One of the most traditional festivals in Christianity is the Easter, always celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon occurred with the end of the spring/autumn equinox. This festival, in turn, does not originate in Christianity, but in Judaism, the traditional religion of the Hebrews. The Jewish Passover is an ancient tradition that recalls the liberation from Hebrew people.
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Easter (Passover)
The Jewish Passover is known to Jews as Passover, Hebrew word that means ticket. The Passover celebrated by the Jews is also one of their most important religious festivals, as is the easter for christians. The Jewish Passover is celebrated according to the Jewish calendar.
O Jewish calendar (or Hebrew calendar) is known to be a calendar lunisolar, that is, it is based on the cycles of the Moon and the Sun. The Jewish Passover is celebrated annually on the day 14 of nissan (or Nisan), for the fact that the first Passover celebrated by the Jews, while they were slaves in Egypt, took place in the days
14 and 15 of nissan, about 3500 years ago.The first Easter took place in the context of slavery of the Hebrews in Egypt. These, originating from Abraham, settled in Canaan and, after a time of drought and lack of food, they moved to Egypt, where they ended up being enslaved. The deliverance of the Hebrews was accomplished by moisés, right after the execution of the ten plagues in Egypt, according to the Jewish narrative.
The Passover took place just before the execution of the tenth plague, in which the Angel of Death went down to Egypt and killed all the firstborn in that land. The angel of death only did not pass through the houses of those who had followed the orders of Yahweh, carrying out the feast, as it had been ordained, and passing the blood of the lamb on the posts of their doors. After the tenth plague, the Hebrews were freed from slavery and allowed to return to Canaan.
How did the Jews celebrate the Passover?
THE first easter celebrated by the Jews, even in the period of captivity in Egypt, is described in the biblical narrative as follows:
The Hebrews sacrificed a healthy one-year-old lamb on the 14th of nissan.
The animal was roasted whole and then consumed (what was not consumed was burned).
The Hebrews also consumed unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
The animal's blood was used to mark the doorposts of Jewish residences.
The celebration of Passover, according to later Jewish tradition, lasted for seven days, in which the consumption of foods with yeast was and remains strictly prohibited.
This feast is known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread (or unleavened bread).
In ancient times, Passover was used by the Hebrews to tell children about Jehovah, and many used to go to Jerusalem to celebrate Easter.
Wine (unfermented) was also used in the celebration of Passover by the Hebrews.
How do Jews celebrate Passover today?
Jews praying at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem during the Passover.*
THE Passover is a party that is celebrated until today in obedience to the command of Yahweh transcribed in the narrative, which says: “Celebrate this day as a religious feast to remember that I, the Lord, did this. You and your descendants must celebrate the Feast of Passover forever.”|1| Therefore, the Passover will be commemorated by Jews in the coming years on the following dates:
2019: April 19th and 20th
2020: April 8th and 9th
2021: March 27th and 28th
2022: April 15th and 16th
The Jewish Passover, in certain years, may coincide with the same date on which the Christian Passover is celebrated, but the meaning of the two differs. While the Jewish commemoration recalls the passage of the angel of death during the tenth plague that made the liberation of the Jews from slavery, the Christian Passover recalls Christ's sacrifice and resurrection, that is, his passage from death to life.
Passover is inaugurated with the If possible, that is, a dinner at which Jewish families gather to remember and celebrate the liberation of the Hebrew people. Dinner is held within a liturgical structure that includes: the reading of the haggadah, a book that contains the story of the liberation of the Hebrews; and the consumption of foods, each with its specific order.
illustration of a haggadah, a book that tells the story of the liberation of the Hebrews from Egypt and which is read during the If possible.
The Jews, during the Passover, do not eat anything fermented, and the celebration includes a series of foods that each have a different symbology. A common Passover tradition is known as Afikoman, in it the matzah (unleavened bread) is split in two, and the larger piece is hidden. After dinner, the children go looking for the piece of matzah, and the one who finds it will win a prize.
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What do Jews eat at Passover?
Unleavened bread (unleavened bread) which is used by the Hebrews during the If possible.
As mentioned, during the Passover, Jews do not consume anything that contains yeast, and thus all foods of that type are banned. During dinner, a series of foods is consumed, each of which has a distinct symbology. Let's see what each food means:
Matzah: it is an unleavened bread. In Hebrew tradition, the Jews, when allowed to leave Egypt, could not wait for the bread to leaven, so it is made of a very thin dough.
Wine: is a special wine for Passover and which is also not fermented. Four glasses of wine are served during the If possible.
Zeroa: it is a piece of bone with meat that has been roasted and symbolizes the sacrifice.
Maror: is a bitter root that symbolizes the bitterness of the time of slavery. The lettuce (chazeret) is also used to symbolize this bitterness.
Charosset: it is a paste that mixes apples, grapes and walnuts (it can also have dates, cinnamon and wine). It symbolizes the mortar that was used by the Jews to make bricks.
Salty water: symbolizes the tears and sweat shed by Jews during slavery. It is used for the consumption of boiled potatoes.
Beitzah: it is the boiled egg that symbolizes the hope for the recovery of the Temple of Solomon. It also symbolizes the mourning for the destruction of the temple.
These are the foods consumed during the dinner that inaugurates the Jewish Passover, but Jews cook and consume other dishes as well, such as the guelfite fish, a fish cake with a carrot on top. O If possible is so relevant in Jewish history that the Last Supper, a defining moment in the history and life of Christ, was celebrated during one of these typical dinners of the Passover.
|1| Exodus 12. To access, click on here.
*Image credits: Mikhail and Shutterstock
By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History
