Describing the Passover
In Judaism, the Jews commemorate the Exodus narrative through the Passover feast. They remember the tribulations their forefathers underwent during their enslavement in Egypt and God’s saving power by sending them Moses, who led them out of the land of slavery. At the Passover feast, several customs were observed to signify the event. From the Biblical doctrines, Passover is narrated naturally and told from Exodus, one of the Torah Books in the corpus of Jewish beliefs (Ryan 3). This ceremony represents a distinct aspect of the Jewish story as God’s chosen nation. Philosophical explanations in the Hebrew Bible claim that God gave Moses the order to free his chosen people from slavery. To liberate the Israelites, God sent ten plagues on the land of Egypt due to Pharaoh’s defiance of His commands.
The first recorded instance of Israelite (Jews) settlement in Egypt dates back to Joseph, the son of patriarch Jacob, who relocated his family there amid devastating starvation in Canaan. It took a long time when the Israelites coexisted peacefully in the Goshen region (Ryan 8). According to Ryan, in the Hebrew narrative, in fear of the Jewish numbers, Pharaoh ordered their slavery and the purposeful killing of the Israelite’s firstborn sons (8). However, as their numbers increased, the Egyptians started to perceive them as a concern for their rule.
Jews sacredly uphold Passover as a reminder of their liberation from bondage after more than three millennia. Concerning Passover night, Israelites were forced to flee Egypt by the Egyptian ruler, Pharaoh, in such a hurry that they had to eat unleavened bread (Ryan 12). They escaped under Moses’ leadership and set out on their mass movement (Exodus) as God’s chosen nation. The Passover is designed to be lived out and remembered daily by overcoming anxieties, limitations, and personality flaws.
Religious Symbols Used in Passover
Matzar, maror, and beitzah are significant religious symbols that Judaism recognizes as crucial during the Passover. Matzar, the unleavened bread, represents the powerful symbol used in the Passover. The Israelites did not s any rising agent or leaven in making this bread. According to Exodus, during the escape of Hebrews from the oppressive rule of Pharaoh in Egypt, they had limited time, and they could not wait for the bread to rise; therefore, they had to eat the flat unleavened bread as their last supper (Thames 3). As the Jewish custom, it is a must for them to consume matzar prepared with water and flour only. Matzar is a symbol that enables Jews to remember their forefathers’ experiences of deprivation and slavery that their forefathers underwent. Matzar also urges children to refrain from bloated egos and embrace their freedom.
The second symbol is maror, which describes the bitter herbs eaten by the Hebrews during the Passover feast, and the tradition of eating them has to be maintained according to Torah. Much bitterness was associated with slavery in Egypt, symbolized by maror in Hebrew’s holy text “Haggadah” (Thames 6). Judaism and the believers in this religious faith offer a particular invocation over maror before immersing it into a brown sauce and then consuming it. The “Halakha” further specifies how much maror would be eaten and the duration would take.
The last Passover representation is the beitzah, symbolizing the celebratory sacrifices offered in Judaism and forming a central part of the Jewish Passover feast. Beitzah also reminds us of how powerful the Jewish faith is. Beitzah enables us to learn that the adversity Hebrews faced only strengthened the people instead of making them backslide in their faith in Yahweh. In different understanding, people even link the beitzah to the grief for the destruction of the Jewish temple. The Romans and Babylonians demolished the Jewish temples in 70 BC and 586 BC, respectively (Thames 9). A fresh start and prospect of a new living for the Hebrews during their Exodus is another meaning of beitzah.
Beliefs behind the Passover
Judaism relates several beliefs to the milestone Passover feast that marked the end of their enslavement in Egypt. Jewish religious beliefs have roughly a 4,000-year history and have developed an application of Judaism’s concepts and practices in various settings (Thames 15). The Jewish tradition believed that matzo was relatively convenient to carry in the desert due to its light nature. This belief depicted the preparedness for a long journey to Canaan.
Theological studies link Jews to a firm belief in angels; during Passover, they believed in the angel of death. Moses instructed the Hebrews to identify their houses with blood on their doors. During the 10th plague, the angel of death would “pass over” without bringing destruction (intended for the firstborn sons of Egyptians) to their houses (Thames 16). The Hebrew Bible does not recognize polytheistic labor division; the universe is centered on a single declaration of heavenly sovereignty. The Jewish believe God created the universe and controls life or death situations.
In doing this, on Passover night, God unleashed His wrath on the Egyptian households by releasing the angel of death to kill the firstborn sons. Moses had also been given measures to ensure the safety of the Israelite families during this devastating night. The belief in God’s protection saved the Jew’s homes from the devastation that was to come over the people of Egypt. As a result, Passover became the celebration of remembering the departure from Egypt. From then, this event became an iconic reminder of God’s care and protection for His people, and this belief enabled the Hebrews to survive difficulties in their journey through the desert.
Works Cited
Ryan, Maurice. “Christians and the Jewish Passover seder: Christian educational responses to a Jewish celebration.” Journal of Religious Education (2022): 1. Web.
Thames J. T. (2019). Keeping the paschal lamb: Exodus 12.6 and the question of sacrifice in the Passover of Egypt. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 44(1), 3-18. Web.