The celebration of the Seder meal brings families together from all over the world to remember the great events of the past and to “live themselves as though they had just escaped from Egypt.”
At the heart of Judaism is the covenant relationship the Jews have with God. They believe that they are God’s chosen people and therefore have a responsibility to worship God and keep His commandments. In return, He will love and protect them.
The Shema outlines God’s expectations of His chosen people:
“Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is One.”
During Pesach, Jews can draw close to God through prayer, worship and study of the Torah. Jews can learn about the covenant relationship and about God’s role as the manager of human history.
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and with all your strength.”
Observing festivals, including Pesach is a way of demonstrating devotion and keeping this section of the Shema.
“You shall teach these words diligently to your children.”
Throughout Peasch, children learn huge amounts of the history of Judaism, the Passover story and some of the meaning behind Jewish symbolism and worship.
At the Seder meal, Jews remember the sufferings of their ancestors at the hands of the Pharaoh in Egypt. Since the Holocaust and even before then, Jews have been widely dispersed and persecuted throughout their history. Some Jews may make the connection between the suffering of the recent grandparents and parents in the Holocaust and the slavery of their ancestors in Egypt.
Despite this persecution and dispersion, Jews still believe themselves to be part of one big family. From this the Zionist Movement campaigned to move all Jews back to the state of Israel and establish a national homeland in Palestine.
Therefore during Passover, it is important for Jews that as much of the family can manage to meet up and celebrate the liberation together. Jews travel from all over the world to find families and Passover is one of the most important meeting points of the year. This is why it is considered to be one of the Pilgrimage festivals, because Jews will also remember the state of Israel in the Seder meal. Many Jews consider Israel to be their homeland.
Many Jews who do not regularly attend the synagogue will celebrate Pesach as it marks such an important event in Jewish history. It is likely that Jews will take time off work in order to participate fully in the festival. Celebrating Pesach could be said to increase an individual’s awareness of his or her faith and to value their freedom to celebrate.
Pesach also reminds Jews to look to the future. This may make them more conscious of their actions towards others as when the Messiah comes to Earth, they will be held accountable for all their doings.
