The original ordinances concering the observance of Pesach, or Passover, are found in the twelfth chapter of the Book of Exodus. On the tenth day of the lunar month of Nisan (the first month of the Jewish year, corresponding roughly to the period from mid-March to mid-April), the Israelites were to take for each household an unblemished lamb from their flocks. On the fourteenth day, in the evening, the lamb was to be slaughtered and its blood placed on the doorposts and lintel on each house. The people were to eat the lamb roasted whole, along with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. Any flesh of the lamb that was left over to the next morning was to be burned, not eaten.
This was to be the Israelites' last meal in Egypt before their redemption from slavery. They were to sit and eat, prepared fro journey, sandals on their feet, staff in hand. That night an angel of the Lord was to travel through Egypt and "execute judgment," slaying all the firstborn of Egypt. Only those houses with the lamb's blood on their doorposts would be spared. These the angel would "pass over."
This day was to be commemorated as "memorial day" in generations to come. It was to commence a seven-day period of festival observance, during which time no leavened bread or leavening substance was to be found in any Israelite house. Unleavened bread (matzah) was to be eaten instead. The first and last days of the festival were to be "solemn convocations," during which no work could be done.
But the story of Passover, as we read it in Exodus, was cast into writing many centuries after the original events. It is a commposite festival, possibly representing the traditions of the different tribes and peoples that made up ancient Israel-those that came out of Egypt and those that joined them later in the desert, int he land across the Jordan River, and in the land of Canaan itself. The various elements-the Passover lamb, the unleavened bread, the household celebration, the public convocation, and the sotry of the deliverance from Egypt-fused into a festival much greater than the sum of its parts, a celebration not just of a specific historical event, but of freedom itself, and of the religious dedication and respect fro law and life that give meaning to freedom. Passover was to be a time of thanksgiving, of spring renewal, of family and community solidarity. Its hold on the Jewish people, its termendous significance in Jewish life and thought, cannot be calculated.
The Origins of Passover
Parts of the Passover observance resemble seasonal festivals of other peoples, in which a new agricultural cycle is mrked by a communal meal, at which time, according to Theodor Gaster in Festivals of the Jewish Year, the purity and perfection of the food consumed is of considerable importance. Hense, the reason for an unblemished lamb; for the requirement of inspecting if for four days; for eating it all in one night, lest it spoil; and for banning any food made with a fermenting substance (leaven). It was at one time a common practice, as well, to sprinkle the animal's blood as a sign of the bond between the participants of themeal, or as an appeal for protection fro their god-a practice still observed, for example, among the Amur Arabs of Palestine. Gradually, the Jews changed the significance of these practices to coincide with their saga of the Exodus from Egypt. For postbiblical Jews, the ritual of the lamb (called, in Hebrew, pesach) was seen to define the emerging people as a nation and to earn them the right of redemption. In the Bible itself, the blood on the doorposts was a sign to the slaying angel, that hemight "pass over" or "skip" (pesach) the Israelite homes; the eating "in haste," a sign of their impending journey; the unleavened bread, because they did not have time to bake with leaven. What perhaps began as inherited customs from other ancient peoples became vivid images in a drama of miraculous redemption, celebrating the co-operation of man and God in the establishment of freedom and the rejection of bondage and idolarty.
The Sedar
One of the most important ordinances of Passover is the obligation to retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt, explaining the symbols of the Passover meal:
. . .when your children shall say unto you: What mean ye by this service: that ye shall say: It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, for that He passsed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt. (Exodus 12:26-27)
This exchange between the generations takes place at the dinner table, in a ceremony known as the Seder ("order" or "procedure"). The Seder has, in fact, come to be the central part of the Passover celebration, replacing the sacrifice of the lamb, fulfilling the biblical command to retell, and providign a significatn occasion for families to gather and rehearse together the birth of the Jewish people. It is more than a simple recitation. Indeed, as the mood deepens, the household celebrating the Seder may begin to feel a part of te original Passover in Egypt.
The procedure in question is the eating of various foods symbolizing the experiences of the Israelites in Egypt: a roasted shank bone of a lamb (viewed by not eaten), representing the paschal sacrifice; matzah, the unleavened bread; bitter herbs, such as horseradish, to commemorate the bitterness of slavery; haroset, a mixture of apples, nuts, raisins, and cinnamon, representing the mortar with which the Israelites had to make bricks in Egypt; parsley and a roasted egg, to suggest perhaps the greenery and the renewal of life in springtime; and salt water to dip the egg and parsley in, representing the tears of the Israelite slaves. Many of these foods were actually condiments adopted from the Roman meal, upon which the Seder was modeled.
