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PASSOVER.   Term Paper ID:22825 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Significance & rituals of Jewish festival celebrating liberation from Egypt, in historical & Biblical contexts.... More...

6 Pages / 1350 Words 6 sources, 16 Citations, MLA Format $24.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Significance & rituals of Jewish festival celebrating liberation from Egypt, in historical & Biblical contexts. Paper Introduction: PASSOVER This paper will discuss the meaning of Passover within the context of the old Testament. Today, Passover is a festival which commemorates the day which the Jewish people sometimes refer to as the "Season of Our Freedom" (Gaster 31). While, from a seasonal perspective, the holiday marks the release of the earth from the grip of winter, Passover is best known for its historic significance. From a historical perspective, Passover marks the exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt. This paper will examine Passover from a historical and Biblical perspective. Passover now stands for the birth of the Jewish nation, dating back to the time that Israel first prepared to face the hazards of the elements as "God, in His providence, brought it to Sinai, gave it the Law, and Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. AtPassover, the Jews are commanded to tell the story of Exodus, as well as toexpand on the tale to explore its complexities and develop the meaning ofthe old Testament text. According to Exodus 1:11, thesefoods are matzah (or unleavened bread), bitter herbs (like horseradish)which is taken to commemorate the bitterness of servitude, and haroseth,which is a mixture of chopped nuts, apples, cinnamon and raisins, whichsymbolizes the mortar in which the Jews labored which they built the citiesof Raamses and Pithom. New York: WilliamSloan Associates, 1966.Goldschmidt, E. New York: Harper andRow, 1985. Thenarrative is introduced by a series of questions like "Why is this nightdifferent from all other nights?" (Schostak 3). and I willtake you to Me for a people." In addition, besides consuming food, Jewsplace the shankbone of a lamb and a roasted egg on the table. The Exodus from Egypt, the Jewish people said, had coincidedwith the traditional pesah ceremony, and because their ancestors had someticulously carried out the rituals and dashed the spilled blood on thedoorposts of their houses, Jehovah has been able to instantly recognize hisown protégés when he came. The matzahconsists of three cakes stacked on top of each other and are now known asthe priest, the Levite, and the Israelite. The Section of Four is based on the fact that the Bible speaks fourtimes of "thy son's" inquiring about the meaning of Passover. D. The ideas which comprise the Passover festival developed over manyyears and stem from Judaism's inspired transformation of a seasonalceremony. Works CitedGaster, Theodor H. Passover is meant to teach the Jewish that theirhistory is timeless and present, not simply a commemoration of an importantevent in their past. For the Jewish people, Passover is a time in whichthey participate by reexperiencing slavery, as the Torah states: "Rememberthis day, on which you went free from Egypt, the house of bondage, how theLord freed you from it with a mighty hand" (Strassfeld 7). New York: Simon and Schuster,1972.Schostak, Zev. . For the Jewish, Passover is more than the mere release fromphysical bondage. The first and last days of this ceremony wereregarded as very sacred and were accompanied by a total abstention fromwork. Passover Haggadah. New York: RabbinicalAssembly, 1982.Raphael, Chaim. The first message is aboutdeliverance from bondage. Seder meanssimply "order of service" or "formal procedure" and is meant to be asubstitute for the ancient paschal sacrifice and a fulfillment of theBiblical injunction referred to in Exodus 13:8 which retells the story ofthe Exodus to one's children (Gaster 38-39). Aseach of these things is recited during the Litany of Wonders, the companyresponds loudly with the word Dayyenu. As for the foods eaten on Passover, there is a strict religiousprotocol about the manner in which they are to be consumed. Passover now validates the mission ofthe Israelites and determines the destiny of the Jews. Moreover, shortly after the animal was killed, abunch of hyssop was dipped in the victim's blood and a few drops weresprinkled with it on the lintels and doorposts of each house. The essence of the festivals which preceded Passover was to re-cementthe bonds of kindred and community by partaking of a meal in common which,to this day, is still referred to as "breaking bread together." Thispractice also has its roots in the old Testament. The Seder narrative, which is still held on Passover, relatesthe whole story of how the Children of Israel moved from darkness to light,from oppression to mental and spiritual freedom. If Israel had gone forth out of Egypt butnot accepted the Covenant at Sinai, Israel still would have achieved itsliberation but it would not have achieved freedom in the Jewish sense ofthe word. New York: Schocken Books,1969.Rabinowicz, Rachel. High points of theHaggadah are the "Section of Four Sons," the "Litany of Wonders," and thechanting of "Hallel" (Strassfeld 31-34). The nature of that special ceremony is described in detail inthe 12th chapter of the Biblical Book of Exodus. Passover and the Seder ceremony are crucial events for Jewish peoplebecause they mark the beginning of the sacred history of the Jews. The Bible also says that the Passover supper shouldbe introduced by parsley dipped in salted water. Today, the Passoverfestival carries two basic messages. He also parted the Red Sea forMoses and caused the Jews to pass through; he then led them to Mount Sinaiand gave them holy law. The Jewish attitudetoward Passover reflects the belief that