DOCSLIB.ORG

Dear Readers, the Complexity and Depth of the Passover Story

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Dear Readers, the Complexity and Depth of the Passover Story Dear Readers, The complexity and depth of the Passover story epitomizes what it means to be Jewish. In the following pages, I am pleased to present a selection of Passover-related JTA articles from the last 90 years. From items of historic proportion to smaller personal narratives, these stories of challenges and triumphs, fear and transcendence exemplify the spirit of the holiday. You can read about the first telephone call between the United States and Palestine, the horrors that didn’t pause for Passover during World War II, the first seders in Jerusalem in the new State of Israel, alternative Haggadahs, and celebrations in far-flung corners of the world. This collection is a preview of what will be available for free when the JTA Jewish News Archive is launched later this spring. With more than a quarter million articles dating back to 1923, the Archive will provide everyone -- from the historian to the student to the casual user -- with access to contemporaneous, first-hand reporting from around the world during a momentous century in Jewish history. The Passover-related articles included here have provided me with a fresh and inspirational perspective on this pivotal season. I hope you find inspiration in them, as well. Passover is a story everyone can learn from, so please share this collection with others. Happy Passover, illustration: Uri Fintzy Ami Eden Editor in Chief, JTA archive.jta.org | Free May 3 MARCH 27, 1924 “Falasha Sabbath” During Passover Week to Aid Colored Jews NEW YORK (JTA) - The annual appeal of the American Pro- Falasha Committee, in behalf of the Falasha Jews in Abyssinia, has been announced by Rabbi J. Max Weis, Secretary of the Com- mittee and Director of the appeal. Rabbis throughout the country have been asked to devote their message at one service, during the week of Passover, to the Falasha cause, the first Sabbath in the Passover week, April 19th being des- ignated “FALASHA SABBATH.” The appeal is for $30,000. The officers of the American Pro-Falasha Committee include: Dr. Elias Margolis of Mt. Vernon, New York, Chairman; Dr. Elias L. Solomon of New York City, President of the United Synagogue of America, Treasurer; Rabbi J. Max Weis, of New York City, Chair- man of the Falsha Committee of the Central Conference of Ameri- can Rabbis, Secretary. A synagogue in Gondar. (Photo by Sam Effron) APRIL 24, 1929 Soviet Co-Operatives Offer Kosher Passover Products For Sale Abroad Sealed and testified as Kosher by Russian Rabbis WARSAW (JTA) - An odd light on The representative of the Gostorg, the the anti-religious campaign now being Soviet commercial agency here, has of- conducted by the Jewish section of the fered for sale goose fat especially prepared Communist party in Soviet Russia in for the Passover in accordance with the connection with the Passover festival strict rules of the Orthodox code. The jars was thrown by the commercial offer of fat, prepared by the Soviet cooperatives made by the Soviet cooperative repre- of Charkoff, Kiev and Berditcheff, bear sentatives here to Jewish merchants and the labels “Kosher L’Pessach” (approved consumers’ cooperatives of Warsaw. for Passover). Kosher goose fat especially prepared The seal of Rabbi Levi Halevi Grossman, for Passover, is greatly in demand in City of Kiev, is attached to each jar. Certifi- this city on the eve of the festival, for cates of supervising rabbis attesting to the (illustration by Uri Fintzy) use by Jewish families to be eaten with kosher preparation of the fats are also fur- description of the names of the Talmu- the matzoth and for preparation of the nished. To make assurance doubly sure, dic treatises - composed by the super- special dishes during the holiday. the certificates of approval contain a full vising rabbis. archive.jta.org | Free May 3 APRIL 13, 1933 First Palestine-New York Conversation Brings Zionist Message to the Jews of America Landau, Weizmann say hello over 5,000 miles on the eve of Passover NEW YORK (JTA) - The first telephone con- Give to the Jews in the United States my greet- the future. The world-enlightened public opinion versation between the United States and Palestine ings and those of Palestine Jewry. will not permit medieval anti-Semitism to uproot took place Monday when Dr. Chaim Weizmann, Palestine today is the only bright spot in the and destroy men and women for no other crime former President of the Zionist World Organiza- Jewish world, permeated by an atmosphere of than that of belonging to the Jewish faith and race. tion and the Jewish Agency, who is visiting his healthy growth and steady progress. “To the Jews of the United States I say in this This feeling, however, is