The foods are taken in a prescribed order along with appropriate explanations of their meaning, recitatin of blessings, and perhaps much informal discussion. A festive main course is included in the middle of the Seder. Four cups of wine are consumed, with proper blessings, in the course of the meal. An extra cup is filled, as well, and placedon the table "for Elijah" the prophet, who is assumed to be an invisible guest at the meal, or, as some believe, invited but not present-who may come "any day" and bring with him the era of the Messiah. The invitation to Elijah is thus an expression of hope, a look to future redemption, an assertion that the "exodus" into a better way of life, to peace and human brotherhood, is still in process.
The Passover Haggadah
The format of the Seder is provided by a book which the participants read together, known as the Haggadah ("telling" or "narrative"), a name which frequently refers to Jewish legend in general. The Passover Haggadah contains the story of the Exodus as it was transmuted and expanded by Jewish legend. It also contains songs, blessings, psalms, and, above all, "the Four Questions" (prefaced by the query: "Why is this night different from all other nights?"), demanding the reasons for each of four customs unique to Passover: Why do we eat only unleavened bread? Why do we eat bitter herbs? Why do we perform a ceremonial dipping twice instead of once? Why do we dine in a reclining position? Recited by the youngest child at the table and answered usually by the father presiding over the Seder, the Four Questions establish a stimulating mood for the Seder, for the constitute a challenge by the younger generation for their elders to make the tradition meaningful. The entire Seder is an answer to this challenge.
Sometimes each participant reads from the Haggadah and thus shares in the unfolding of the story of Passover. While the Haggadah may be merely an inexpensively printed pamphlet, it has often been put into the form of beautifully illuminated manuscripts.
What Goes On at the Seder
At the beginning of the Seder, the head of the family takes a piece of matzah wrapped in a napkin and hides it away to be searched for later by children, with a prize for the finder. This hidden matzah is called afikomen, from the Greek work (epikomon) of uncertain meaning, commonly translated as "dessert."
The Seder includes a parable of the "Four Sons," four types of children (wise, wicked, simple, and inarticulate) who ask about the meaning of Passover, with appropriate replies. Also included is a "Litany of Wonders," retelling the miraculous deeds performed by God, from the Passover through the covenant at Mount Sinai to the entry into a new land. Each deed is answered byt the cry "Dayyenu! ("It would have suffice us!"). Also during the Seder the participants recite the Hallel, or Psalms of Praise (Pslams 113-18), which are characterized by the exclamation, "Hallelujah!" One of these Pslams (114) actually deals with the events of the Exodus. It is a common practice to partake of the Passover meal in a relaxed or semireclining position. This, too, was a custom borrowed from the Romans, and the answer to one of the Four Questions explains that this was the sign of a free man and should therefore be ovserved in a festival commemorating release from bondage.
The invitation to Elijah is accompanied by the opening of the door of the house, a practice which actually originated in response to the outlandish charge during the Middle Ages that the Jews using the blood of Christian children to maek unleavened bread. The open door was a sign to all that the proceedings were honorable.
The songs of the Passover Seder normally include the famous Had Gadya, a ditty in the Aramaic language (akin to Hebrew) concerning an only kid. The songs, however, vary in each milieu-German and East European Jews possessing one set, Spanish Jews another, North African Jews another, and so on. This is a result of the tendency of Passover, like many Jewish observances, to take on the coloration of many different ages and places, a tendency also reflected in the drawings which adorn the older editions of the Haggadah.
Altogether, the Seder (observed for the first two nights of the festival) is a vivid lesson with "audio-visual" aids. More than this, however, it is a chance to relive the experience of redemption. Indeed, it is said that every person in every generation of Jews must consider himself as having been present in the Exodus, and , by implication, as being engaged in the continual struggle for freedom-not just freedom from tyranny and bondage, but also, by extension, from the idolatry of false ideals, from boredom, apathy, and anxiety; in short, freedom from anything which prevents a man from achieving true dignity and realizing his creative potential.
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