
The Passover was an event in history when the LORD smote the Egyptians and "passed over" the houses of the Hebrews because they had applied the blood of a lamb on their doors on the evening before and prepared for their exodus (departure) from Egypt.
What is Passover and why is it celebrated?
Passover was celebrated by Jesus and his disciples on this occasion. Because he took Passover meal elements and made them symbols of death after sharing it with his disciples the last time before he died, Jesus would often share this meal with his disciples.
What is the real meaning of Passover?
What Is the Definition of Passover? Passover (AKA Pesach) is the springtime holiday observed by Jewish people everywhere on the date when G‑d took the Jewish people out of Egypt. It lasts for eight days (seven days in Israel ), during which no bread, or anything that contains grain that has fermented, is to be consumed or even owned.
Is the Passover story true?
This could be evidence that there is a grain of truth to the Passover story. There is not much physical evidence that could still be left lying around after a couple of thousands of years. What is left is logic and extrabiblical sources that corroborate the story in Exodus.
What does Passover mean in the Bible?
The original Passover, found in the Bible, is a memorial to God passing over the houses of the children of Israel when He killed the firstborn of man and beast in Egypt. This miraculous event and its meaning occurred during the night of the fourteenth of the Hebrew month Nisan. It is not a memorial of the Israelites' exodus out of Egypt.
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What is the short story of Passover?
The story of Passover can be found in the book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible, which relates the enslavement of the Israelites and their subsequent escape from ancient Egypt. Fearing that the Israelites will outnumber his people, the Egyptian Pharaoh enslaves them and orders every newly born Jewish son murdered.
What happened in the Passover with Jesus?
Jesus blessed the bread, broke it and passed it around. He did the same with the wine. He explained that the bread was his body and the wine was his blood. Jesus' death would be the final sacrifice, enabling all people to receive God's forgiveness.
What are the five major points of the Passover story?
The 5 Most Important Things to Know About PassoverImportance of Memory. ... Importance of Optimism. ... Importance of Faith. ... Importance of Family. ... Importance of Empathy for Others.
What happened at the Passover meal?
Seder customs include telling the story, discussing the story, drinking four cups of wine, eating matza, partaking of symbolic foods, and reclining in celebration of freedom. The Seder is among the most commonly celebrated Jewish rituals, performed by Jews all over the world.
Was Jesus crucified on Passover or the day before?
Mark and John agree that Jesus died on a Friday. In Mark, this was the Day of Passover (15 Nisan), the morning after the Passover meal of the evening before. Arrested and interrogated by Caiaphas and Pilate that night, Jesus was tried and crucified the next morning at 9 a.m. on Passover day.
Why did Jesus celebrate Passover?
11:25.) In other words, the feast marking Israel's past salvation was elevated by Jesus into the remembrance of the world's salvation through his final sacrifice. From the Passover service he selected bread and wine, and consecrated them as symbols of his body and blood.
What is the most important thing in Passover?
Passover Traditions One of the most important Passover rituals for observant Jews is removing all leavened food products (known as chametz) from their home before the holiday begins and abstaining from them throughout its duration.
Why is Passover so important?
Passover teaches us the value of spiritual freedom. More than 3000 years ago, we rebelled and instituted a feast for the soul, the sedarim of Passover, where we thanked Hashem for liberating us from Egypt.
Why is Passover celebrated for 7 days?
The first and seventh days are described as sacred occasions when one is not to work at their occupations. If the Torah specifies that Passover is supposed to last for seven days, why then do many Jews celebrate it for eight? The answer lies in both how the Hebrew calendar is determined as well as in tradition.
Why do we drink 4 cups of wine at Passover?
The Midrash suggests that these cups alluded to the liberation of the Israelites from Pharaoh's rule. Then there is God's promise to take the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery in Exodus 6:6-8, in which there were four terms used to describe the redemption: I shall take you out ...
What are the 14 steps of eating the Passover meal?
Steps of the Passover SederKadesh (Sanctification) ... Urchatz (Purification/Handwashing) ... Karpas (Appetizer) ... Yachatz (Breaking the Matzah) ... Maggid (Telling the Passover Story) ... Rochtzah (Handwashing Before the Meal) ... Motzi (Blessing for the Matzah) ... Matzah.More items...•
What do the 4 cups of wine represent at Passover?
