The Passover

The festival of Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) falls in the Spring. It is when Jewish families remember the Exodus of their ancestors from Egypt in the time of Moses. They had been slaves but, as the result of ten terrible plagues from God, which afflicted Egypt, they were at last allowed to leave. The tenth terrible plague was the death of the firstborn throughout Egypt. The Israelites were guaranteed to be safe from the event provided they daubed the doorways of their homes with the blood of a young lamb, which they were then to roast and eat.

During Passover no leavened bread is eaten, but Matzos or unleavened bread. The Israelites had to leave Egypt very quickly and had no time to make bread with yeast in. Before Passover comes all foods containing yeast have to be removed from the house.

On Passover night, there is a special Seder meal in Jewish homes. This is a great family occasion and provides an opportunity every year for re-telling the story and thus passing on the great event from generation to generation. Seder means "order", for the Passover meal follows a special format.

To follow the story properly, a special book is used called the Haggadah. The youngest child asks "Why is this night different from all other nights?" as a cue to start the Seder. The father or oldest man present will then proceed to answer the question with the story of the first Passover and the Exodus. During the story symbolic items of food will be used. There will also be special songs to sing.

On the Passover table there will be a Seder plate containing the various symbolic items of food: a shank bone of a lamb, reminding of the first Passover lambs in Egypt; a roasted egg, a reminder of the offering that used to made when there was a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem; charoset, a mixture of nuts, apples, cinnamon and wine, which represents the mortar used by the slaves in Egypt in their building work; salt water into which green herbs, parsley, are dipped and eaten, stands for the tears of the slaves; bitter herbs (raw horseradish) are for the bitter and harsh experience of slavery.

At the table there will also be matzos, or unleavened bread, which they eat at Passover because the ancient Israelites did not have time to bake leavened bread; they had to leave Egypt in a hurry. Also there is wine. When the ten plagues are remembered, those at table dip their finger in the wine and drip or spill a drop for each of the ten plagues.

There will be a proper meal to eat, of course, but the final toast is "Next year, in Jerusalem."

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