The Origin of Passover - Research Paper Example

# Religion and Theology # 2nd April, The Origin of Passover The word Passover is an English translation of the Hebrew word Pesach. Etymologically, the noun Pesach is a derivative of the Hebrew verb pasach, which when literally translated into English means, “to pass over” (Passover Origin, n.p). In the Scriptures, the verb pasach first appears in Exodus 12:23, in reference to God passing over the houses of the Israelites as He struck the first born son of the Egyptians in order to make the Egyptians to allow the Jews to leave Egypt for Canaan, according to His plan. This paper traces and explains the origin of Passover as one of the most important Jewish feasts. The paper also explains how the Lord God instructed the Israelites to be commemorating the Passover feast in every year. For better understanding of the Origin of the Passover, it is better to look at the Passover in the context of the ten plagues that the Lord God unleashed upon the Egyptians as the result of Pharaoh’s obstinacy in letting the Jewish people leave Egypt for the Promised Land, i.e. the Canaan. The incident of the Lord’s passing over the houses of the Israelites took place during the tenth plague, which led to the death of every first born son of every Egyptian family. It was after this incident, that Pharaoh finally allowed the Israelites to leave Egypt as the Lord God had required of them as we shall see in this paper. The origin of the Jewish Passover feast is clearly recorded in Exodus 12. Before the Lord God unleashed the tenth plague upon the Egyptians, the Lord God commanded Moses to ask every Jewish household to take, on the tenth day of the month, a one year old lamb without any defect. The Jews households then were asked by the Lord God to take care of the lambs till the 14th day of the month when they would slaughter the lambs at twilight. The Israelites then were commanded by the Lord God through His servant Moses, to smear the blood of the lambs on the doorposts of the Jewish households. This was meant to distinguish the households of the Jews from the households of the Egyptians so that when the angel of destruction cane to strike the first born male child of every Egyptian household, he would easily notice and pass over the households of the Jews. On the meat of the slaughtered lambs, the Israelites were commanded by the lord to roast the meat, and to eat it with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. The bitter herb was a sigh of the Jew’s painful maltreatment by the Egyptians, while the unleavened bread was a sign of spiritual preparedness, repentance, among the Jews as they left the land of Egypt (Greenberg, 22). The Jews were specifically commanded not to eat the meat raw or to boil it in water. The Jews were commanded not to leave any of the roasted meat behind as they left Egypt, and they were commanded to burn any meat that remained. The Jews also were commanded to heat the roasted meat with their cloaks tucked under their belts, and with the sandals on their feet; also, the Jewish were commanded to eat with staff on their hand as a sign that they were in hurry. The Jews were to eat in haste because it was the Lord’s Passover feast. On the Passover night, the Lord God passed through the Egypt and smote the first born of people, Egyptians, and animals. The Lord God passed over the households of the Jews because they were marked with the blood of the Lamb. The Lord’s Instructions for the Jewish People to Commemorate the Passover in Every Year Prior to the Passover feast in Egypt, the Lord God had instructed the Jews people to commemorate the Passover feast in every year. The commemoration of the feast was supposed to be as follows. For seven days, the Jewish people were required to eat unleavened bread. The Lord God warned the Israelites that whoever shall break the law and eat bread with yeast within the seven Passover days, he/she should be excommunicated from the Jewish community. The Israelites also were requested to hold a sacred assembly on the first and the seventh day. Within the seven days, the Israelites were commanded not to do any work, except preparing meal for the people to eat. The Lord God instructed the Jews to celebrate the festival of the unleavened bread in commemoration of the mighty things that the Lord God did for them and as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. The feast of the Passover was to be held on the first month, from the evening of the fourteenth day, up to the evening of the twenty first day. Since the miraculous release of the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt, the Israelites have faithfully observed the feast of the Passover as instructed by the Lord God (Eliyahu, 560). In the modern day Israel, the celebration of the Passover feast commences on the evening of 14th of the month of Nisan and ends on the 21st of the month of Nisan; in the Gregorian calendar this feast falls on the month of March or April (De Lange, 97). The first and the seventh day of the Passover celebration are counted as public holidays in the modern day Israel; the public holidays involve prayers and communal meals. Every Jew, including those in the Diaspora are supposed to strictly observe the Passover feast. The Passover feast therefore is a mandatory Jewish feast in which every Jew must participate. In summary, the origin of the Jewish feast of the Passover is the night on which the Jewish people left the land of Egypt, i.e. the night when the Lord God passed over the houses of the Israelites as He smote the first born child of the Egyptians. This incident was very important for the Jewish people because it was the incident through which the Lord God revealed His mighty power in protecting the people of Israel. By marking the yearly Passover feast, the Jewish people celebrate the wonders that the Lord God has done for them. By the yearly celebration of the Passover feast, the Jewish people also are able to pass on to the new generation, a very important history of the Jewish People. The Passover feast therefore is a very important Jewish feast that reminds the Jewish people of their roots as God’s people. The commemoration of the Passover feast also helps to hold the Jewish together, as a people with common history. Works Cited De Lange, Nicholas. An Introduction to Judaism. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, 200. Print Eliyahu, K. The Book of Our Heritage: The Jewish Year and Its Days of Significance. USA: Feldheim, 1997. Print Greenberg, M . "Lessons on Exodus". New York, 1974. Print Passover Origin. Web Read More