THE STORY OF PASSOVER
PASSOVER COMMEMORATES THE EXODUS FROM SLAVERY IN EGYPT
Today the Jews are free people but thousands of years ago they were slaves in Egypt. They belonged to the ruler of Egypt, the Pharaoh, and they worked all day in the hot sun making bricks to build the Pharaoh’s buildings.
Every year at Passover or ‘Pesach’ (PAY-sahk), which falls in March or April, families hold a special ceremony in their homes called a ‘Seder’ (SAY-der). The Seder celebrates how and why the Jews won their freedom from the Pharaoh. Each person has a prayer book called a ‘Haggadah’ (ha-Gah-da). At the beginning of the Seder the youngest child in the house asks ‘Why is this night different from all other nights?’, and everyone reads from the Haggadah to recall how the Jews were delivered by G-D.
The bible says that G-D chose a man named Moses to tell the Pharaoh to free the Jews. When the Pharaoh refused, Moses warned him that G-D would send terrible punishments. Moses words came true, ten plagues struck the Egyptians, the water in the rivers turned to blood. Then came buzzing, biting insects, sickness struck thepeople of Egypt, but still the Pharaoh would not free the Jews.
Finally, Moses warned the Pharaoh that unless the Jews were freed, the oldest son in every family would die. Still the Pharaoh did not listen. So G-D sent the Angel of Death. The Angel passed over the homes of the Jews, but the first born sons of the Egyptians did die, even the son of the Pharaoh himself.
Following the death of the first born sons, the Pharaoh agreed to let the Jews go. They had to leave so quickly that they could not wait for their dough to rise. Instead they ate flat bread called Matzo (MOTT-zah) as they travelled through the desert.
Then, just as the Jews reached the Red Sea, the army of the Pharaoh came racing after them. The soldiers were going try to make the Jews slaves again. The Jews were trapped as the sea blocked their escape but suddenly, there was a miracle. The waves parted and the Jews hurried across. As soon as they reached the other side, the sea closed again, drowning the Pharaoh’s soldiers who were chasing after them.