Pesach!

Yesterday was truly an experience worth treasuring.  Our community, Elim, has a string of events scheduled for the entire Holy Week and last night was the celebration of “Pesach”…

A ceremonial dinner was held at the auditorium and family members were provided their own respective tables.  My family was requested to be on stage where a table was set for us as well.  We were assigned to be the “model family” so that those in the other tables can watch how the ritual was to be done.

I am so thankful to the Lord that my wife and two kids were given the opportunity to serve as well.

Now, just what is “Pesach”, you ask?

Pesach is the Biblical holiday that commemorates the Hebrews’ rapid departure from ancient Egypt. The Jews had just endured over 200 years of exile, including several decades of torturous slave labor, and now God was going to fulfill His promise to Abraham—the promise to redeem the Jews and do justice to their slave-masters. Right before the Exodus, God commands the Jews to sacrifice one lamb per family and mark the Jewish doorposts with its blood. This would be a sign for God to “pass over” the Jewish homes as He slew the Egyptian firstborn—the last of ten supernatural attacks on the Egyptians. This is the origin of the name “Passover.”

We observe Passover much the same way the Jews did on the original Passover during the exodus from Egypt.  Ever since its inception the Passover mandate was to purge the home of any grain-based leavened item before Passover, to eat Matzah and bitter herbs on Passover, and (when we have a Holy Temple in Jerusalem) to bring a lamb as a Passover offering. The lamb is not done today due to the Temple’s absence – may it be rebuilt speedily in our days, but everything else is: the mad, meticulous scrubbing and cleaning of every nook and cranny, the Seders with the Matzah and bitter herbs, as well as four cups of wine, and the Shabbat-like services on the first and last days.

The lesson of Pesach is that you have unlimited potential. In Hebrew, Egypt is Mitzrayim—etymologically related to meitzarim, or borders. The moral of the Exodus story is that we all can escape our personal Egypts. And the “seek-and-destroy-any-leavened-particle” part of Passover teaches us to eradicate our puffed-up, inflated, doughy egos and be simple, flat, unleavened Matzot. The holiday of Pesach contains innumerable lessons, laws and customs.