Pesach

• Pesach


  Also known as 'Passover', celebrates the release of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt
• Passover story


  In the Book of Exodus, Chapter 12 in the Torah
• God: 'This day must be one that you will remember. You must keep it as a festival to God for all generations. It is a law for all time that you must celebrate it' (Exodus 12: 14)'
• Passover


  Also referred to as the Festival of Freedom, prayers are said each year for those who are not free
• Jews remember how the Israelites left slavery behind them when Moses led them out of Egypt more than 3,000 years ago
• Moses and the Pharaoh

  1. Moses went to see the Pharaoh many times, but each time he refused to release the Israelites

  2. Moses warned the Pharaoh that God would send ten plagues on Egypt if the Pharaoh did not let them go
• The ten plagues of Egypt

  • The ten plagues
• The final plague


  1. God told Moses to tell the Israelites to paint lamb's blood on their doorposts

  2. The angel of death would know that Jewish people lived there and pass over that house

  3. The first-born child would not be killed
• Passover


  Where the name comes from - the angel of death passed over the houses with lamb's blood
• Even Pharaoh's son was killed in the final plague
• After more than 200 years of slavery, the Jewish people were finally free
• Preparing for Pesach


  1. Jews remove all grain products from their houses (called chametz)

  2. Grain is not allowed to be eaten during the festival

  3. Leavened goods (containing yeast), such as bread, beer and oats are also removed from the house and Jews thoroughly clean to remove any trace of these
• Removing chametz


  Linked to the Israelites not having time to allow their bread to rise as they left Egypt
• Celebrating Pesach


  1. Candles are lit to welcome Pesach

  2. The family goes to the synagogue where special prayers are recited and passages from the Torah are read

  3. A special meal is held called the Seder Meal
• Symbolic foods on the Seder Meal table

  • A lamb bone, which symbolises the lamb that was sacrificed
  • A boiled egg which is a symbol of new life
  • A green vegetable dipped in salt water to symbolise the tears of the Jews in slavery
  • Bitter herbs symbolising the bitterness of slavery
  • Charoset, which is a paste of apples, walnuts and wine represents the mortar the slaves used when being forced to build
  • Unleavened bread (Matzah) is eaten, again as a reminder that their ancestors didn't even have time to allow their bread to rise
• Four glasses of wine

  Symbolising joy and one glass is left for the Prophet Elijah who will return to announce the coming of the Messiah
• Wine


  Also a symbol of the lambs' blood painted onto the doorposts to save Jewish children from the final of the ten plagues
• The foods on the Seder plate each symbolise a part of the Exodus story, which is retold during the meal using a book of ritual called the Haggadah