dimmed by the grave moment, at no time in Jewish history was mother in Haifa for the Passover holidays, spoke tragic occurrences in Germany, where the Jews, there such need for a united front and for a great to Jacob Landau, Managing Director of the Jew- after having lived for 1,600 years on German soil and concentrated effort for the upbuilding of the ish Telegraphic Agency. and made a great contribution to every walk of Jewish homeland in Palestine as in this trying hour The voice of Dr. Weizmann was clearly heard life, enriching German literature and science to no which threatens the very existence of the Jew in the over the line. “I feel privileged,” Dr. Weizmann mean degree, are deprived of their rights as citi- very heart of Europe. declared, “to be permitted to be the first to thus zens and turned into Pariahs. “My message to the “Dr. Weizmann informed Mr. Landau that he bridge this distance of about 5,000 miles between Jews of America is ‘Hope and Courage,’ Speak- intends to come to the United States on July 1st Palestine and New York. By a happy coincidence ing from Palestine,from where the Jew made and asked him to give his best wishes to Felix M. this happens to be the eve of Pesach, when the his great contribution to the moral development Warburg, prominently identified with the Jewish Jews in Palestine and throughout the world are of the world by giving it the Bible, whence the Agency for Palestine, Morris Rothenberg, Presi- celebrating the festival of the liberation of the conception of justice as the greatest human ide- dent of the Zionist Organization of America and al preached by our Prophets has gone out to the Louis Lipsky, President of the American Palestine Jews from the yoke of Egypt. world, I urge them not to despair for Campaign. APRIL 14, 1932 JANUARY 21, 1938 King George at Seder in Jerusalem: Shanghai Jews Get Relief A Memory of Fifty Years Ago From London Mayors’ LONDON (JTA) - The Jewish Chronicle I treated them ac- in its forthcoming issue this week recalls in its cording to their high Fund; Seek Mazoth “Fifty Years Ago” column, a new feature in- rank. They evinced SHANGHAI (JTA) - Leaders stituted recently, the visit to Jerusalem during great pleasure in the Passover fifty years ago of the present King, of the Jewish community today ceremony, and in the when he was Prince George, and his atten- renewed an appeal to American chanting of a hymn, dance with his brother, the late Prince Albert Jewish groups to provide matzoth Victor, at Seder in the home of the Rev. Ra- which had been spe- for the Passover festival, declar- phael Meyer Panigel of Jerusalem. cially composed in ing that with the destruction of The Rev. Panigel sent a telegram to Sir Mo- honour of their pres- the matzoth factory here the Jews ses Montefiore, which is reprinted in the Jew- ence by the Habam. King George III (Courtesy of Marion Doss) faced their first Passover with- out the ritual unleavened bread. ish Chronicle, in which he wrote: “Their Royal I then pronounced the benediction on Her Majesty (illustration by Uri Fintzy) Highnesses Albert the Queen (Queen Victoria), the Prince and Princess The London Lord Mayor’s Victor and George and their suitee done me of Wales (the late King Edward and Queen Alexan- Shanghai relief committee has the honour to be present in my house during der), and on our royal guests the Princes. The latter given 2,000 Shanghai dollars for the Passover service on the Seder night. expressed themselves highly gratified.” Jewish relief. archive.jta.org | Free May 3 archive.jta.org | Free May 3 APRIL 23, 1943 NAZIS START MASS-EXECUTION OF WARSAW JEWS ON PASSOVER Victims broadcast S.O.S. STOCKHOLM (JTA) - A massacre of the cut off. last 35,000 Jews in the Warsaw ghetto was (The American Representation of started by the Nazis on Passover with the the Zionist Laborite Party in occupied streets of Warsaw echoing to the shots of Poland today reported that it has received the Nazi murderers and the shrieks of the underground information stating that po- victims, while able-bodied Jews were try- groms have been going on not only in ing to defend themselves within the walls of the ghetto. the Warsaw ghetto, but also in a number The secret Polish radio station SWIAT was of cities in Galicia. A message from the heard here shortly after six o’clock last night Jews in the Warsaw ghetto indicated that transmitting the following frantic appeal not more than 40,000 Jews were left there from occupied Poland: “Death sentence has and that they expect mass-executions. been proclaimed on the last 35,000 Jews in It appealed to the world for immediate the Warsaw ghetto. Gun salvoes are echo- aid “before it is too late.” ing in the streets of Warsaw.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • THE TEN PLAGUES of EGYPT: the Unmatched Power of Yahweh Overwhelms All Egyptian Gods
