During the meal the youngest child asks three questions about Passover and why it is different from every other night. The leader replies by telling the story. There is also a goblet for ‘Elijah’, which is filled with wine. The youngest child is also sent to the door to see if Elijah has arrived. A statement about hope for the next Passover completes the whole meal, which is a toast to “Next Year in Jerusalem.”
b) The symbols in Pesach can be very helpful to help Jews have hope and faith for the future. The roasted egg in the Seder meal symbolises new life and the karpas (parsley) symbolises new hope. The egg reminds Jews about the new life that their ancestors were given after God helped them escape. This helps Jews to realise that although life may seem harsh, if you have faith in God He will give you a second chance, a new life. The karpas symbolising new hope gives Jews hope for the future and faith in God that he will provide for them to give them a better life. For example, in Passover the Jews had a better future because they, and their children, were no longer slaves. Also, in the Holocaust, although it was a horrifying experience, God gave their children a better future, where they were safe from Hitler’s ways. The egg and karpas therefore strengthens Jews’ faith in God that he will always give them a new chance; a new life and so they can look up to their future. When a Jew is unhappy these symbols can remind them that it’s not the end of the world and God will be there for them, to help them by giving them a second chance and a brighter future, like in past events. The ‘chametz’ (leaven food i.e. grain foods that include dough rising) is another symbol which affects the life of Jews today. Jews not eating chametz on Passover is important because it means that they do not have pride, in the arrogant sense. Chametz is regarded as a symbol of pride because it ‘puffs up’. Having pride can lead people to exclude God from their lives and believe they do not need Him. Therefore, by not eating chametz on Passover Jews show their reliance on God’s help and so this symbol makes them understand that they do need God in their lives. The symbol ‘chametz’, as a result, strengthens a Jew’s faith in God and their religion, which prevents them from being proud, in an arrogant sense.
b) Pesach affects the life of Jews because it gives them a sense of unity that they belong to their community. This is because all Jews around the world are commemorating and celebrating the same event that brings them together, in a sense that they all belong to the same race. This also gives Jews identity because only Jews are celebrating Pesach, so they know who they are, where they belong and know they aren’t alone in the world. Pesach also brings the Jewish family together, in happiness, as they are celebrating a joyous occasion that has affected their lives by making them free and equal. As Pesach is celebrated in the home, rather than a synagogue the family can have a peaceful time together. They can strengthen their faith in each other and life because they realise how lucky they are to be together, to be free and still have each other because God and Moses have changed life for them all. This also gives Jews a unity with God because Jews knows He cares about them because He has made sure the families can stay together in peace and equality.
The teaching of Pesach can help Jews to meet the demands of their faith. The covenant says that Jews must obey God’s laws and believe in Him and by doing this Jews will receive their Promised Land. The teaching of Pesach helps Jews to follow the covenant because they can be reassured that God will give them their Promised Land, if they have faith, because He gave their ancestors a new life, hope, equality and a better way of living in Pesach. He did all this because they had faith in God; so by learning about Pesach Jews are able to meet the demands of their faith. One of the mitzvot states that Pesach must be celebrated and Jews must not break these laws. This law to celebrate Pesach is stated in Leviticus 23:4 “These are festivals of the Lord, holy assemblies which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.” So, by being taught about Pesach and celebrating it they will further meet the demands of their faith and learn about how their history has brought them to where they are today. Therefore by following the laws to celebrate the three Pilgrim festivals, Shavuot, Sukkot and Pesach, they will receive the Promised Land.
The teaching of Pesach gives Jews a tremendous amount of faith in God that He will always deliver when they need Him. The story of Pesach proved to Jews that He will deliver because he sent several plagues to convince the Pharaoh to let the Israelites to be freed and it eventually worked. They were able to escape and lived to teach the story to their children and their children and so on so Jews today can appreciate what God has done for them in order for them to be free and equal. Jews can trust their faith that God will not abandon them in times of need. Another example would be the Holocaust. Even then, God delivered, due to the Jews’ faith. He eventually put a stop to the torture so the Jews could be freed once more and the children can learn about how God saved them. Although many Jews suffered, their suffering enabled future generations of Jewish people to have a better life. In the end God gave the Jews their Promised Land because in 1948, the United Nations recreated Israel. This proved that God would deliver to those who follow the covenant. Pesach was the same case: whereas many people suffered during slavery or by wandering through the desert after the escape, it enabled Jews in further generations to live a better life, where they are free. As they have followed the covenant being ‘free’ meant that they were also in their Promised Land, Israel. Pesach can also help to ease the pains of Jews from the Holocaust by remembering a joyous event to celebrate so they can appreciate the sacrifices and efforts that were done to give Jews today a better life. These events strengthen Jews’ hopes and faith in God so that they do not give up, because God will be there for them and all they have to do is believe and follow the covenant. Pesach also gives Jews a chance to think about other people, as well as themselves and God. They can think about the many people in the world who aren’t free to live how they want to. They can hope that one-day everyone will be free. So this event enables Jews to think of others and not be selfish as well as try and treat everyone equally.
