Passover
Jordan and Lauren, pictures from flickr.com
The festival of Passover has been celebrated for many, many thousands of years. This mystical holiday has a very inspiring story, and is the biggest Jewish holiday of the year. Passover is celebrated from the 15 th through the 22 nd of the Hebrew month Nissan, or early spring. Today Passover is celebrated with traditional foods, none of which are placed or chosen randomly. In most Jewish families on Passover you'll find some combination of shank bone, roasted egg, marror, charoset, 3 pieses of matzah, karpas, and salt water. Some people still use a fourth piece of matzah to represent those who are not yet free to celebrate as they wish.
This is the Passover Seder plate. On this plate is a hard-boiled egg, a shank bone, bitter herbs and charoset.
Passover also has a very interesting story. It all started when a man named Joseph brought his family to Egypt . Centuries later the Hebrew people (descendants of Joseph) were almost as many as the Egyptians. The pharaoh (or king) of Egypt was concerned that the Hebrews would rise up against the Egyptian rule. In attempt to shorten their numbers, the pharaoh enslaved them all; but the Hebrews continued to multiply as fast as ever. The pharaoh took notice and decided to kill all male Hebrew newborns. Soon after, Moses was born. To save him, his mother decided to put Moses in a basket and sent him floating down the nearby river in hopes that Moses would be found by another non- Hebrew family and adopted. Moses's sister, Miriam, followed him to see him get adopted by none other than the pharaoh's daughter. Moses was raised as an Egyptian. Years later, the ten plagues began to unfold: First the Nile River turns to blood, then the frogs over populate, soon after the lice and/or gnats also over populate with the plague of wild animals and flies not far behind. Then an epidemic broke out over Egypt , and was followed by aching boils, which was followed by pounding hail. Locutsts then caused a famine, and then darkness covered Egypt . The tenth plague is what we remember Passover for. God's instructions to the people were to kill a lamb and put its blood on the door. The angel of death then passed through Egypt and killed all the first born male Egyptians. In the midst of grief for his lost son, the pharaoh wasn't thinking in his usual cunning way. The pharaoh then set the slaves free to avoid further disaster. Passover is a major holiday for all the Jewish people. It's fascinating story and exciting festivities are mystical and intriguing. Passover is an important event in history and in the Jewish faith.
This is matzo ball soup.
This is matzah.
These are the Passover candles |
