Messiah
• The children are encouraged to ask four questions each year about the symbolism of the Passover meal
• Passover is both a celebration of freedom and a sad remembrance of slavery