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 G-d 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 G-d 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 G-d unleashed a series of 10 terrible plagues on the people of Egypt

1. Blood
2. Frogs
3. Lice (vermin)
4. Wild Beasts(flies)
5. Blight (Cattle Disease)
6. Boils
7. Hail
8. Locusts
9. Darkness
10. Slaying of the First Born

The holiday's name - Pesach, meaning "passing over" or "protection" in Hebrew, is derived from the instructions given to Moses by G-d . In order to encourage the Pharaoh to free the Israelites, G-d intended to kill the first-born of both man and beast. To protect themselves, the Israelites were told to mark their dwellings with lamb's blood so that G-d could identify and "pass over" their homes

The Pharaoh was unconvinced and refused to free the Jewish slaves

Until the last plague

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 sweep away the Pharaoh's army they 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, silverware are all a part of the Seder

Related Articles:
Five Easy Steps To A Seder Everyone Can Enjoy
The Passover Seder
The Passover Seder Plate
When is Passover?
Why is this Night Different from all Other Nights

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Comments

andrea kingsbury

12:56 05/10/2008

 

this is helping me with my R.E work the only jewish thing i know is about bar mitswah's.

karime sanchez

11:51 05/08/2008

 

this is really interesting,and help to understand more

divz

15:45 05/06/2008

 

wow i am so clever it helped me so much with ma exams i got 100 % INCREDIBLE !!!!!

Ciran Sweeny

08:17 05/05/2008

 

Dis is so cool

Maria Ferran

01:21 04/30/2008

 

Greetings, Is there a connection between Passovor and the Catholic Mass? The unleavened bread in the mass, which becomes the consecrated eucharist, (the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus)? Also the blood of the lamb? This is interesting to me as many feel we are connected by faith and tradition, and we possibly complete each other in faith. Thoughts on this? God Bless you all, Maria

Nate

20:48 04/29/2008

 

James, check out the latest James Cameron documentary, Decoding the Exodus. The doc. makes a very convincing historical argument for the exodus from Egypt. Cameron and the historians in the film believe that the inability of previous historians to find evidence of the Jews in Israels comes from a chronological error. Archaelogists were looking in many of the right places, but at the wrong time period. The film places the Exodus around 500 years earlier, if I remember correctly, and finds evidence of mass migration that is very compelling.

james

10:13 04/27/2008

 

There is no historical proof that the Jews/Israelites were slaves in Egypt under the Pharaohs. None of the ancient Egyptian writings even mention that slaves were used and archaeologist found nothing that proved that slaves of any nationality were used. At best, the Pesach story is an allegory.

molly

14:31 04/26/2008

 

did you know that the red sea didnt seperate till the third time moses rose hs staff, and one of his followers jumped into the river, and after the follower jumped in is when the sea partted......but i'm trying to look for that guy (the follower)'s name...

emma

07:13 04/26/2008

 

this story explain what happened at the passover and it is a very good one

Ashkan(Moshe)

18:14 04/24/2008

 

Im an Iranian jew.Happy passover to all jews around the world.