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Long Island Passover Jewish Holiday Celebration Events
Celebrating Passover on Long Island, New York |
One of the Jewish religion’s most sacred and widely observed holidays, Passover (Hebrew: Pesach) commemorates the story of the Israelites' departure from ancient Egypt, which appears in the Hebrew Bible's books of Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, among other texts. Jews observe the weeklong festival with a number of important rituals, including traditional Passover meals known as seders, the removal of leavened products from their home, the substitution of matzo for bread and the retelling of the exodus tale. |
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Passover Jewish Holiday Celebration on Long Island New York
Find your Conservative, Reform, Orthodox or Reconstructionist Jewish
temple/synagogue to celebrate Passover Jewish Holiday on Long Island, New York.
Click here for directory of Jewish temples on Long Island New York.
Visit theLong Island Browser events calendar to find Passover events on Long Island. For other Jewish Holidays events on Long Island such as Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, Simchat Torah, Hanukkah (Chanukah/ Chanukkah), Tu B'Shevat, Purim, Pesach (Passover), Lag B'Omer, Shavu'ot, Tisha B'Av visit the
Long Island Browser events calendar Jewish Holidays
page. |
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The Passover Story
According to the Hebrew Bible, Jewish settlement in
ancient Egypt first occurs when Joseph, a son of the
patriarch Jacob and founder of one of the 12 tribes of
Israel, moves his family there during a severe famine in
their homeland of Canaan. For many years the Israelites
live in harmony in the province of Goshen, but as their
population grows the Egyptians begin to see them as a
threat. After the death of Joseph and his brothers, the
story goes, a particularly hostile pharaoh orders their
enslavement and the systematic drowning of their
firstborn sons in the Nile. One of these doomed infants
is rescued by the pharaoh’s daughter, given the name
Moses (meaning “one who is pulled out”) and adopted into
the Egyptian royal family.
When he reaches adulthood, Moses becomes aware of his
true identity and the Egyptians’ brutal treatment of his
fellow Hebrews. He kills an Egyptian slave master and
escapes to the Sinai Peninsula, where he lives as a
humble shepherd for 40 years. One day, however, Moses
receives a command from God to return to Egypt and free
his kin from bondage. Along with his brother Aaron,
Moses approaches the reigning pharaoh (who is unnamed in
the biblical version of the story) several times,
explaining that the Hebrew God has requested a three-day
leave for his people so that they may celebrate a feast
in the wilderness. When the pharaoh refuses, God
unleashes 10 devastating plagues on the Egyptians,
culminating in the slaying of every firstborn son by an
avenging angel. The Israelites mark the doorframes of
their homes with lamb’s blood so that the angel will
recognize and “pass over” each Jewish household.
Terrified of further punishment, the Egyptians convince
their ruler to release the Israelites, and Moses quickly
leads them out of Egypt. The pharaoh changes his mind,
however, and sends his soldiers to retrieve the former
slaves. As the Egyptian army approaches the fleeing Jews
at the edge of the Red Sea, a miracle occurs: God causes
the sea to part, allowing Moses and his followers to
cross safely, then closes the passage and drowns the
Egyptians. According to the Hebrew Bible, the Jews—now
numbering in the hundreds of thousands—then trek through
the Sinai desert for 40 tumultuous years before finally
reaching their ancestral home in Canaan, later known as
the Land of Israel.
Questions of Historical Accuracy
For centuries, scholars have been debating the details
and historical merit of the events commemorated during
the Passover holiday. Despite numerous attempts,
historians and archaeologists have failed to corroborate
the tale of the Jews’ enslavement in and mass exodus
from Egypt. Although the ancient Egyptians kept thorough
records, no mention is made of an Israelite community
within their midst or any calamities resembling the 10
biblical plagues. There is also no evidence of large
encampments in the Sinai Peninsula, the fabled site of
the Jews’ wandering, or any sudden fluctuation in
Israel’s archaeological record that would indicate the
departure and return of a large population.
A handful of scholars, including the first-century
Jewish historian Josephus, have suggested a link between
the Israelites and the Hyksos, a mysterious Semitic
people - possibly from Canaan - who controlled lower Egypt
for more than 100 years before their expulsion during
the 16th century B.C. Most modern academics, however,
have dismissed this theory due to chronological
conflicts and a lack of similarity between the two
cultures.
Passover Traditions
One of the most important Passover rituals for observant
Jews is removing all leavened food products (known as
chametz) from their home before the holiday begins and
abstaining from them throughout its duration. Instead of
bread, religious Jews eat a type of flatbread called
matzo; according to tradition, this is because the
Hebrews fled Egypt in such haste that there was no time
for their bread to rise, or perhaps because matzo was
lighter and easier to carry through the desert than
regular bread.
On the first two nights of Passover, families and
friends gather for a religious feast known as a seder.
During the meal, the story of the exodus from Egypt is
read aloud from a special text called the Haggadah
(Hebrew for “telling”), and rituals corresponding to
various aspects of the narrative are performed. For
example, vegetables are dipped into salt water
representing the tears Jews shed during their time as
slaves, and bitter herbs (usually horseradish)
symbolizing the unpleasant years of their bondage are
eaten. A seder plate at the center of the table contains
Passover foods with particular significance to the
exodus story, including matzo, bitter herbs, a lamb
shankbone and a mixture of fruit, nuts and wine known as
charoset, which represents the mortar Jews used while
bonding bricks as slaves in Egypt. Other typical menu
items include matzo kugel (a pudding made from matzo and
apples), poached fish patties called gefilte fish and
chicken soup with matzo balls.
Children play an important role in the seder and are
expected to take part in many of its customs. At one
point during the meal, the youngest child present
recites the four questions, which ask what distinguishes
this special night from all other nights. In many
households, young people also enjoy participating in the
traditional hunt for the afikomen, a piece of matzo that
is hidden early in the evening. The finder is rewarded
with a prize or money.
Source
http://www.history.com/topics/passover
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