Judaism is the Jewish religion and is one of the oldest in the Asian continent. Jews follow Torah, which to Christians is the Old Testament which consists of 39 books. According to the bible, there are about 8 popular festivals to the Jewish community. The first one, which begins the year is the Passover, followed by unleavened bread, Pentecost, trumpets, atonement, tabernacles and Purim which closes the year. In this paper, the focus will be on Passover, which is joined together with the unleavened bread. Every first month of the Jewish calendar, known as Nissan or Abib, on the 14th day of the month, Jews worldwide celebrate this festival. In the following year, the festival will be held on Friday, 19 April to April 27, 2019 (Passover 2019 (Pesach)).
Story
The first Passover was celebrated around 1300 BCE. It was led by Moses, and it was celebrated in Egypt. Jews had been in Egypt for over 400 hundred years, where they were subjected to slavery. The order was given that all males born to Jewish women should be killed in order to reduce the population of Jews. It is during this period that Moses was born. His mother hid him in the river and later discovered by pharaoh daughter who adopted him (Rocker). After growing up in the palace, where his mother raised him, he was made to understand he was a Jew. Later on, God appeared to Moses from a burning bush and requested him to go back to Egypt from where he had run to, in order to save the Jews from slavery (Wortley 34). After a series of miracles and signs from God, which consisted of 9 different plagues, Pharaoh would not let the Jews go. It is in the tenth plague, where God ordered the Jews to celebrate their first Passover, marking the day that God would save them with a mighty hand from the hands of their oppressors. Part of the celebration was applying blood on the doorpost. When the angel of death who was killing all the firstborns would pass, he would pass over the Jews household whenever he saw the blood on their doors, hence the name Passover.
Themes
Passover has many prominent themes and others which arise as a result of the celebration. The major theme, however, is on redemption, Liberation and freedom. Here, Jews remember the day that God saved them from slavery, giving them a chance to be free and be an independent nation (Passover 2019 (Pesach)). Therefore, on this day, people free the oppressed and free themselves from those things that hold them back. Another theme is about education. People teach their children on this day about the wonderful all-powerful creator, who was gracious enough to their ancestors, when he freed them (Rocker). This way, children get to learn more about this wonderful creator. The festival also marks the beginning of the year, which acts as a sign of the new beginning for the people.
How It Is Observed
The preparation of the festival begins five days before the actual celebration. Here people clean their houses getting rid of leaven and yeast from their houses. On this day too, each family sets aside a one-year-old lamb that will be eaten on the first day of the festival. The lamb must be without any blemish and must be a male. It is set aside until the day it is slaughtered. On the evening of the 14th day, the lamb is slaughtered, and his meat is roasted. No boiling or cooking of the meat, but only roasted one is allowed (Wortley 34). What remains after the supper is buried.
During the supper, there are a number of foods which are eaten and others which are forbidden. First, one is not supposed to eat any yeast or leaven, therefore, things like bread, cakes and other products made with yeast are not allowed. Secondly, people are required to eat the roasted meat together with bitter herbs. In the current celebrations, Jews observe a pattern of four, which involves drinking four cups of wine, speaking about four children and asking a set of four questions. After the Passover Seder (meal) the Jews start the week-long unleavened bread celebration (Passover 2019 (Pesach)). On the first day, no work is allowed, except the work of cooking the food that people eat, and also is the last day of the feast.
Figure 1A family celebrating the Passover
Why It Is Observed
The main reason why the Jews do celebrate this festival is to remember the day that God saved them from slavery in Egypt, where they were tortured and persecuted for over 400 years. On this day too, Jews educate their children about the Exodus, explaining on all the wonders and plagues that God used in order to save them. This way, people learn about love and try to practice it with their neighbors going forward. On this day, Jews also eat green vegetables known as “karpas and a boiled egg, all which are used as symbols to signify a new beginning (Rocker). Leaven is associated with sin, and so, during this festival, they eat food without it, which is an actual sense represents purifying oneself against all forms of sin and oppression. Therefore, freeing those enslaved and freeing those in debts is the spirit of the Pesach. The bitter herbs on the other hand act as a reminder of the hard times and bitter experiences that the Jews endured during their time under slavery (Rocker). In the Modern celebrations, four cups of wine are drunk as a sign of celebration for the freed the Jews to enjoy across the world. Lastly, it is a day for leaning, and children are taught the entire story of Exodus, this way, passing the tradition to the next generation.
Contemporary Significance
To Jews
Jews are one of the most persecuted races in the world, yet it has stood the test of time, surviving major massacres over the years including the recent one called a holocaust. Yet despite all these hostilities, God has been gracious to them and protecting them from their enemies to the present day. Therefore, this day reminds them of constant God’s care for them despite the hardships they go through (Rosenthal). It also reminds them that just as they won against the Egyptians through the help of God, also in future they will be able to be free and be able to rule over the world, especially when the Messiah comes. Therefore, the festival is a sign of hope to the modern Jewish state. Giving them the assurance that just the way their enemies were defeated then, they will be defeated now through the mighty hand of God.
To Christians,
Almost 1300 years later after the Jews had celebrated their first Passover, Jesus Christ of Nazareth was born. After a series of teaching about sin and the coming kingdom, his mission on earth was almost finalizing. The last thing he did on earth is celebrating the last Passover festival with his disciples. On this supper, famously known as the Lord's Supper, after the meal, Jesus was crucified on the cross (Beyond-today ). His blood alludes to the blood that was applied to the doorposts of Jews so that the angel of death would pass over those with it. In a similar way, human beings have been under the slavery of sin, being subject to harmful practices that deny them true happiness. However, with the coming of Jesus, he came to free people from the bondage of sin and to bring them into a new hope, free from worries of death and slavery of the law. So to Christians, this is a day to remember Jesus, and how he died to save the human race (Beyond-today ). Therefore, it reminds them to free those still under the power of sin and to embrace the gospel of love.
To The World
Freedom is one of the best gift ones can get. Today there are millions of people who are in direct and others in indirect slavery. Others are suffering from hunger, poverty and another human suffering. This festival can be very important for the world for all people to fight for freedom and free the oppressed (Leibler). The day can also be used to inspire people and give them hope, just as the Jews did on the eve of Passover when God freed them from Egyptians.
Works Cited
Wortley, Aileen. "Passover: Festival of Freedom (Orca Origins)." Canadian Children's Book News 39.2 (2016): 34.
“Passover 2019 (Pesach)” Chabad.org, 2018. https://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/871715/jewish/Passover-2019-Pesach.htm
Rocker Simon “What is Pesach?” The Jewish chronicle (www.thejc.com) April 3, 2017 https://www.thejc.com/judaism/features/what-is-pesach-1.435631
Rosenthal Eugenie “The Modern Relevance of Passover” reformjudaism.org 3/15/2013 https://reformjudaism.org/blog/2013/03/15/modern-relevance-passover
Leibler Isi “The Modern Relevancy of Passover” www.algemeiner.com
APRIL 5, 2012 11:38 AM https://www.algemeiner.com/2012/04/05/the-modern-relevancy-of-passover/
Beyond-today “Why Should Christians Celebrate the Passover?” www.ucg.org/beyond-today 2018 https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/bible-questions-and-answers/why-should-christians-celebrate-the-passover
