The Story of Passover

The Passover story begins about 3000 years, when Pharaoh Ramses II enslaved the Israelites in Egypt. A Jewish shepherd named Moses announced to the Pharaoh he was told by God to demand the freedom of the Israelites. 

When the Pharaoh ignored his demands, Moses warned him that God would punish him and the people of Egypt with 10 plagues:

   1. 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 (of man and beast)


In order for the Israelites to protect themselves from the 10th plague, God instructed the Israelites (through Moses) to mark their homes with lamb's blood so that God could identify and "pass over" their homes.

This is how the holiday's traditional name, Pesach, came to be. In Hebrew, Pesach means "passing over" or "protection."

As the first nine plagues came and went, the Pharaoh still would not free the Israelites. That is, until the final plague. Once he finally released them, the Israelites fled Egypt so fast, they did not have time to bake the raw bread dough they planned to take with them on their journey.

As they traveled under the hot sun, the raw dough did bake and turned into hard crackers, or matzohs, the traditional "bread" of Passover.

The Israelites continued on their journey even though they were chased by the Pharaoh's army. When they finally reached the Red Sea, it was then that a miracle finally set them free.

As the Pharaoh's army came closer, the Red Sea parted and the Jews were able to escape. As they looked back, the Red Sea eventually swept away the Egyptian army.

The Haggadah is a book that Jews read on the first night of Passover, re-telling the story of Passover. The word haggadah means "telling" in Hebrew. It is the responsibility of all Jews to re-tell the story of their ancestors escape from history in order to teach the next generation.

Children often get involved in this "telling". It is tradition for the youngest child at the family's Seder table to answer the four questions of Passover:

1. Why do we only eat matzoh during Passover and not bread?
2. Why are bitter herbs (maror), at our Seder?
3. Why do we dip our foods twice tonight?
4. Why do we lean on a pillow tonight?

  
Answers:

1. As a reminder that the Jews had no time to bake their bread as they were fleeing Egypt. Their raw dough baked in the sun, turning into what is now known as matzoh.
2. The bitter herbs (maror) are a reminder of how bitterly the Egyptians treated the Jews in Egypt.
3. Bitter herbs are dipped into Charoset as a symbol of how hard the Jews worked. Parsley is then dipped into salt water as a reminder of the enslaved Jews tears.
   
4. The pillow is a symbol of comfort, reminding Jews of the freedom of their ancestors.