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You say Pesach (פֶּסַח), I say Passover

Posted: March 25, 2010 at 8:54 pm | Tags: Passover, Pesach, Seder

Pesach / Passover is one of the major festivals in the Jewish calendar.

So what’s it all about? Pesach is the festival that remembers the Jewish people’s escape from slavery in Egypt.

Moses tried to talk some sense into Mr. Pharaoh but he was having none of it… G-d then unleashed a series of plagues on the people of Egypt.

There were:

1. The water of River Nile turned into 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.

After each plague, Moses repeated his plea to Pharaoh… G-d ordered Moses to have the Hebrew slaves to mark their doors with blood of a sacrificed lamb as an indication to G-d to “pass over” their houses while he was slaying the first born males of the Egyptians.

Following the 10th plague Pharaoh, released the Israelites immdeidately and allowed their passage to freedom. Pesach means passing over or protection in Hebrew.

At Peasch we eat unleavened bread, Matzah, to commemorate when the Israelites were granted their freedom they didn’t even wait for their dough to rise, instead they took raw dough to bake in the hot dessert’s sun as hard crackers.

Pharaoh wasn’t happy at releasing the Jews into the dessert, and as they reached the Red Sea, his army, who had been sent in after them caught up… Moses called upon G-d once again and this is when the Red Sea’s waters parted and allowed the Israelites to safely pass to the other side. As the waves closed over Pharaoh’s army were completely drowned at once.

So apart from eating Matzah what else do Jewish families do for Passover… we have a huge family meal called the Seder, which means ‘order’ in Hebrew. At the Seder, we read the story of the journey of the Israelites from a book known as the Haggadah. The Haggadah not only tells the story of Passover, but also gives procedures for conducting the Seder.

There is also a Seder Plate which has on it Maror (bitter herbs), Charoset (brown mix using Maror), Karpas (parsley or similar herb), Z’roa (lamb shank bone), Beitzah, (hard boiled egg).

The Maror symbolises the bitterness and the hardship our ancestors went through, Chorset to dip the  Maror in to, Karpas to dip into salt water which represents tears, Z’roa for the Peasch sacrifice and Beitzah for the festival sacrifice.

The youngest member of the family sings / reads a song called Ma Nishtana, מה נשתנה, it is basically asking four questions about the Sedar night, why is it different from every other night? Unfortunately for me… I am still the youngest at my family’s Sedar table so it’s me who has to say Ma Nishtana.

Pesach lasts for 8 days, during this time we are not allowed eat any Chametz, bread, grains, pasta and any leavened products. Most foods we can eat are specifically Kosher for Passover.

I remember as I child I was playing in my non Jewish friend’s house one Pesach and I  accidentally ate an Opal Fruit / Starburst and ran home to my Mum all upset. Oh how times have changed!!!

For the past two years my parents have been away for Passover. I have been going to Seder’s at my cousin’s house which was great but I really am looking forward to our Seder on Monday night in my family home. After dinner there is a big singsong, all the tunes my Grandpa, Dad and Uncles have taught me over the years.

This year Brian will experience his first Seder and it means a lot to me I didn’t even have to bribe him with the four glasses of wine you have to drink during the meal!

I really enjoyed writing this post, I hope you enjoy reading it and learning about Judaism

Mwah