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Passover is a Jewish celebration of freedom from Egyptian slavery, marked by a special feast called Seder. Jews eat unleavened bread and rid their homes of leavened bread. Christians also celebrate Easter, which coincides with Passover and may include a Seder.
Passover is the seven to eight day Jewish celebration (seven in Israel, eight outside of it) that marks the freedom of the Jews from the slavery of the Egyptians. According to the Old Testament, the Jews, led by Moses, had asked the Pharaoh of Egypt for freedom, but had been denied. To punish the Egyptians, God sent the 10 plagues to Egypt to get Pharaoh to release the Jews. The last of these plagues, and the most devastating, was to kill the firstborn male in every Egyptian family.
The Jews marked their doors with the blood of a sacrificed lamb so that the Angel of Death could protect their firstborn. This allowed Death to “pass over” the Jews in fulfillment of this latest plague. Easter is often translated from the term Pesach which means “to pass over” or “to protect”. In commemoration of the avoidance of the latter plague and subsequent freedom from Egypt, Jews around the world now celebrate Passover.
During Passover celebrations, the first two nights are spent at the Seder or at banquets. These special feasts include eating particular foods such as bitter herbs, sweet apples, and the traditional matzah bread. When Pharaoh freed the Jews, they fled their homes in such a hurry that there was no time for their ordinary bread to rise. The unleavened bread was thrown into baskets for the journey back to Israel and baked in the sun, resulting in a flatbread or cracker. In response, Jews who adhere to dietary laws rid their homes of all leavened bread, called chametz, before Passover begins.
The day before the onset of Easter is often called the fast of the firstborn. The firstborn males in the family may fast in remembrance of the fact that the firstborn Jewish males were spared during the massacre of the firstborn in Egypt. The first and last day of Easter are also days when work is prohibited.
Easter is both a sacred and celebratory time. It is associated with spring and begins on the fifteenth day of the Jewish month, Nisan. Because the Jewish calendar is based on the lunar cycle, the date of Passover changes every year in the Gregorian calendar, but Easter typically falls in March or April.
During Passover, Jews read the text of the Haggadah. This text is similar to Exodus in the Old Testament and also includes instructions for the proper celebration of Passover and the proper way to conduct the Passover Seders. Passover is also a time of education for young family members, who learn how each food item eaten during the Seder is not only a food item, but also a symbol of the Israelites’ captivity by the Egyptians and their subsequent freedom.
Some Christians also celebrate Easter, as most Christians believe that Jesus’ last meal before his crucifixion was a Passover Seder. In commemoration of the Last Supper, Christians may celebrate a Seder on the Thursday before Easter, which often coincides with the first date of the more traditional first day of Passover.
