The spring holiday of PESACH (Passover) expresses national rebirth as well as the time of blooming flowers and young lovers. The Biblical "Song of Songs," attributed to a youthful King Solomon enraptured by an attractive black shepherdess, is read on Shabbat of PESACH. The rabbis in fact interpreted the subject matter to reflect the divine romance between God and Israel that began in Egypt and came to fruition in the Covenant of Sinai. The founding period of the Jewish national experience is relived annually in the holidays of PESACH and fifty days later, Shavuot, the holiday celebrating the giving of the Torah.

The story of the transformation of the clan of Abraham into the nation of Israel begins with the emigration of Jacob's children to Egypt during a famine in the land of Israel/Canaan. While initially welcomed as immigrants, a change of dynasty brought the empire-builder, Pharaoh Ramses II to power in the thirteenth century BCE. Still renowned for the magnificent buildings his slaves built for him in Luxor, he is described in the Book of Exodus as a paranoid tyrant who was terrified that the foreigners, the Semitic descendants of Jacob, would form a "fifth column" of tyrants and betray Egypt to its enemies. Developing a policy of genocide under the guise of harsh labor, he tried unsuccessfully to stop their profligate population growth, even by drowning male newborns into the holy river Nile. The next Pharaoh abandoned genocide for a more pragmatic policy of crushing political opposition while exploiting the cheap labor force of the Hebrews. The Hebrew population in Egypt increased but its national consciousness was stifled until God commissioned Moses at the burning bush to negotiate their release and return to their native homeland. Moses' plea to "Let my people go!" (later immortalized in black spiritual music and echoed by the black civil rights movement of Martin Luther King, Jr.) was met with a stony resistance by a tyrant for whom any compromise was a threat to his ego. Only the Ten Plagues, climaxed by the death of all the Egyptian firstborn, could pry a temporary release of God's firstborn, Israel, from Pharaoh’s clutches. Even then Pharaoh quickly regretted his decision and sent his armies barreling after his former slaves as they escaped through the Red Sea, which God had divided. As the refugees emerged from the other side, God swallowed up their relentless pursuers in the closing waters of the Red Sea. Once the people saw with their own eyes that their Egyptian master was dead, they were psychologrefrom his grasp and they could sing the "Song of the Sea" praising their Lord's strong hand and outstretched arm.

HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY

For many years the dating of the Exodus from Egypt was a controversial issue among scholars of the Near East. The Egyptian court scribes who recorded Egyptian history were of no assistance in solving the issue since the majority of their writings were intended to glorify the Pharaohs and thus avoided registering defeats or failures.

Topographical data and archaeological studies generally confirm the wandering in the desert and the conquest of Canaan as they are related in the Bible.

The Pharaoh mentioned in the Torah is apparently Ramses II (1304-1234) B.C.E.) who was famous for his building projects in the area of the Nile delta.

The Pithom of the Bible is identified with Tel Ratba of the Delta, which was called in ancient Egypt "The Home of the God Atum," and Ramses is taken to be Oresis, the capital of Ramses II.

"And they built store-cities for Pharaoh, Pithom and Ramses. "According to cognates in Akkadian, the Hebrew "miskenot" were known to be fortified store-houses. We also find in Chronicles "and storehouses for the increase of corn and wine oil!" (2 Chr. 32:28).

It is difficult to set a precise date on the Exodus. The range among the scholarly proposals varies by about 50 years: William Albright, the American Oriental scholar, set the date as 1290 B.C.E. Archaeological excavations carried out between the two world wars confirmed the thesis that the Exodus occurred in the first half of the 14th century BCE and the conquest of Canaan took place in the second half of the century.

PESACH SEDER

The traumatic birth story of the Jewish nation in Egypt was engraved in our memory by the annual re-enactment of that fateful night of the Plague of the Firstborn. As in Egypt, Jews were commanded to conduct a scrupulous spring-cleaning, removing all chametz (leavened bread or any grain product that may have fermented) in order to prepare for the home sacrifice of the PESACH Lamb. In modern times, the surplus chametz products are stored/put in a cupboard and sold to a non-Jew, creating the legal fiction of a leaven-free house. After the house has been cleaned on the night of PESACH, a chametz search with a candle, wooden spoon and a feather is conducted into all the nooks and crannies where breadcrumbs may be hidden. The next morning Biur Chametz involves the ritual burning of the last crumbs and then the Fast of the Firstborn begins. At nightfall at the very time that the Hebrews of Egypt had gathered into their homes and prepared for the mass exodus, Jews in every generation have gathered for the PESACH Seder. In Egypt itself (just before the actual historical happening), the blood of a lamb was dabbed on the mezzuzot (the doorposts) of the house to mark off a Hebrew household over which the Angel of Death would "pass over" as the Plague of the Firstborn Egyptians proceeded.

The Seder (Order of the Ritual) involves a symbolic reliving of enslavement, the ten plagues, and the unforgettable night of liberation accompanied by an official guidebook called the Hagaddah. In a typically Jewish fashion, memories are not only recited/recalled orally but consumed as edible symbols. The Seder Plate provides the delectable "props" of the Pesach scene while the Hagaddah serves as the "script" with extensive "stage directions".

ACT ONE

The first of the four cups of wine opens the evening with a toast to freedom followed by spicy appetizers such as celery dipped in salt water. The atmosphere which the rabbis sought to evoke belongs to a Roman upper-class symposium and banquet. Each participant reclines on a couch or at least on a cushion affixed on his chair while he is served wine and dips.

ACT TWO

The second cup signals the story-telling aspect of the evening. Children, beginning with the youngest, are encouraged to ask the traditional Four Questions as well as add their own inquiries. Then-the parents respond to the questions by retelling the story of bondage symbolised by the eating of maror (bitter herbs) dipped in harosset (a sweet, sticky, apple-and-nut mixture reminiscent of the mortar used in brick making in Egypt). Then the Ten Plagues are recited while spilling a drop of wine for each. The hasty departure from Egypt which found the Hebrews carrying their unleavened dough into the desert on their backs is commemorated by eating matza. Once, during Temple times, sacrifice of the Pesach lamb was invoked by making a delicatessen sandwich of matza, maror, a mustard-flavored harosset and a sliced of barbecued lamb.

At the conclusion of the festive meal, a final piece of matza is to be eaten. However, it is traditional that the children 'steal' the piece of matza that has been set aside for that purpose, the Afikomen, and hold it for ransom until the parents promise them a prize.

ACT THREE

The blessing after eating is concluded with yet another cup of wine and then a special large cup for the prophet Elijah is poured. The door is opened expectantly for the prophet with the hope that this night of past liberation will be a night of renewed redemption.

ACT FOUR

The Biblical Psalms of Hallel are sung over the fourth cup of wine as the guests and the intergenerational family meld together into an intimate community. Playful popular Pesach songs such as "Chad Gad Ya" and "Who Knows What One Stands For") conclude the Seder.