Passover Celebrates Triumph Of Freedom

Passover, the Festival of Freedom, is by far the most popular Jewish holiday and is probably observed more scrupulously than the Holy Days. One of the reasons for Passover's universal interest is its home character.

Members of Jewish families travel great distances to be together at the Seder table with their kin. The desire to participate in a Seder, no matter where a person may be, indicates that the childhood impressions of the holiday have a fast hold upon the Jewish heart.

Like Sukkot and Shavuot, Passover, or Pesach, was originally a nature festival that later took on historical significance. At one time it commemorated the barley harvest and the lambing season in ancient Palestine; it also marked the rejuvenation of life in general.

Eventually, an even greater meaning was attached to the celebration, one characteristic of the Jewish passion for ethics. Passover came to symbolize the Exodus from Egyptian bondage, which meant more than any other single historical event in the life of the ancient Hebrews. It was an exhortation to cherish freedom and liberty as one of the basic requirements of life.

Passover affirms that liberty is the right of every human being as a child of God. To accept subservience to an earthly being is to deny the rule of God. Passover marks the first time that a people challenged the institution of slavery and dared to defy their mortal master to serve a greater Master. The Israelites, unlike other people, never cared to conceal their humble origin. In fact, they persisted in remembering their slave status so that the difference between serfdom and freedom would remain eternally clear in their minds.

The Seder, which is held in traditional households on the first two nights of Passover, highlights the festival. The entire family is seated around the table with the father as teacher and the family as students; it is a class in audio-visual education, each object on the table representing a symbol of the freedom lesson.

The matzoh is the bread of affliction that forebears ate in haste while in flight from Egypt. The shank bone represents the paschal sacrifice offered by each family on the eve of Passover. The egg represents an additional sacrifice, but it has also been interpreted to signify the Jewish people -- just as the egg hardens when heated, so has the Jewish will to survive become more resolute with each added persecution. The bitter herbs are reminders of the anguish that the Jews experienced in servitude; the haroset, or mixture of apples, nuts, and wine, serves to recall the mortar that the Hebrews were forced to make under Pharaoh. The greens serve as the symbol of spring.

Four cups of wine are drunk at various intervals to recall the four times that God promised freedom to the Israelites. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, a fifth cup has been added in many homes, with an appropriate prayer.

Much of the Seder is geared to the interest of the children. The youngest anxiously awaits his or her turn to ask the four questions; they read with the family a description of four different kinds of children and their respective interest in Judaism; they attempt to "steal" the afikomen (dessert Matzoh), which is hidden at the beginning of the ceremony. The songs are postponed to the end of the service so that the children's interest will be maintained to the very end.

The Haggadah, out of which the family reads the account of Israel's flight to freedom, is a short history of the Jewish people rather than just a description of the holiday. Its passages help to entertain and instruct the more supple minds, to enlighten and to challenge the astute. The principal theme of the entire Haggadah is found in the passage: "In every generation each man must regard himself as though he left Egypt." The Jew is bidden to remind him or herself continually that the task of seeking freedom for the oppressed is never ended. One should never take freedom for granted, and "the more one repeats the story of the Exodus the more praiseworthy he becomes."

Passover Traditions

Passover bears several names in the Hebrew Bible. It is variously called hag ha-pesah (the Festival of the Passover offering), hag ha-matzot (the Festival of Matzoh) or hag ha-aviv (the Spring Festival). In rabbinic tradition, Passover is known as zeman hayrutaynu, the season of our freedom. Each name alludes to one aspect or symbol of this multi-faceted festival: the Paschal sacrifice; the matzoh (unleavened bread) eaten throughout the holiday; the spring harvest season; and Passover's historical basis in the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt.

Jewish tradition calls for the removal of all leavened products (hametz) from the home for the duration of the Passover holiday. Traditional Jews are scrupulous about this precept, and thoroughly clean their homes for days and weeks in preparation for the onset of Pesah.

In Israel, Passover is a seven-day holiday, with the first and last days observed as full days of rest (yom tov), and the middle five days celebrated as hol ha-moed (intermediate days of the holiday). In the Diaspora (outside the land of Israel), Passover is an eight-day holiday, with the first two and last two days observed as full days of rest, and the middle four days as hol ha-moed.

The traditional festival greeting Jews extend to one another is hag samayah (happy holiday). Since Pesah is a special holiday with unique dietary restrictions, many Jews offer a slightly different greeting during Passover: Hag kasher v'samayah (a happy and kosher holiday).