 Holiday:
Passover, or Pesach (from: פֶּסַח in Hebrew,
Yiddish), Tiberian: [pɛsaħ], Modern Hebrew: /ˈpesaχ/ Pesah,
Pesakh, Yiddish: Peysekh, Paysakh, Paysokh) is an important
Biblically-derived Jewish festival. The Jewish people
celebrate Passover as a commemoration of their liberation
over 3,300 years ago by God from slavery in ancient Egypt
that was ruled by the Pharaohs, and their birth as a nation
under the leadership of Moses. It commemorates the story of
the Exodus as described in the Hebrew Bible especially in
the Book of Exodus, in which the Israelites were freed from
slavery in Egypt.
Passover commences on the 15th of the Hebrew month of Nisan
and lasts for either seven days (in Israel) or eight days
(in the diaspora). In Judaism, a day commences at dusk and
lasts until the following dusk, thus the first day of
Passover only begins after dusk of the 14th of Nisan and
ends at dusk of the 15th day of the month of Nisan. The
rituals unique to the Passover celebrations commence with
the Passover Seder when the 15th of Nisan has begun. In the
Northern Hemisphere Passover takes place in spring as the
Torah prescribes it: "in the month of [the] spring" (בחדש
האביב Exodus 23:15). It is one of the most widely observed
Jewish holidays.
In the narrative of the Exodus, the Bible tells that God
helped the Children of Israel escape from their slavery in
Egypt by inflicting ten plagues upon the ancient Egyptians
before the Pharaoh would release his Israelite slaves; the
tenth and worst of the plagues was the death of the Egyptian
first-born.
The Israelites were instructed to mark the doorposts of
their homes with the blood of a slaughtered spring lamb and,
upon seeing this, the spirit of the Lord knew to pass over
the first-born in these homes, hence the name of the
holiday. There is some debate over where the term is
actually derived from. When the Pharaoh freed the
Israelites, it is said that they left in such a hurry that
they could not wait for bread dough to rise (leaven). In
commemoration, for the duration of Passover no leavened
bread is eaten, for which reason it is called "The Festival
of the Unleavened Bread". Thus Matzo (flat unleavened bread)
is eaten during Passover and it is a symbol of the holiday.
Historically, together with Shavuot ("Pentecost") and Sukkot
("Tabernacles"), Passover is one of the three pilgrimage
festivals (Shalosh Regalim) during which the entire
population of the kingdom of Judah made a pilgrimage to the
Temple in Jerusalem. Samaritans still make this pilgrimage
to Mount Gerizim, but only men participate in public
worship.
Source:
Wikipedia: Passover |
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