But the accepted answer is that the four cups of wine celebrate four different words in the biblical text that describe G-d's deliverance. The four words for four descriptions and stages of deliverance are found in Exodus Chapter 6 Verses 6 and 7.
What was the Passover meal in Jesus time?
Passover is “the feast of Unleavened Bread,” (matzah) because Moses told the Israelite faithful not to put leaven in the bread, as there was insufficient time before their departure from Egypt. Spring wildflowers in the Jerusalem forest. Jesus was in Jerusalem the week before his crucifixion.
What did the first Passover meal consist of?
The Torah's Book of Exodus, Chapter 12, offers one description of the instructions for Passover fare: “The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: [Each household] shall eat [lamb] roasted over the fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs” (Jewish Publication Society translation).
What is the difference between the Passover meal and the Last Supper?
Jonathan Klawans suggests in the Biblical Archeology Review that while the Last Supper may be “characteristic of the Passover meal, it is equally characteristic of practically any Jewish meal”: While reclining is unique to Passover, all Jewish meals traditionally begin with blessings over wine and bread.
What is prepared on the table in Passover meal?
Seder plate Arrange five items on the plate: a hard-boiled egg; a roasted shank bone; a spring vegetable such as parsley, called karpas; a mixture of fruit, wine, and nuts, called charoset; and either prepared or fresh horseradish, called maror.
What is the meal called at Passover?
Passover is often celebrated with great pomp and ceremony, especially on the first night, when a special family meal called the seder is held. At the seder , foods of symbolic significance commemorating the Hebrews’ liberation are eaten, and prayers and traditional recitations are performed.
What is the significance of Pesach?
Pesach commemorates the Exodus from Egypt and the servitude that preced ed it. As such, it is the most significant of the commemorative holidays, for it celebrates the very inception of the Jewish people—i.e., the event which provided the basis for the covenant between God and…
What is the Jewish religious year?
Jewish religious year: Pilgrim festivals. Pesach commemorates the Exodus from Egypt and the servitude that preceded it. As such, it is the most significant of the commemorative holidays, for it celebrates the very inception of the Jewish people—i.e., the event which provided the basis for the covenant between God and….
What is the bread that the Hebrews ate called?
On these seven (or eight) days, all leaven, whether in bread or other mixture, is prohibited, and only unleavened bread, called matzo, may be eaten. The matzo symbolizes both the Hebrews’ suffering while in bondage and the haste with which they left Egypt in the course of the Exodus.
When is Passover celebrated?
Passover is celebrated each spring, and like the Christian festival of Easter the holiday varies from year to year. It takes place on the 15th of the Hebrew month of Nisan. The date is calculated by the first full Moon, known as the Pesach Moon after the vernal equinox.
What is the meaning of Passover?
Pesach is the Hebrew word for Passover which celebrates the liberation of Jews from Egypt, known as the Exodus.
What happened to Joseph and his brothers?
When Joseph and his brothers pass away, a particularly hostile pharaoh orders their enslavement and the systematic drowning of their firstborn sons in the Nile. One of these doomed infants is rescued by the pharaoh’s daughter, given the name Moses (meaning “one who is pulled out”) and adopted into the Egyptian royal family.
Why do families come together for a special dinner called a Seder?
Families come together to enjoy a special dinner called a Seder as they retell the story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery.
What is the bread Moses ate at Passover?
When he reaches adulthood, Moses becomes aware of his true identity and the Egyptians’ brutal treatment of his fellow Hebrews. 3. Unleavened bread or matzo is eaten at Passover along with wine Credit: Alamy.
Why did Moses ask for three days of leave?
Along with his brother Aaron, Moses approaches the reigning pharaoh (who is unnamed in the biblical version of the story) several times, explaining that the Hebrew God has requested a three-day leave for his people so that they may celebrate a feast in the wilderness.
How long is Passover?
