40 days and 40 nights had gone by and the Pharaoh and Egypt missed the slaves that worked for them and wanted them back. He went with a huge army to get them while the Israelites were on there way to the Promised Land. When the Pharaoh’s army had got to them they were about to cross the Reed Sea. God parted the water with a strong wind and the Israelites passed through. But when they reached the other side and the Egyptians were passing through the gap on their chariots, God lowered the wind and the army were drowned.
The Israelites from then on were free. They symbolise this with the salt water which some of the food is dipped in during the meal. It represents the tears of the slaves but also freedom. It represents the sea that drowned the Egyptian army. They also have bitter herbs which symbolises the bitterness reminds them of the slavery like the stalk of lettuce and fresh leaves of the lettuce represents freedom.
The Pesach symbolises the freedom of the Israelites from slavery and also the name comes from when the angel of death passes over their houses during the 10th plague.
There are also 3 other major festivals that are observed by all Jews these are commemorating the events after the actual departure and the freedom from the Egyptians. These consist of the Shauvot – where the giving of the Torah takes place on mount Sinai. Next the Sukkot marks the journey through the desert on the way to their Promised Land, and lastly there is the Passover.
B) How may the symbolism and the teaching of Pesach affect the life of Jews today and help them meet the demands of their faith?
The Passover symbolises mainly what it means to be Jewish and their history – where they came from and they believe their family descends from the Israelites that fled Egypt. They are also thanking God for them being his chosen people. It's very important also for them to be as a family during this time reminding them where they came from. They do this by re-telling the story from the Haggadah (which means the telling); these are often handed down through generations. The main meal in the evening reminds them of certain aspects of the Israelites journey e.g. the roasted lamb shank, a symbol of the lamb sacrificed in the temple.
The youngest child asks 4questions lets everyone remind themselves of their history and pass it on to future generations. The flight from Egypt basically gave them there own land, space where they were free to worship how they wished. It sets them apart from any other religion having their own importance and triumphs for being here. To show that they value their faith they use the best crockery, pans, and cutlery for this event much like our Christmas. They sit on cushions this is another symbol of being free.
Passover also symbolises their relationship with God (the covenant) and also supports it. It also symbolises their link to every other Jew in the world because they can all relate to this event.
In the modern world it can be hard to keep the Jewish laws and traditions over the 8days of Passover. It creates problems when the festival is taking place. So the families have to be organised to keep their traditions and the meanings of Passover celebrating their history. Since it is important to them to keep the traditions and pass the stories on to the next generations.
During the 8 days in the spring it may be hard to get time off from work. Since many employers won’t let employees have more than 2days off at a time.
So it may be difficult in that sense, but they can resolve this by taking an annual holiday set every year. Usually with schools they are quite understanding. Unless the pupil has some important event coming up like their GCSE exams etc. as spring is an important time in the school calendar. So they do have to think about the future aswell as their faith, so the school may not oblige to them having 8days off school, especially if it’s a private school where they have to go home for a period of time.
The food in particular may be hard to obtain the exact substances that they’d want. They would have to check the labels etc, and you can’t tell with modern products. Also getting kosher meat etc. if a Jew lives in somewhere like Norfolk. Which the nearest kosher butcher is in London where there is a substantial amount of Jewish people. During the 8days only the best crockery, pans, cutlery is to be used. Which can cause difficulties and be impractical especially if they have a lot of guests and don’t have enough, or just can’t afford another set of crockery etc. which I should think that this was mostly the case. Even though they do value their faith highly, sometimes it is impractical to do things. Liberal and Reformed Jews may believe that you don’t have to have good crockery to show the value of their faith. As they have adapted the laws of Judaism to the modern world.
The children’s or teenagers social life (which they and every other child and teenager deems especially important!) will be affected. For they would not be able to go around friends for dinner, socialise or have a boyfriend or girlfriend that was non-Jewish. In the city for example since they wouldn’t be able to eat many things or at many places e.g. McDonalds. So in some ways I do realise why they stay in the Jewish communities, because it does make their lives easier. The children I think would miss out on experiences that other children that are not Jewish have e.g. going to parties and going out on school trips etc.