Pesach is celebrating an event that happened 3,300 years ago so it is a tradition brought down through the centuries. Because it is a tradition it is encourages Jews to be a part of it so they can meet the demands of their faith. This way they can become better Jews and strengthen their knowledge of their history. In doing this Jews are able to reinforce their link and faith with God by learning what he has done and teaching their children, so they can be grateful for hat God has done and follow the covenant knowledgeably. The hope, kindness and promise from God can then be remembered through this tradition so the next generation of Jews can know their history, strengthen their faith and pass it along with a pride that is certainly not arrogant.
Children are also involved a lot in Pesach, especially the Seder meal. They look for the hidden matzah (aphikomen), ask questions about the event and go and see if Elijah is at the door. As the children take part in this, it shows that children are important in the Jewish faith. This also says that the children should be shown respect and treated with love.
Symbols are used in the festival to help the Jews to meet the demands of their faith. For example, in the Seder meal, symbols of food are used to relate to the slavery of their ancestors. For example, the salt water represents the tears shed by the Jewish slaves, to show they suffered. The bitter herbs also represent slavery whereas karpas represents the labour they endured as ‘karpas’ comes from ‘perech’ meaning hard labour, as well as meaning new hope. The charoset is a paste used to represent the cement for the bricks that the ancestors built. Therefore, while the Jews eat this food they can remember how badly their ancestors were treated and that God was so kind to help them to escape their suffering. The Jews can be thankful for the suffering their ancestors endured, to help them receive their Promised Land.
The festival of Pesach is celebrating an event where the Jews were freed from slavery, by God, so they found their Promised Land. This is a good example for Jews to keep the covenant so they have their Promised Land and make it their own once more. Therefore, because Jews are still waiting for their Messiah to come, Jews can understand that if they follow their faith and keep the covenant their Messiah will come. He can then lead the Jews to the Promised Land, as they have kept their faith. As a result the Jews’ problems will be solved, to make their faith stronger. Therefore, by learning from their ancestors they can make their faith stronger and receive their Promised Land. This accomplishment would make the Jews happier.
c) I agree with the statement that festivals are the best way to learn about your faith. This is because the event becomes a lot more interesting and fun as it is a break from the norm and it can be easy to remember certain events by having simple symbols to remind you. For example in Passover a Seder meal is eaten which contains several symbols to describe the event which occurred 3,300 years ago. The Z’roah is a roasted bone of lamb to symbolise painting the door posts with lamb’s blood so the Angel of Death passed over that house and spared the first-born son and the matzah symbolises the Israelites leaving in a hurry, before their bread has risen. These symbols in the festival enable Jews to understand and remember the story by relating the food they’re eating. So, when they see the Z’roah they will think, “Oh, yes, I remember that lamb’s blood was painting over door posts so the Angel did not kill the first-born son of that house!” This is because they can relate it to the Z’roah being a roasted bone of lamb, so it jogs their memory. This is a good way to teach younger children about the story as they relate better to symbols, which are visual aids, rather than a lecture of the story. Also, when learning about the story of Pesach, I found it easy to remember the story by using the food symbols in the Seder meal we re-enacted as a class.
Festivals are a good way for children and adults to learn about their faith because catchy songs are sung with catchy rhymes, like ‘The ballad of the four sons’ that are sung to the tune of “Clementine”. By singing along children can learn the story of Passover in a fun way so that they are unaware that they are learning something via audible aids. Singing also makes people happy so the children can understand that the event is a joyous one.
Also festivals can make the event much more exciting by adding games and small gifts to encourage children. For example, the leader hides the middle matzah (aphikomen) that the children are sent to hunt for. As a reward the one who finds it receives a small gift. As this is done after the main parts of the meal where the story and lesson are told, the children are eager to learn so that afterwards they can join in the game. The search for the chametz is also done before the meal where the mother purposely leaves ten pieces of chametz for the children to find, using a feather and a candle. The children find the hunt exciting but at the same time they are making sure that there is no chametz left in the house because they have to search thoroughly for those ten pieces. The children will also be more inquisitive and eager to learn about why they are searching for the chametz and their faith because they are having fun at the same time. This is true because after re-enacting the Passover with my class group we were very eager to find the piece of matzah in order to be the winner and receive the gift; it made learning about Passover more exciting and interesting!