Traditionally Passover is eight days long, although some Jewish reform groups celebrate it for seven days. During the holiday, people practice a ritual called the Seder. Seder customs include telling the story, discussing the story, drinking four cups of wine, eating matza, partaking of symbolic foods placed on the Passover Seder plate, ...
What happened on the night of the first Passover?
The night of the first Passover was the night of the tenth plague. On that fateful night, God told the Israelites to sacrifice a spotless lamb and mark their doorposts and lintels with its blood ( Exodus 12:21–22 ).
When is Passover celebrated?
Passover takes place in the spring, during the Hebrew month of Nisan. In Western countries, Passover is celebrated in early- to mid-April and is always close to Easter. The book of Exodus tells of the origin of Passover. God promised to redeem His people from the bondage of Pharaoh ( Exodus 6:6 ). God sent Moses to the Egyptian king with ...
What is the Jewish festival of Passover?
Answer. Passover ( Pesach in Hebrew) is a Jewish festival celebrating the exodus from Egypt and the Israelites’ freedom from slavery to the Egyptians. The Feast of Passover, along with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, was the first of the festivals to be commanded by God for Israel to observe (see Exodus 12 ).
What did God send Moses to?
God sent Moses to the Egyptian king with the command that Pharaoh “let my people go” ( Exodus 8:1 ). When Pharaoh refused, God brought ten plagues on the land of Egypt. The tenth and worst of the plagues was the death of all the firstborn in Egypt. The night of the first Passover was the night of the tenth plague.
What is the Jewish holiday that celebrates the exodus?
Commemorations today involve a special meal called the Seder, featuring unleavened bread and other food items symbolic of various aspects of the exodus. Passover is one of the most widely celebrated Jewish holidays.
What is the feast of the week?
Along with Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost) and Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles ), Passover is one of the three “pilgrimage” festivals in Scripture, during which the Jews were commanded to travel to Jerusalem and observe the feasts together.
What did the Israelites do with the blood of the Paschal Lamb?
The Israelites who, in faith, applied the blood of the Paschal lamb to their homes become a model for us. It was not the Israelites’ ancestry or good standing or amiable nature that saved them; it was only the blood of the lamb that made them exempt from death (see John 1:29 and Revelation 5:9–10 ). Return to:
What happened before the Passover feast?
Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.
Where did the Israelites celebrate Passover?
10 On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover.
How to celebrate Passover in the desert?
3 Celebrate it at the appointed time, at twilight on the fourteenth day of this month, in accordance with all its rules and regulations.” 4 So Moses told the Israelites to celebrate the Passover, 5 and they did so in the Desert of Sinai at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. The Israelites did everything just as the LORD commanded Moses. 6 But some of them could not celebrate the Passover on that day because they were ceremonially unclean on account of a dead body. So they came to Moses and Aaron that same day 7 and said to Moses, “We have become unclean because of a dead body, but why should we be kept from presenting the LORD’s offering with the other Israelites at the appointed time?” 8 Moses answered them, “Wait until I find out what the LORD commands concerning you.” 9 Then the LORD said to Moses, 10 “Tell the Israelites: ‘When any of you or your descendants are unclean because of a dead body or are away on a journey, they are still to celebrate the LORD’s Passover, 11 but they are to do it on the fourteenth day of the second month at twilight. They are to eat the lamb, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 They must not leave any of it till morning or break any of its bones. When they celebrate the Passover, they must follow all the regulations. 13 But if anyone who is ceremonially clean and not on a journey fails to celebrate the Passover, they must be cut off from their people for not presenting the LORD’s offering at the appointed time. They will bear the consequences of their sin. 14 “ ‘A foreigner residing among you is also to celebrate the LORD’s Passover in accordance with its rules and regulations. You must have the same regulations for both the foreigner and the native-born.’ ”
Why is Passover celebrated in the New Testament?
Passover is in early spring to remind how God spared His people from death in Egypt.
How many men were on foot in the Bible?
There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. 38 Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. 39 With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread.
What did the LORD say to Moses?
1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. 3 “ ‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly.
What day of the month did the exiles celebrate Passover?
Ezra 6:19-20. 19 On the fourteenth day of the first month , the exiles celebrated the Passover. 20 The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their relatives the priests and for themselves.