    THE TEN PLAGUES OF EGYPT: The Unmatched Power of Yahweh Overwhelms All Egyptian Gods According to the Book of Exodus, the Ten Plagues were inflicted upon Egypt so as to entice their leader, Pharaoh, to release the Israelites from the bondages of slavery. Although disobedient to Him, the Israelites were God's chosen people. They had been in captivity under Egyptian rule for 430 years and He was answering their pleas to be freed. As indicated in Exodus, Pharaoh was resistant in releasing the Israelites from under his oppressive rule. God hardened Pharaoh's heart so he would be strong enough to persist in his unwillingness to release the people. This would allow God to manifest His unmatched power and cause it to be declared among the nations, so that other people would discuss it for generations afterward (Joshua 2:9-11, 9:9). After the tenth plague, Pharaoh relented and commanded the Israelites to leave, even asking for a blessing (Exodus 12:32) as they departed. Although Pharaoh’s hardened heart later caused the Egyptian army to pursue the Israelites to the Red Sea, his attempts to return them into slavery failed. Reprints are available by exploring the link at the bottom of this page. # PLAGUE SCRIPTURE 1 The Plague of Blood Exodus 7:14-24 2 The Plague of Frogs Exodus 7:25- 8:15 3 The Plague of Gnats Exodus 8:16-19 4 The Plague of Flies Exodus 8:20-32 5 The Plague on Livestock Exodus 9:1-7 6 The Plague of Boils Exodus 9:8-12 7 The Plague of Hail Exodus 9:13-35 8 The Plague of Locusts Exodus 10:1-20 9 The Plague of Darkness Exodus 10:21-29 10 The Plague on the Firstborn Exodus 11:1-12:30 --- The Exodus Begins Exodus 12:31-42 http://downriverdisciples.com/ten-plagues-of-egypt .
    [Show full text]
  • Advancedaudioblogs1#1 Top10israelitouristdestinations
    LESSON NOTES Advanced Audio Blog S1 #1 Top 10 Israeli Tourist Destinations: The Dead Sea CONTENTS 2 Hebrew 2 English 3 Vocabulary 4 Sample Sentences 4 Cultural Insight # 1 COPYRIGHT © 2013 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. HEBREW .1 . .2 4 0 0 - , . , . . . , .3 . . , 21 . . , . , , .4 . ; . 32-39 . . 20-32 , . ," .5 . , ENGLISH 1. The Dead Sea CONT'D OVER HEBR EW POD1 0 1 . C OM ADVANCED AUDIO BLOG S 1 #1 - TOP 10 IS RAELI TOURIS T DESTINATIONS: THE DEAD S EA 2 2. The miracle known as the Dead Sea has attracted thousands of people over the years. It is located near the southern area of the Jordan valley. The salt-rich Dead Sea is the lowest point on the earth's surface, being 400 meters below sea level. The air around the Dead Sea is unpolluted, dry, and pollen-free with low humidity, providing a naturally relaxing environment. The air in the region has a high mineral content due to the constant evaporation of the mineral rich water. 3. The Dead Sea comes in the list of the world's greatest landmarks, and is sometimes considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. People usually miss out on this as they do not realize the importance of its unique contents. The Dead Sea has twenty-one minerals which have been found to give nourishment to the skin, stimulate the circulatory system, give a relaxed feeling, and treat disorders of the metabolism and rheumatism and associate pains. The Dead Sea mud has been used by people all over the world for beauty purposes.
    [Show full text]
  • 7,12,20 Exodus 9-10 Sermon
    How Long Will You Refuse To Humble Yourself? Exodus 9-10 July 12, 2020 Rev. Dave Dorst CenterPoint Church Intro: A Plague Amid A Pandemic I could not believe wHat I was reading. As I was preparing tHis sermon, I Happened to open up my NewsFeed app on my pHone, and one of tHe first articles tHat I saw was titled: “A Plague Amid A Pandemic: East Africa, West Asia Combat Surging Locust Outbreak.”1 In the opening paragraph, a Kenyan farmer described tHe scene wHen tHe skies darkened over His farm witH millions of desert locusts: “It was like a storm, it was like Hail. THey covered everywHere… tHere was no sun.” That was back in MarcH and the experts were warning tHat tHe locusts will migrate tHis summer and cause Havoc all over again tHreatening some of tHe poorest countries in the world. A swarm of insects covering 1 mile can consume as mucH food as 35,000 people in a single day! The article went on to say: “A perfect storm of favorable weatHer, poor monitoring… and cHallenges in getting access to resources and regions because of the coronavirus has sparked the crisis, allowing locusts to reacH a scale unseen in decades, experts said.” THe UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Has killed 450 billion insects since tHe beginning of tHe year to save farmland and lives, and tHe World Bank is going to give $500 million in aid. But it’s a long figHt and tHey’re predicting hundreds of tHousands of Human deatHs every day by tHe end of tHe year due to starvation.