the Exodus of the Children ofIsrael from Egypt involved both the patriarchs of the past and theirchildren's children of the future. The Biblical recital isfollowed by the chanting of psalms, hymns, and religious songs. Festivals of the Jewish Year. The bitterherbs, in addition to being eaten separately, are also served in a sandwichbetween pieces of matzah, thereby following the instructions given in theBible which state that unleavened bread and bitter herbs are to be eatentogether as part of the paschal meal. The Jewish Holidays. The Jewish people celebrate Passoverbecause it signifies the attainment of their freedom from the Egyptianpharaohs. On that date, years before Christ was born, the Israelites castaside their idols and repudiated their pagan-like ignorance; at the sametime, God revealed his presence to the children of Israel and imparted hisdivine knowledge to them. The eating had tobe done quickly, and whatever portion of the meat remained had to be burnedat the break of dawn. A Feast of History. This paperwill examine Passover from a historical and Biblical perspective. God led the Jews out ofEgypt and also punished the Egyptians. In Judaism, the story of the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypthas been lifted out of a purely historical context. The Passover Haggadah. During the course of themeal, a minimum of four cups of wine must be consumed, which represents thefour expressions used in Exodus 6: 6-7 that describe God's deliverance ofIsrael: "I will bring you out from under the burden of the Egyptians, andI will rid you of their bondage, and I will redeem you . For example, when tribesentered into pacts with one another, as in the case of Abraham andAbimelech, or of Moses and Jethro, agreements were sealed by eatingtogether (Gaster 33-34). Why is This Night Different? However, the central theme of Seder is really the entire process bywhich the Jews came to Mount Sinai and accepted that they had a new missionin Israel. Today, Passover is a festival which commemorates theday which the Jewish people sometimes refer to as the "Season of OurFreedom" (Gaster 31). All of the elements of the traditionalceremony, such as the breaking of unleavened bread, recalled the fact that,as the Israelites departed in a big hurry from Egypt, they ate in haste.The festival then became connected to the Hebrew word, pasah, which means"to skip." The term pasah was used to imply that when God came and saw theblood on the lintels and doorposts he skipped or passed over the houses ofthe Israelites and spared them from the plague (Strassfeld 5). New York: Judaic Press,1981.Strassfield, Michael. Thatceremony was known as pesah, and was followed by a six-day festival calledthe Feast of Unleavened Bread, during which time no fermented food wasallowed to be eaten. The second message of Passover is thatdeliverance is continual (Gaster 5 -51). This idealisticExodus, the Exodus which is now detached from the Biblical context fromwhich it arose, is now celebrated in the traditional Seder service on thefirst two evenings of the Passover festival (Rabinowicz 1 ). Thus, Passover also commemorates God's bringingthe Jews to the Promised Land, on which he built the temple of Zion. At the end of the Seder supper, anextra cup of wine is filled for Elijah, who will come on Passover night tomark the final redemption of Israel. In Jewish tradition, freedom is anopportunity which requires volitional dedication, and that dedication formsthe theme of the Passover story. This is known as the afikomin and laterbecomes the last thing eaten at the ceremony (Goldschmidt 1 ). The Litanyof Wonders is a cumulative poem which recites the benefits which Godconferred on Israel at the time of the Exodus. At full moon in the firstmonth of spring, the Bible says that it was customary for every family toslaughter a goat or lamb at twilight and then, in the middle of the night,to eat it along with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. The main door of the house is thenflung open (usually by a child) for a few moments to permit Elijah'sentrance (Strassfeld 24). The lambsymbolizes the paschal offering, and the egg symbolizes the beginning oflife in Spring (Gaster 39-4 ). . At the beginning of theservice, the celebrant breaks the middle cake in half and sets one of thehalves aside, wrapped in a napkin. This is followed by the Hallel ortime in which God is praised through the recital of Psalms 113-118 (Gaster4 -41). PASSOVER This paper will discuss the meaning of Passover within the context ofthe old Testament. Specifically, according to Judaic interpretation of theold Testament, Judaism is the yoke of the Torah, and true independence onlycomes through the apprehension of God (Gaster 32). While, from a seasonal perspective, the holidaymarks the release of the earth from the grip of winter, Passover is bestknown for its historic significance. Passover now stands for the birth of the Jewish nation, dating backto the time that Israel first prepared to face the hazards of the elementsas "God, in His providence, brought it to Sinai, gave it the Law, andconcluded the Covenant" (Gaster 32). The principal feature of the Passover celebration is the eating ofvarious foods which are traditionally associated with the Israelites'departure from the land of the pharaohs. The Passover ceremony is also accompanied by a narrative portion orHaggadah, in which the story of Exodus is recited and embellished withrabinic elaborations and comments (Raphael 36). From a historical perspective,Passover marks the exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt. The Israelites took over this primitive rite andgave it a meaning all their own, thereby relating it to their own historicexperience. The Passover festival now celebrates a special kind of freedom whichtraces its roots to the old Testament. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.