Describe the history and symbolism of the festival of Pesach.

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

Describe the history and symbolism of the festival of Pesach

Joseph and his brothers died, and the children of Israel multiplied in the land of Egypt. They held important positions and played an important role in the political, cultural, and economic life of the country. It is not surprising that they stirred the jealousy of the native Egyptians who felt outshone by the "foreigners."
        The old pharaoh died and a new one took his place. He had no sympathy for the children of Israel. He decided to take action against the growing influence and numbers of the children of Israel. He bought his council together, and they enslaved the Jews before they grew too powerful. Pharaoh limited the personal freedom of the Hebrews. He put heavy taxes on them, forced them to work for him under the supervision of harsh taskmasters.
King Pharaoh saw that forcing the Hebrews to do hard work did not succeed in suppressing their rapidly growing numbers, he decided that every newly born boy of the Hebrews be thrown into the Nile River. Only daughters should be permitted to live.
        Moses was born in these times and to save him his mother made a plan. She placed Moses in a basket, by papyrus reeds growing on the bank of the River Nile. Moses' sister Miriam watched over him until Pharaoh's daughter came to the river to wash. As they had hoped, it was Pharaoh’s daughter who found Moses in his basket. Pharaoh's daughter took him back to live with her as though he were her son.
        During a hot day the Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the River Nile to bathe and heard the sounds of a crying baby. It was Moses. After two years being nurtured by his mother, acting as a Jewish maid, Moses was taken to the royal court, where be grew up as the princely adopted son of King Pharaoh's daughter.
        Once it happened that Moses was playing on King Pharaoh's lap. He saw the shining crown, studded with jewels, and reached for it and took it off. The pharo feared this as a threat to his throne so Moses was tested. Two bowls were set down before young Moses. One contained gold and jewels, and the other held glowing firecoals. Moses reached out for the gold, but an angel directed his band to the coals.
        Moses grew up and visited Midian, after stabbing a guard and being told to flee from Egypt. He married Zipporah the eldest daughter of Jethro a priest who did not believe in idol worship and was therefore hated.
Moses became a Shepard. Once when he had driven his flocks far out in the desert, a small lamb got lost. After searching for it all over the hills of the desert, Moses found it near the Mount of Horeb. He took the tired little animal in his arms and set out to return to the flocks. He saw before him a thorn bush burst into flame and it did not turn to ash. Instead it spoke to him. It was God. He told Moses that He had heard the crying of the children of Israel in distress; and that He would deliver them from the hands of the Egyptian oppressors and bring them back into the Promised Land and that Moses, was the one to go to Pharaoh and lead the Jewish people out of Egypt.

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When Moses and Aaron reached Egypt he was now 80 years of age. Moses said to the pharaoh "Thus has the Lord G-d of Israel said, 'Let My people go, that they may feast to me in the desert.' " The pharaoh refused and subsequently the plagues of Egypt took place. After each plague Moses went to the Pharaoh and asked him to free the Jewish people. And every time Pharaoh agreed to free the Jewish slaves if Moses would stop the plague and each time the pharaoh would go back on his word as soon as the plagues had vanished. There were 10 plagues: blood, frogs, gnats, flies, pestilence, fever boils, hail, locusts, darkness and the worst of all death of the first born. This is how Passover received its name as the angel of death Passover the houses of the Jews who had Kid or Lamb blood on their doors, this time the pharaoh finally agreed to free the Jews after the loss of his son. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land. Like before, the pharaoh changed his mind and sent his army to chase after them. By the time they reached Moses and the Israelites they were at the red sea. The Red Sea parted and the Israelites walked through. But as the Egyptian soldiers tried to pass through the seas closed around them.
Moses took the Jews to the bottom of Mount Sinai where God gave him the law. They then went to the Promised Land Israel.

At the Pesach festival there are certain things that have to take place and also there are many symbols behind each section of the festival.

The service retells the story of Moses and the Israelites. It is called a Seder. There are certain foods eaten on Pesach. The Matzoh (unleavened bread) this is to symbolize what the Jews ate during the exodus because before their leaving they had no time to prepare bread so they brought the dough with them and baked it along their journey without stopping to let it raise. In the middle of the Seder table, three pieces of Matzoh are put in a Matzoh cover. On the Seder table the Seder plate is placed. It holds 6 foods that represent the suffering of the slaves and their quest for freedom.

Zeroa is a shankbone or neck of poultry, which is roasted and put on the Seder plate. The zeroa is a reminder of the "mighty arm of God" and it also symbolizes the Paschal lamb offered as the Passover sacrifice in Temple days.