    [Show full text]
  • Passover Leaders Resource
    CELEBRATING PASSOVER IN COMMUNITY GROUPS LEADERS RESOURCE THE WELL SHEFFIELD Introduction What is Passover? Passover is the oldest and most important religious festival in Judaism, commemorating God’s deliverance of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt and his creation of the Israelite people. Passover is actually composed of two festivals, The Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover (which is sometimes used to refer to the single day and sometimes to the entire span of both festivals). The festival of Passover, known as Pesach, begins at sunset on the 14th of Nisan (usually in March or April) and marks the beginning of a seven day celebration that includes the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The focal point of Passover is a communal meal, called the Seder. Unlike the most Holy days of Christianity that are observed in Church, since the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in AD 70 Passover has been celebrated in the home with family and friends as they eat a meal together. The actual Seder meal in most Jewish homes is an elaborate feast, with food, games for the children, and plenty of time to tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt. It is not unusual for a Seder to last three to four hours! The Seder involves everyone present since they all have a Haggadah (Hebrew: "telling," the printed order of service, reading, and songs) and are called to share in reading and singing the story. In preparation for Passover, all chametz or leavened food (food with yeast) is removed from the house and cannot be eaten during the seven days of the Festival.
    [Show full text]
  • Barcelona Haggadot
    MUHBA LLIBRETS DE SALA, 22 BARCELONA HAGGADOT The Jewish Splendour of Catalan Gothic BARCELONA HAGGADOT The Jewish Splendour of Catalan Gothic Barcelona, the seat of a monarchy and a hub of Mediterranean trade, had an urban ethos that was receptive to the most innovative artistic in- fluences in the opening decades of the 14th cen- tury. At this juncture in the Gothic era, the city’s workshops constituted a highly active centre for the production of Haggadot, manuscripts that contain the ritual of the Passover meal, which were commissioned by families living in the Call (Jewish quarter) in Barcelona and in other Jewish communities. Jews and Christians alike worked on Haggadot and shared the same style and iconographic models. The Museu d’Història de Barcelona reunites in the exhibition Barcelona Haggadot, for the first time in more than six centuries, an extensive se- lection of these splendid works of the Catalan Gothic period that were dispersed around the world when the Jews were expelled. Barcelona Haggadah. The British Library, London, f. 28v Fringe areas where The Barcelona Call. Barcelona’s THE BARCELONA Jewish and Christian Jewish community lived in the properties neigh- western quarter of the city during boured each other the High Middle Ages. This area, JEWISH COMMUNITY IN or Call, as Jewish quarters were Roman-county Main Call known in Catalonia, was defined THE 14TH CENTURY wall in the late 11th century. In re- sponse to the rise in the number of inhabitants in the Call, King Jaume I authorised Jews to settle Second on land near the Castell Nou (new Call castle) outside the old defensive 1 Door walls.
    [Show full text]
  • A HAGGADAH for SPRING AWAKENINGS 2019 · 5779 2 1 (TOGETHER, in TURNS) We Gather Tonight to Celebrate the Journey of the Ancient Israelites from Slavery to Freedom
    A HAGGADAH FOR SPRING AWAKENINGS 2019 · 5779 2 1 (TOGETHER, IN TURNS) We gather tonight to celebrate the journey of the ancient Israelites from slavery to freedom. Jewish or not, religious or not, each one of us belongs to this community, here at our shared table. Our ceremony is the seder, from a Hebrew word that means “order.” We read from the haggadah, which means “the telling.” We tell the story of our deliverance from Egypt using symbols on our seder plate and at our seder table, whose meanings we explore. Though the Exodus occurred over three thousand years ago, because of Passover, no memory is more strongly embedded in the Jewish consciousness than the story told herein and lived and affirmed anew in every generation. The seder is a joyous ritual of freedom, celebrating through instruction, worship, song, and food, Israel’s liberation from bondage. This story lives on because there are still many forms of slavery in our world. We are still struggling to leave “Egypt,” mitzrayim —literally, “the narrow place.” There are still narrow places that confine us, and battles for freedom yet to be won. Our story of leaving Egypt is the shared narrative of a people, but it is also for each of us today to make it our own. In telling our story of free- dom, each of us around the table is invited to reflect on our personal journeys toward freedom this year. As we say, “In every generation each of us must act as if we had personally gone out of Egypt.” Let us remember that Passover is not just about who we are, but it is also about what we do.
