Judaism: Pesach (AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062))

Pesach

• Pesach celebrates the release of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt and is also known as 'Passover'

• The story of Passover is in the Book of Exodus, Chapter 12 in the Torah

• God commanded that Jews celebrate this festival every year as a mark of freedom:

• It is sometimes referred to as the Festival of Freedom, and prayers are said each year for those who are not free

• Jews remember how the Israelites left slavery behind them when Moses led them out of Egypt more than 3,000 years ago

  • Moses went to see the Pharaoh many times, but each time he refused to release the Israelites

  • Moses warned the Pharaoh that God would send ten plagues on Egypt if the Pharaoh did not let them go

  • The ten plagues were

The ten plagues of Eygpt

• During the final plague, God is said to have told Moses to tell the Israelites to paint lamb's blood on their doorposts

• This way, the angel of death would know that Jewish people lived there

  • It would pass over that house and not kill the first-born child

  • This is where the name Passover comes from

• For the last plague, even Pharaoh's son was killed

• He summoned Moses and told him to take the Israelites out of Egypt immediately

• Finally, after more than 200 years of slavery, the Jewish people were free

How is Pesach Celebrated?

• In preparation for Pesach, Jews remove all grain products from their houses (called chametz)

  • Grain is not allowed to be eaten during the festival

• Leavened goods (containing yeast), such as bread, beer and oats are also removed from the house and Jews thoroughly clean to remove any trace of these

  • This is linked to the Israelites not having time to allow their bread to rise as they left Egypt

• Candles are lit to welcome Pesach

• The family goes to the synagogue where special prayers are recited and passages from the Torah are read

• A special meal is held called the Seder Meal

  • There are many symbolic foods on the table:

    • A lamb bone, which symbolises the lamb that was sacrificed

    • A boiled egg which is a symbol of new life

    • A green vegetable dipped in salt water to symbolise the tears of the Jews in slavery

    • Bitter herbs symbolising the bitterness of slavery

    • Charoset, which is a paste of apples, walnuts and wine represents the mortar the slaves used when being forced to build

    • Unleavened bread (Matzah) is eaten, again as a reminder that their ancestors didn’t even have time to allow their bread to rise

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Symbolic foods 

• Four glasses of wine are drunk symbolising joy and one glass of wine is left for the Prophet Elijah who will return to announce the coming of the Messiah

  • Wine is also a symbol of the lambs’ blood painted onto the doorposts to save Jewish children from the final of the ten plagues

• The foods on the Seder plate each symbolise a part of the Exodus story, which is retold during the meal using a book of ritual called the Haggadah