Passover or Pesach: A Basic Introduction

Passover is the Jewish holiday commemorating when the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. Moses repeatedly asked the Pharaoh to free the Jews, which he refused to do. Moses warned the Pharaoh of the punishment Egypt would endure if the Jews were not freed. Ten plagues were sent to Egypt, but Pharaoh refused to let the Jews leave. After the tenth plague, and the killing of the first born sons, the Pharaoh told the Jews to leave. They packed up and left. The Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his army after the Jewish people. The army was in pursuit of the Israelites, chasing them toward the Red Sea. The Jews reached the Red Sea, believing they were trapped and at the mercy of the Pharaoh's army. A much different event occurred; God parted the Red Sea and the rest is history.

Pesach means passing over or protection in Hebrew. The name of the holiday originates from the instructions given to Moses by God. Using the tenth plague, God wanted to encourage the Pharaoh to let the Jews leave. To insure the Jews escaped the last plague, they marked their dwellings so God could identify their home and "passover" their abode.

The first two nights of Passover (an eight day holiday) is celebrated with meals called Seders. During the Seder, the stories and history of Passover are told and celebrated. Special meals during Seder celebrate the victory over Egypt. The special meals include a spring vegetable as a sign of rebirth, bitter herbs to remind us of the bitterness of slavery and charoset (a mixture apples, nuts, wine and cinnamon), which reminds us of the mortar from which slaves made their bricks. One of the most famous foods used in the Seders is matzo bread. When the Jews left Egypt in a hurry, they did not have the opportunity to bake their bread by letting it rise. As they went through the desert to their freedom, they baked bread in the hot sun into crackers called matzoh. This is why no products containing yeast are used during Passover-hence the matzo bread.