    [Show full text]
  • By Prof. Roger S. Wotton — I the Ten Plagues of Egypt Described
    THE TEN PLAGUES OF EGYPT ‘plagues’. For example the “Black Death” is called the plague (Yersinia pestis), and tabloid newspapers in the — 80s referred to AIDS as the “Gay Plague”. It is not easy to be rational when faced with a plague and By Prof. Roger S. Wotton mythical accounts, often focussing on divine retribution and the supernatural, are common. — Attempting to be rational I We all need to have an explanation of events that The ten Plagues of Egypt described in the Bible were surprise or frighten us. Sometimes these explanations central to the liberation of the Jewish people from the are rational, sometimes less so, and it is not always oppression of the Egyptians. The succession of easy to know when we are involved with myths and disasters demoralised the Egyptians and were seen as when we are involved with facts. In this section I will a victory for Jewish monotheistic beliefs. In this discuss how myths arise when a rational explanation essay, natural explanations for most of the Plagues is not forthcoming1. In the main body of the essay I are proposed and a chronology of events is provided. will then attempt to give natural explanations for the Could the mythological explanation of these arguably ten Plagues of Egypt and identify the context in natural phenomena still have a profound influence on which the mythology occurred. the modern world? So how do myths arise? A good starting point in attempting to answer this question is provided by myths surrounding the cult of John What are plagues? Frum, a cargo cult that developed on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu mid-way through the last century.
    [Show full text]
  • Ten Plagues of Egypt 1. Blood: Ex. 7:14–24 This Is What the LORD Says
    Ten Plagues of Egypt 1. Blood: Ex. 7:14–24 This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD: With the staff that is in my hands I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink and the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water. — Exodus 7:17–18 2. Frogs: Ex. 7:25–8:15 This is what the great LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. The frogs will go up on you and your people and all your officials. — Exodus 8:1–4 3. Lice or gnats: Ex. 8:16-19 "And the LORD said [...] Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt." […] When Aaron stretched out his hand with the rod and struck the dust of the ground, lice came upon men and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became lice. — Exodus 8:16–17 4. Wild animals or flies: Ex. 8:20-32 The fourth plague of Egypt was of creatures capable of harming people and livestock.
    [Show full text]
  • PESACH 2021 והגדת לבנך a Collection of Divrei Torah by AMIT Students
    PESACH 2021 והגדת לבנך A collection of Divrei Torah by AMIT students 2 1 Table of Contents The Connection Between Miriam’s Tambourine and the Dear The Importance of Careful Speech AMIT Women by Dafna Gil, 10th Grade . 4 by Ma’ayan Simantov, 9th Grade . 31 And It Came to Pass… by Gabriel Cohen, 12th Grade . 5 The Four Sons by Eliya Amsalem, 9th Grade . 33 True, Inner Freedom by Yonatan Cohen, 11th Grade . 6 The Unity of the People of Israel by Ravid Kadoshim, 12th Grade . 34 What’s the Connection Between the Exodus from Egypt and Corona? by Zofia Harpanes, 12th Grade . 7 It Begins with Disgrace and Ends with Praise by Ilay Hajbi, 11th Grade . 36 Miriam the Leader by Tohar Ezrahi, 11th Grade . 9 “We Survived Pharaoh, We’ll Survive This, Too” Corona as a By the Merit of Women – Pesach, Redemption and Parable of the Plagues of Egypt and the Exodus Miriam the Prophetess by Shahar Levy, Rani Siman Tov and by Osher Hadad, 10th Grade . 37 Shani Yaish, 9th Graders . 11 When Our Heart is Beating, It Means We are Alive And You Shall Tell Your Son by David Laredo, 12th Grade . 12 by Anael Avinoam, 12th Grade . 39 The True Meaning of B’nei Chorin—Free People The Five Terms of Redemption by Avi Yousofov, 11th Grade . 41 by Yuval Brot, 11th Grade . 13 D’var Torah for Pesach Night by Yael Fribor, Ayelet Koren, Why Does the Exodus Matter? by Hillel Seeman, 10th Grade . 15 Reut Ashkenazi, and Tal Gotlieb, 10th Grade .
