The Passover: the Significance and the Celebrations Today - Essay Example

THE PASSOVER: THE SIGNIFICANCE AND CELEBRATIONS TODAY Name: Professor: Course: Date: The celebration of Passover was started by the Jews from about 1300BC as they observed the rules laid down by God as described in Exodus chapter 13. The Jews celebrate this feast to commemorate the freedom of the Israelites from the Egyptians led by Moses. This story is explained in the book of Exodus. Israelites had been slaves for two hundred and ten years. God saw their suffering and promised to release them from slavery .This only happened after Pharaoh refused to release them thus God placed upon Egypt ten plagues to demonstrate his might . 1 These plagues were as follows: the plague of the blood whereby all of river Nile turned into blood and all the living creatures inside it died. The plague of frogs; the whole of Egypt was full of frogs, inside their houses, on the beds, and even on their food. The plague of lice; dust was turned in to lice and it crawled on people, and in their houses too. The plague of flies a swarm of flies arrived in Egypt into pharaoh’s palace his official’s house and the rest of the land. The plague of livestock; all animals belonging to the Egyptians died while the Israelites livestock remained alive. The plague of Boils; the whole of Egyptian family and their livestock got festering boils. The plague of the hailstorm whereby a heavy downpour of hailstorm fell over Egypt, destroying crops, houses and even killing livestock. The plague of locust; a swarm of locust landed in Egypt destroying everything that had remained after the hailstorm. The plague of the darkness; Egyptians experienced a period of total darkness for three days. The last plague, which was the tenth, was the plague of the first born. An angel sent by God known as the avenging angel would go from house to house killing the first male child of all Egyptian household and sparing the first born of the Israelite household. So that the angel could identify the Israelite houses, they were told to take an unblemished lamb, take care of it and four days later slaughter it after light. The blood that they got from the lamb was to be brushed on the door frames. Then after, the families were to roast he lamb and eat it with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. All of the lamb was to be eaten, and the remnants burnt. This ritual was to be performed by the Israelites while they were dressed for a journey. At midnight the first born of all the Egyptian houses, even the livestock was struck down by the angel. After this incident, the Egyptians got scared, and demanded hat Pharaoh banish the Israelites. Pharaoh called upon Moses and ordered him to leave Egypt immediately with the Israelites. The Egyptians were excited to see the Israelites go that they gave them gold and silver to encourage them to leave. The Israelites who had not had time to add yeast to their dough ended up leaving with the unleavened bread which became their food on their first few days after their Exodus. 2 Jews celebrate the feast of Passover every year, theses celebrations last seven days depending on where one lives. In Israel, the Passover last seven days, the first and seventh days are observed as full days rest it is also called ‘yom tov. The five days in the middle are as intermediate holidays also called ‘hol ha-moed. Outside Israel, the Passover feast last eight days and the first two days are observed as full days of rest. Ordinarily as, described in the Torah, Passover was to be celebrated for seven days, but the Jews in the Diaspora lived too far away from Israel thus did not hear the announcement as when to begin observing the Passover and when the additional day was added so as to be on the safe side. Preparation for Passover involves cleaning the house thoroughly to remove any traces of ‘chametz’ (leaven) from the home. This symbolizes the Jews leaving Egypt as they did not have time to let their bread rise; it also symbolizes removing puffiness which can be equated to arrogance or pride in the modern life from their souls. There is a ritual search for chametz before the starts of Passover; children often enjoy this thus joining with enthusiasm. A Jew is not allowed to eat the chametz or even feed it to his animals. They often thus either sell the chametz to non Jews including the equipments used to prepare the chametz and maybe repossess it after Passover. The popularity of this tradition has even seen chametz being sold online. The day the Passover is observed all first born male children fast to celebrate their escape from the plague of the first born. The next step is the ‘Seder’ meals. Seder means order whereby everything including the food and the cutlery are arranged in a certain order used exclusively during the Passover feast. A book called ‘the haggadah’ is often used during these celebrations.3 This book contains songs, psalms, blessings, four questions and details of the fourteen steps of the story of the Jewish life and experience while in Egypt, the Exodus and God’s revelation. As the story of the ten plagues is read out, a drop of wine is often spilt to remind the Jews that their liberation entailed some form of sadness at the suffering of the Egyptians. The four questions entailed in the Haggadah are: why the need to eat unleavened bread? Why the need to eat bitter herbs? Why deep food in liquid? Why do we eat in a reclining position? Unleavened bread symbolizes Israelites leaving Egypt hastily not having time to add yeast to their bread. Bitter herbs, which are often, horse radish are used to symbolize the bitterness of slavery. The dipping of food in liquid mostly done by dipping the potato in salty water is to symbolize the tears the Jews shed as slaves. Eating in a reclining position is done so as to symbolize freedom from slavery and relaxation. This is done by eating on sofas in a reclined position. The components of a Passover meal of a modern Jewish family are as described; ‘Matzo’, which is, the unleavened bread is symbolically eaten three times during the meal. There is a bone of a lamb to represent the sacrifice of the unblemished lamb. An egg which represents two things, the sacrifice and the Jews determination not to abandon their beliefs while under oppression by the Egyptians. The egg is used because food when cooked becomes soft, but the egg becomes hard showing how the Israelites did not bend their belief. The green food, which is, usually lettuce represents new life. Salt water, which, shows the Israelite’s tears. Four cups of wine to show the four times God promise to free the Israelites and finally the liberation. Charoset which is a paste made of apples, nuts, cinnamon and wine this represents the mortar that was used by Israelites to build palaces for the Egyptians. An extra cup of wine is placed at the door and the door is left open. This is to symbolize the Jews belief in the reappearance of prophet Elijah to announce the coming of the Messiah and that it will happen at ‘pesach’. Passover at some instances is also called the pilgrim festival. This is so because was one of occasions in the year in which the Jews were expected to the temple in Jerusalem. It is at times also called the festival of spring as it was an agricultural festival which marked the beginning of harvest while the Jews lived in Palestine. Most Jewish rituals have a body and soul; the ritual is the Passover consists of the laws and traditional structure and the soul represents the inner meaning. The exodus was not just about the Israelites leaving Egypt it symbolized freedom. Egypt symbolized bondage, in the today society this can be interpreted as bondage of fear, poverty, hatred, and sin. Christians celebrate Passover to represent their freedom from everyday life bondage. Christians are advised to envision themselves like actually having come from Egypt, and from the described above explanation this helps them be able to feel hope that a stronger being is in control of their life. No matter the hardship that they have to go through, there is hope that tomorrow will be different. This in a way explains the Christianity movement of going to church every Sunday or Saturday. Observing the Sabbath a day that should be set aside for worship and nothing else. The Passover for the Christian is a show of God’s might. That at times God lets pain and suffering take its toll because he has to show his people his might. The human nature which is often at fault for not believing in a being they do not see. This serves as purposeful in aiding to strengthen the faith of Christians that suffering is not a sign that their God has abandoned them. References Foucher, Ray. 2009. In the Heart of the Earth: The Secret Code That Reveals What Is in the Heart of God. Author House. Sampson, Robin and Pierce, Linda. 2006. A Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays: With Activities for All Ages. Heart of Wisdom publishing Inc. Harrelson. Walter, J. 2003. The New Interpreters Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version With the Apocrypha. Abingdon Press. Read More