Passover : History and Meaning of Freedom in Faith
Passover celebrates the Jewish people's freedom from Egyptian bondage that took place over 3,500 years ago, as told in the first 15 chapters of the biblical Book of Exodus. Under the reign of Pharaoh (King) Thutmose III* in Egypt in 1476 BCE (meaning 'Before Common Era', a Jewish substitute for BC), the Jewish leader Moses led his people out of Egypt after a series of 10 plagues that were created by G-d and initiated by Moses. Prior to most of the plagues, Moses had warned the Pharaoh about each plague and that it would devastate his people, if he refused to let them go. After each plague, the Pharaoh agreed to let the Hebrews go, but the Pharaoh soon changed his mind and continued to hold the Hebrews as slaves. Finally, after the 10th plague, the Pharoah let the Hebrews go for good. However, after the Hebrews left in a hurry, in fact so quickly that they did not have time to bake any bread for the trip to Canaan (Palestine), and instead baked unleavened bread called Matzah, the Pharaoh, being very fickle, changed his mind after a short time and sent his army into the Sinai Desert after the Hebrews. The Hebrews had been wandering for 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness of the Sinai peninsula until they reached the Red Sea. When they saw the Egyptian army fast approaching toward them, they called out in despair to Moses. Fortunately, G-d intervened and commanded Moses to strike his staff on the waters of the Red Sea creating a rift of land between the waves, enabling the Jews to cross through the Red Sea to safety on the other side. Once the Israelites were safely across, G-d then commanded Moses to strike the waters of the Red Sea with his staff again, just as the Egyptian army followed them through the parted Red Sea. The waters came together again, drowning the entire Egyptian army and the Hebrews were saved.

* Historians have different views on the exact date of the Exodus. 1476 BCE is the generally accepted date, a time when Thutmose III ruled. Other claims by historians are 1134 BCE, when Rameses (or Ramses) II ruled, or during the time of either Pharaoh Adikam, Malul, or Pepi (Phiops) II, the latter being the 6th and last dynasty of the Old Kingdom in Egypt, circa 2200 BCE. Incidentally, the name Pharaoh means 'Great House' in the ancient Egyptian language and originally referred to the Royal Palace in ancient Egypt, but gradually came to be a title reserved for the ruler or king of ancient Egypt who at different times in the course of history viewed himself as either a G-d in human form, the son of a G-d, or agent of a G-d; usually the G-d of the Sky, who was named Horus. However, from the 5th Dynasty onward, the Pharaoh was viewed by the ancient Egyptians as the son of Ra, the Sun G-d.

'Pesach' means 'Passover' in Hebrew and - you guessed it - means to 'pass over'. An alternate spelling is 'Pesah'. In French, the word for 'Passover' is 'Pessah' and in Spanish, the word for 'Passover' is 'P�saj'.

Since the time of Jewish freedom from Egyptian slavery, Jews have celebrated this historical event by having a feast called the 'Seder'. The word 'Seder' means 'order' or 'procedure' in Hebrew and refers to the order of historical events recalled in the Passover meal as well as the meal itself. The story of Passover is read from a book called the 'Haggadah', meaning 'narration' or 'telling' in Hebrew. While the main story of Passover is read by Jews the world over, local customs - including musical and culinary traditions - have been added over time so that the Passover festival has adapted to reflect the life and routines of Jewish communities in different countries. This is why the festival of Passover is celebrated differently in Tunisia than in Canada.

Passover is celebrated for 8 days (7 for Reform Jews), and always begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan (or Nissan). Since the Jewish day begins at sundown, Passover actually starts at sundown on the evening prior to the first full day of Passover in the Christian calendar.
From:  http://www.angelfire.com/pa2/passover/index.html
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1