    [Show full text]
  • Ten Egyptian Plagues for Ten Egyptian Gods and Goddesses the God of Israel Is Greater Than All Other Egyptian Gods and Goddesses
    - Ten Egyptian Plagues For Ten Egyptian Gods and Goddesses The God of Israel is greater than all other Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. Moses was a great prophet, called by God with a very important job to do. As an instrument in the Lord's hand he performed many signs, or "wonders", attempting to convince Pharaoh to allow the Israelites freedom from their bondage of slavery to the Egyptians. These "wonders" are more commonly referred to as "plagues" sent from the God of Israel, as a proof that the "one true God" was far greater than all of the multiple Gods of the Egyptians. These Egyptian Plagues were harsh and varied to correspond to the ancient egyptian gods and goddesses that were prevelant during Moses time in Egypt. The number ten is a significant number in biblical numerology. It represents a fullness of quantity. Ten Egyptian Plagues Means Completely Plagued. Just as the "Ten Commandments" become symbolic of the fullness of the moral law of God, the ten ancient plagues of Egypt represent the fullness of God's expression of justice and judgments, upon those who refuse to repent. Ten times God, through Moses, allows Pharaoh to change his mind, repent, and turn to the one true God, each time increasing the severity of the consequence of the plagues suffered for disobedience to His request. Ten times Pharaoh, because of pride, refuses to be taught by the Lord, and receives "judgments" through the plagues, pronounced upon his head from Moses, the deliverer. The Ten Egyptian Plagues testify of Jesus the Anointed One and His power to save.
    [Show full text]
  • Download the Free Haggadah for Passover
    The Haggadah was originally designed to help people understand and appreciate the significance of the Passover story but Haggadot can be confusing to those not familiar with the holiday traditions. I felt there was a need for a simple, basic Haggadah that would keep with the traditional order of the night — and also follow the Torah commandment to “tell the story.” I also wanted to give a little more background on why we do what we do each year to help re-connect with the original spiritual reasons that gave birth to our traditions. The Haggadah is in itself a ritualized retelling of the Passover story, and through the years it has been adapted and changed. Though originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic, Rabbis urged that the story be told in a language that would be accessible to all. There is a long tradition of finding new ways to recount the story of the exodus in order to make it more engaging to those at the Seder table but sometimes the symbolism and significance of the holiday is sacrificed in the retelling. This Haggadah, illustrated by my daughter, is presented with the hope that readers and families will be encouraged to add their own traditions and make this story a living one that evolves and becomes more meaningful each year. BLP Telling The Story - A Passover Haggadah Explained Copyright © 2006 by Barry Louis Polisar All rights reserved. ISBN # 0-938663-51-8 Illustrations © by Sierra Hannah Polisar Typography and design by Chris Abshire My Grandmother’s father Louis had a story he used to tell.
    [Show full text]
  • JUDAISM Why Is Moses So Important to Jews?
    JUDAISM Why is Moses so important to Jews? 0 Contents 2. Who is Moses? Background Information 3. Key Words 4. Websites 5. Ideas about Moses 6. Art Activities 7. Lesson 1: Who was Moses? 12. Lesson 2: Why is Moses important to Jewish people? 20. Lesson 3: Why is Pesach so important to Jewish people? 27. Lesson 4: How is Pesach celebrated by Jewish people? 34. Lesson 5: Holocaust Day Activities 1 Background Information: Who was Moses? Moses was a Jew. The king of Egypt wanted to stop the Jewish nation from growing too large and powerful, so he ordered all the Jewish baby boys to be killed! When he was three months old, he was put into a waterproof basket on the River Nile so that he would not be harmed. G-d kept Moses safe and even arranged for the king’s daughter to find Moses on the river and bring him up as her own child. When Moses grew up, he lived in the palace, but was very sad because his people (the Jews) were treated like slaves. He had to run away when he killed an Egyptian slave-master. After this, he lived in the Midian desert for 40 years. This gave him plenty of time to get married and start a family! One day G-d spoke to him from a bush that seemed to be on fire... and sent him right back to Egypt to help set his people free. Unfortunately, the king did not want to let G-d’s people go, and so many terrible things (called ‘the 10 plagues’) happened to the Egyptian people before the king finally gave in.
    [Show full text]