Monday, March 05, 2007
Passover Celebration For All Ages
The Passover is meant to celebrate the freedom of the Jewish people from the Egyptians nearly 3,300 years ago. Explained in the book of Exodus, God directed Moses and Hebrews to offer and consume roasted lamb to symbolize the Passover sacrifice. They were then instructed to spread the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and lintel to serve as a sign to pass over the home thus protecting them from the last plague - death of the first born son.
The offering of lambs in ritual today has mainly been substituted with the roasting of eggs and shankbone. This celebration has since been recognized as a feast day named Passover Seder. Your Passover celebration will be made more meaningful when you keep the meaning of the holiday in mind as you shop for your Passover decorations and party supplies. Declaring the importance of the Passover procedure, the Passover Haggadah gives a narration in Hebrew of the story as well as prayers and many other resources useful in celebrating the holiday. The celebration lasts seven or eight days and begins at sundown on the 15th day of Nissan in the Hebrew calendar. Why the difference in days of celebration? It has to do with the conversion of calendar days. The Passover in Israel is celebrated for seven days based on scriptures but the Jewish calendar is a function of the lunar cycle and scholars added the extra day to make room for the differentiation in the moons location in the sky.
The importance of Passover today has a tiered level of significance. First, it is a historical and biblical event signifying the escape from Egyptian slavery of the book Exodus. Secondly, this celebration acts as an agricultural marker in that the celebration of spring brings new beginnings in a growing season. You will see this theme carried out in many of the Passover party decorations and ideas you will shop for. Lastly, the religious significance gives God the recognition of as being the redeemer of the Hebrew peoples. One could also argue that another important prospect of the Passover in Kabbalistic traditions notes that the play out of God's commandments in observation of the Passover fulfills the redemption process and highlights his mercy as justice.