In festivals there are several ways to make learning about your faith more imaginative and exciting. For example, in Pesach a place is set at the table for Elijah and the youngest child is sent to the door to see if Elijah has arrived. This gives a child the possibility to join in with the excitement and encourage them to learn why they are looking for Elijah because they are enjoying playing an active part.
Also festivals encourage people to get together to celebrate the event. As a result Jews can talk to other Jews about the event when celebrating together, so they can learn about their faith together. Learning about something is much more interesting when you know that other people are doing the same thing so you can help each other to learn more.
However, in some cases festivals aren’t the best way to remember an occasion because festivals can be seen as joyous occasions and for some events it is quite inappropriate to celebrate as such. For example, to remember the Holocaust playing games and having fun is not the most respectable or appropriate way to remember the occasion to some people. For events like these where such a tragedy occurred it is best to learn together with your family by perhaps visiting the monument where it occurred and placing candles as a remembrance. The parents could also teach children the facts and explain how it is possible to look at the situation from a different angle so you can learn not to make the same mistake again. An event like this must be approached with care so it is remembered in a respectable way.
Some people may also argue that festivals aren’t the best way to learn about your faith because sometimes the true meaning is forgotten and people become more involved in different aspects of it. For example some people may forget about the importance of the symbols in the Seder meal and may be more involved in, for example, searching for the matzah and receiving a gift to be acknowledged as the best because s/he found it first. There are other examples where the true meanings of the occasion can be lost, like in Christian festivals such as Christmas or Easter. Many people celebrate these events because it is greatly portrayed in the media and it is impossible to miss the Easter eggs or Santa Claus that dominate most shops. As a result a vast amount of people do not celebrate these occasions to learn about their faith because they are too involved in receiving and giving presents that they forget the true reason for the festival being there in the first place.
Festivals, therefore, aren’t always the best way to learn about your faith. Other ways have proven more productive. For example, going to a ‘shul’ (synagogue) is a good place to learn about your Jewish faith. This is because a Jewish child can go there regularly to learn about their faith, in one of the classrooms inside, under stricter conditions, which means a controlled environment where it is easier to concentrate on the subjects at hand. This is may be considered an excellent way to learn about your faith, rather than a festival, because most people go to school to receive an education, in the same sort of classroom environment. As a result they are able to get a job, as they have become very knowledgeable. Jews can also visit the shul on the Shabbat (Sabbath day) as the services are very informative about their faith and therefore it easy to learn.
Another excellent way to learn about your faith is by family members. Jews can celebrate with their families. This is a good opportunity for parents to teach their children about their faith. This method can be considered better than festivals because it makes it ore serious. Also children would be more attentive and eager to learn about something, like their faith, from their parents as they often look up to them greatly at younger ages and believe them to know everything. Also, this method, along with visiting the shul, ensures that the child can concentrate on the issues, as they will not be distracted by games, like in festivals.
There are further examples of ways that are better than festivals for a Jewish child to learn about their faith. Most Jewish children have a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, which are Rites of Passage, for either the boy or girl, when they become adults. This has proven an excellent way for a Jewish child to learn about his/her faith because they have to learn how to read the Torah in order to have these Rites of Passage, which have been successful accomplishments for most children. Therefore they are learning a lot about their faith during these Rites of Passage, which proves that this is an excellent way to learn about your faith and arguably better than a festival.
Although there are some doubts, you could argue that where having a festival is appropriate, it can be one of the best ways to learn about your faith and almost definitely the most fun and interesting, especially for younger children. Enough time is spent for children to visit schools, for academic education, so going to another school to learn about your faith means excess stress and pressure mounting up on the child, which is not necessary or healthy. Also, one can argue that a child spends most of his/her young life being told what to do by their parents that having them dictate your religion to you could be quite distressing. There is a further worry that having festivals could attract media hype, in Israel perhaps, or there would be a large amount of people who could possibly misplace the true meaning of the occasion but in the end it is down to the person celebrating the occasion. It is on their conscience whether or not they choose to take the festival seriously and use the festival to constructively learn about their faith or whether they are going to become more involved in the material side or the glory side of it. Festivals, I believe, are an excellent way to learn about your faith and can really bring the event to life so if someone decides to take it for granted they have their own mind and make their own choices. God gave everyone the right to decide what’s wrong and right. So, therefore, if their morals are misplaced then it is unfair to punish the rest of the community by not letting them learn about their faith in an interesting way, such as by having a festival.