Matzah is flat, dry, unleavened bread. When the Israelites left Egypt, they did not have time to wait for their dough to rise. Jews eat matzah, instead of bread, during the week of Passover to remember the exodus of the Jewish slaves from Egypt.
        Maror are the bitter herbs, such as horseradish root or prepared horseradish, which is placed on the seder plate to remind the Jews of the bitterness of slavery in Egypt.
        Karpas is a vegetable, like parsley or a potato, which is placed on the Seder plate. Karpas is dipped in salt water to represent tears of the Israelite slaves. The custom of serving karpas dates back to Jerusalem of the 1st and 2nd centuries when it was common to begin a formal meal by passing around vegetables as hors d’oeuvres.
        Charoset is a mixture of apples, nuts, wine and spices. It is put on the Seder plate to remind us of the mortar the Jewish slaves used in their building the Egyptian temples.

Chazeret is a bitter vegetable, like lettuce or celery, which is sometimes placed on the Seder plate to remind Jews of the bitter lives of the Israelites as slaves.
Baytzah is the hard-boiled egg, which is placed on the Seder plate. It is symbolic of the regular festival sacrifice brought in the days of the Temple. Some people have interpreted this as a symbol of mourning for the loss of the two Temples With the Temples destroyed, sacrifices could no longer be offered. The egg symbolized this loss and traditionally became the food of mourners.

One cup is poured and placed at the table as an offering to the Prophet Elijah and is considered as separate from the four cups. Four cups of wine are poured and drunk during the course of the dinner. They symbolize the 4 stages of the exodus.

Freedom

Deliverance
Redemption
Release

During the Seder after the second of the four cups of wine are poured, the youngest child asks four questions to the adults. The father answers these questions.
The celebration takes place over 2 days, as no one is completely sure of what the actual date it took place is. The festivities last for about 2 to 3 hours. It is a time for family to celebrate and be with each other. It is also particularly geared to the children as an opportunity for them to learn about their religion and the Jewish history.

Explain how the festival of Pesach may affect the lives of Jews today?

Pesach is one of the main Jewish festivals in the year and subsequently there are masses of things to do to prepare for it. These cause people within a Jewish home to have to do extra things and rearrange certain things in their lifestyle.

Jewish families prepare for Pesach by spring-cleaning their homes from top to bottom. They also have to clear out food that is not permitted for Pesach.

During Pesach, Jews do not eat or possess 'leaven' foods, which they call 'chametz'. Leaven foods contain yeast, so most bread and biscuits are banned. Therefore, before Pesach, Jews families have to stock up on food, which is not 'chametz.' All members of the family join in to attempt to eradicate every last part of leaven material inside the house before Pesach. In the ceremony a prayer is said asking God to overlook the crumbs if there are any left and see them as dust. The festival of Pesach lasts 8 days and therefore all the pans, plates or any kitchen appliances that may have come into contact with leaven material in a locked cupboard for example to separate it from the rest of the other cutlery. Most families would have separate crockery and cutlery just for Passover. Special food must be bought labelled with a sticker from the Beth Din approving it Kosher for Passover.
The ceremony affects a Jew in many ways. It is a time when the whole family can be together and celebrate their religion.
Since the time of the first Passover as told in the Book of Exodus, the Jewish people have observed the instructions to remember the Passover event which is in Exodus 12. This therefore is a reminder to Jews that this is a celebration of the past and time to remember what happened to the Jewish slaves in Egypt. The instructions given about Pesach in the Sefer Torah were gradually developed into a festive meal with specific instructions for rituals called the Pesach Seder. The 'instruction manual' for the Pesach Seder is called the Passover Haggadah. It contains 15 steps complete with rituals and symbolisms inherent in each of these rituals. Even the orders of the 15 steps are designed so that the ceremony moves from symbolisms of slavery to symbolisms of freedom. The fifteen steps that must be followed are: Kadeish, Urchatz, Karpas, Yachatz, Maggid, Rochtza, Motzee, Matzah, Marror, Koreich, Shulchan Orech, Tzafun, Bareich, Hallel, Nirtzah.

“Festivals are the best way to learn about your faith.”

There are lots of different ways to learn about your faith. And a festival is just one of them.

Young people may go to a youth club and be taught by a Rabbi with other people their age to make the experience more enjoyable. Also people could read the Sefer Torah and learn from what is written by prophets. Family can teach about what they know of their religion and pass it onto you. A service a synagogue would teach someone a section of what is written in the Torah in each section and therefore they could find the particular part of the Torah that was useful to them, for example if someone was searching for the exodus they would read the Exodus part of the Torah. There are many different activities run in the synagogue where someone could learn about their religion for example youth groups, play groups for young children.
Festivals are also an excellent way of learning about that section of the faith and they involve each person so this may seem a more interesting way of learning. From a Jewish child’s point of view a festival such as Pesach with Elijah’s cup and the table shaking would be very captivating for a child.