5 Facts About Passover You Didn't Know
By
5 Facts About Passover You Didn't
Know
Every member of the Jewish community is
familiar with Passover. It’s one of the best times of the year to get the
family together, talk about history, give thanks, and eat matzah balls and fish
stew– what could be better?!
But not many Jews know every fact about passover. We’re not blaming any of them, either.
This is an old holiday, so there’s probably hundreds of stories and intricacies
to it that remain unknown, even to the most learned of us!
But that’s what we’re here for. We’re not
going to go through all the facts and
figures, of course, as you don’t have all day. We’re just going to talk through
five of our favourite facts and give you a little more info on the holiday that
we all love so much!
Passover Is Old -- Like, Really Old There are many Jewish holidays, we all know
that, but a fair few of them are actually quite young. Yom Ha’atzmaut, for
instance, was only started 75 years ago, when Israel found independence and was
declared a state. There are a large number of older holidays though, and
Passover takes the cake for being the oldest of them all. The very first was
celebrated in Egypt over 3,300 years ago. Phew. That’s a lot of matzah balls.
The Bread Ban Was Given To Moses
Himself All Jews know that leavened bread is not
permitted during Passover, but not everyone knows exactly why. Bread containing
yeast was actually forbidden by God himself, as he gave Moses instructions to
avoid yeast to reject Egyptian culture – explaining that it would cause
spiritual death in the same way as non-kosher foods. Don’t worry though, bread
is allowed on most other Jewish holidays, so you’ll put your new challah board to good use yet!
President Obama Brought Passover To
The White House Back in 2009, the first ever Passover seder
was held at the White House, courtesy of ex-President Barack Obama. He did this
to highlight the similarities between the American civil rights movement and
the Exodus story itself, and he continued to celebrate throughout his entire two terms as President.
Passover Goes By Another Name Although most members of the Jewish
community recognise Passover as… Passover. It actually goes by another name:
Chag Ha-Aviv (Holiday Of Spring). This is because Passover is not just a time
to commemorate Jewish suffering and escape from Egypt, but also the time at
which the world passes into the spring season – signifying growth, renewal and
new life.
It’s All About The Women! Obviously, the story of Passover revolves
heavily around Moses himself, but did you know that women were just as
intrinsic to the story? As many as five women are written to have ensured the
deliverance of the Jewish people. Two women refused to kill their newborns to
weaken the Israelite population, whilst three more women actively saved Moses’
life. Their heroic actions directly influenced what happened during the first
Passover, and their story should be known and celebrated!