But Jewish people would think it benefits the children giving them strength and to know where they belong. It's also a fun and positive learning experience since they have a feeling of being safe, now that their history of persecution is behind them. It also brings them closer to the other Jews since they are probably far away from many because of the Diaspora. So Passover gives a connection between all Jews doing the same thing at the same time. Celebrating their freedom from the Egyptians and how lucky they are to be free since the holocaust.
Hitler’s plan for ethnic cleansing which involved the slaughter of 6million Jews also homosexuals, gypsies and black or Asian people. This must have tested most of the Jews faiths – how could God let this happen to us? And many rejected and denied their faith because they had no support also that most of Germany supported Hitlers plans and ideas and if they didn’t they would surely be shot. This was mainly due to Hitlers brainwashing of millions and them basically taking the best option, after all Hitler was basically recovering Germany after the great depression.
Also this makes them question their future freedoms because the Jewish are a minority and what chance have they got if it happens again.
Many Jews though feel lucky to be alive today – through all the suffering the Jewish race has been subjected to. For some the fact that they survived makes their faith stronger and encourages them to go on teaching the traditions and laws to the next generations, to keep the faith going and growing. Passover lets them enjoy their faith and learn and discover about their faith.
So Passover and the beliefs in general of Jews have an affect on how they lead their modern lives today. If reminds them how lucky they are. So they would say it greatly benefits them.
C) ‘Festivals are the best way to learn about your faith’
Do you agree? Give reasons to support your answer and show that you have thought about different points of view. You must refer to Judaism in your answer.
In the Jewish faith I think it is a good way to learn about their history and where they came from and their meanings. But they also learn from the synagogue where they learn how to read Hebrew and learn about the rights of passage e.g. Bar mitzvah, death etc. I think the festivals are another way of learning and more enjoyable for everyone.
But now mainly in the Christian countries when we celebrate Christmas or Easter children don’t often learn about the stories behind it unless they are in a truly committed Christian family. Children now mainly from when they are young only remember the materialistic side of it all.
But does that matter? Seeing that everyone would be happy? But that isn’t the case for everyone, some people are just happy to be as a family at these times and celebrating the birth of Jesus or the escape of the Israelites, like the poorer parts of countries. I doubt that many people in general think about people like that.
To me it doesn’t seem like Jews view this side of their faith by celebrating it with material objects. They think of others because they give 10% of their income to charity and to their faith e.g. the synagogue. In the western world the media and money drive us so we probably don’t celebrate festivals as we should do, not remembering the true meaning of them I admit I do do that, but that’s just the society I‘ve been bought up into. It's not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing. It's just the way society has grown and some people see faith as the most important thing in their life.
Some not so committed Christians – like my family for instance who just celebrate being together as a family having good food gifts and it really is a occasion to celebrate since we don’t get together very much but it doesn’t matter even if we just celebrate because of this.
So festivals don’t have to be about learning about the religion but I do agree it’s a good way to learn about it especially for children. It makes the learning more fun and they will probably value their faith more because of this.
But the festivals are a lot more religious in the Jewish circumstances than the Christian. Everything Jews do in these festivals reflects a meaning reminding them of there past. While Christian festivals do have a meaning but not to the extent of other religions.
Passover and other Jewish festivals are also something to look forward to and therefore look foreword to learning.
Festivals are good for learning, to value and celebrate your faith generally. But this is not the case for everyone. The west has become very materialised governed by money and the media. So I think that faith isn’t so important to some people any more.
Jews often feel when they celebrate a festival like Shabbat for example it brings them closer to the Jewish community around them also a sense of world wide belonging. Not just now but the past and their ancestry and everything that makes them Jewish. Their future, hoping that there faith would go on through the teachings of the festivals etc.
Orthodox Jews see that God is in everyday living not just when they have their festivals such as everyday chores such as washing the dishes to sleeping. This is probably why they have such strict rules to everyday living because they do believe that God is with them all the time. So festivals aren’t the only way Jews learn about their faith.
The children also go to the synagogues to go to shul, which is a school mainly held on Sundays after the Sabbath. Here they learn about how to read the torah the rites of passages etc. so this is also useful to Jews learning about their faith.
So although festivals are very important to Jewish people they also have other ways to commit themselves to their faith.
