Passover
The history of Passover starts over 3,000 years ago, when the Egyptian Pharaoh Rameses II, held the Jews as slaves. Moses' plea to let his people go was ignored. In response God unleashed a series of 10 terrible plagues. After the first 9 the Pharaoh agreed to release the Jews from slavery, but quickly changed his mind. To encourage the Pharaoh to free the Israelites the last plague God intended was to kill the first-born of both man and beast. The holiday's name - Pesach, means "passing over" in Hebrew, it is taken from the instructions given to Moses by God. To protect themselves, the Israelites were told to mark their dwellings with lamb's blood so that God could identify and "pass over" their homes. The Pharaoh finally agreed to freedom, the Israelites left their homes so quickly that there wasn't time to bake their bread for the long journey ahead, instead they packed raw dough to take with them. As they fled through the desert they would bake the dough in the hot sun into brittle, very thin crackers called matzohs. Today to honour this event, Jews eat matzoh in place of bread during the Passover celebrations.. Although the Jews were now free, the Pharaoh sent his army after them. The Jews traveled for 40 days and nights and reached the Red Sea. then a miracle occurred, the waves of the Red Sea parted and the Israelites were able to cross to the other side. As soon as they all reached the other side the sea closed, trapping the Pharaoh's army as the waves closed upon them. Passover is celebrated for 8 days and always begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan
courtesy of Dagenham and Barking Childminding Association
