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10 Facts About the Passover

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10 facts about the Passover

  • The Passover is called Pesach in Hebrew.

  • The Passover is the most important Jewish Festival and commemorates the Hebrews liberation from Egyptian slavery by God around 3,300 years ago.

  • Moses was the Hebrew leader through whom God acted. The Hebrews had been slaves for 210 years.

  • It is celebrated between the 19th and 27th April in 2019.

  • There are set rules for the Passover laid down in Exodus 13.

  • God had to send 10 plagues before Pharaoh released the Hebrews The final plague was the Angel of Death which killed all the Egyptian first-born sons. the Hebrews were told by God to paint the door posts with the blood of an unblemished, male lamb so the Angel of Death could pass over their homes so no Hebrew children would be slain.

  • Jews clean their homes from top to bottom to ensure that there is no leaven (chametz in Hebrew) anywhere. Leavened bread can not be eaten during the 8 days of Passover. The reason why leaven is prohibited is because when God told the Hebrews to prepare to leave Egypt, He instructed them to make unleavened bread as there was no time to wait for it rise.

  • ·The highlight of Passover takes place on the first two nights when a special meal called Seder is eaten. The meal us served off a Seder plate of symbolic food. Each item of food symbolises an aspect of their slavery in Egypt. Seder means order and the food must be eaten in a prescribed order using cutlery and crockery that are only used at Passover.

  • ·The meal begins when four questions are asked by the youngest person present and the father will answer them by telling the story of the first Passover from the book of Haggadah, which means telling. These are the questions:

-Why do we eat unleavened bread?

-Why do we eat bitter herbs?

-Why do we dip our food in liquid?

-Why do we eat our food in a reclining position?

  • ·Children have a central role in the Passover Festival, and they play a game where they look for a piece of matzoh (Afikomen) which was hidden in the room earlier. This reminds Jews that it is through their children that Judaism continues from one generation to the next.

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