Passover

Passover (Heb. פֶּסַח pesach) is a Jewish festival celebrating the Exodus of Israel.

History

The origin of the Passover is described in Exodus. Among the miracles the Lord performed for the Israelites was the "passing over" of their houses by the Angel of Death. The houses of the Israelites were marked by the blood of the sacrificial "paschal" lamb. Keeping the Passover is commanded by the Lord in the Hebrew Bible, see, for example, Exodus 12 and Numbers 9.

Practice

Passover is kept for 7 days in Israel, 8 days in the rest of Jewish world. Observant Jews do not eat leavened bread during the holiday. Instead they eat matzo, wafers made of flour and water and baked within 18 minutes from the moment water is added to the flower, to insure the mixture has not had time to rise. The first two nights of Passover (first night only in Israel) are celebrated with a traditional seder (Heb. order), where the story of the Exodus is read from the Haggadah (Heb. telling). The youngest child at the seder asks a series of four questions in Hebrew that begin "Why is this night different from all other nights?" The Haggadah supplies the answers.