Why is this night different from all others?
 

Mah Nishtana...

What makes this night different from all [other] nights?

Four times the Torah bids us tell our children about the Exodus from Egypt. Four times the Torah repeats: "And you shall tell your child on that day..."

We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the L-rd, our G-d, took us out from there with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm. If the Holy One, blessed be He, had not taken our fathers out of Egypt, then we, our children and our children's children would have remained enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt. Even if all of us were wise, all of us understanding, all of us knowing the Torah, we would still be obligated to discuss the exodus from Egypt; and everyone who discusses the exodus from Egypt at length is praiseworthy.





Happy Pesach everyone...

L'Shana Tova, Berushalayim.

--- Next year in Jerusalem

Happy Passover everyone! I'm off to my Mom's home in a few minutes. For those of you want to celebrate the hip, abridged (although not exactly accurate) Pesach, just listen to Bob Marley's Exodus a few times.

Shalom.

Happy Pesach. I'm off for it. I hope you all use the time to reflect on the true meaning.

-Rudey

Would one of our Jewish GCers like to explain the significance of today?

Yes in GeekyPs words, Please explain this to us all!

I would be in Hopes that We can all learn something new and enlighting for each of us!:)

Peace To All!:cool:

Passover commemorates the story of Moses and the Exodus in the Old Testament. During the first two nights, there are two large feasts, called the Seder (Hebrew for "Order") where the story is retold from a book called the Haggada.

No food containing yeast (called 'Chometz' or 'Chametz' in Hebrew) is allowed in the house during the holiday of Passover. Only unleavened bread, called Matzah, is permitted. This symbolizes the unleavened bread that the Israelites or Hebrews made in haste, as they were fleeing Egypt. There are other ceremonial foods eaten during Seder to commemorate the Exodus.

As the Jewish Calendar is based on the lunar cycle, it always appears Jewish holidays are "skipping around" because the rest of the world is based on a calendar which is based on the revolutions of the earth around the sun.

Happy Passover, Docetboy... less than 20 days to go ya short-timer 'fore you get shipped off to Lackland!

Happy Passover to all of the Jews! I wish I could be celebrating with my family, but for the first time, I have to miss the seder because I'm at school. :( I'm all stocked up on Kosher for Passover goodies though.
Le Shana Habaa b'Yerushalayim Havnuyah.

Happy Passover!

I wish I was with my family too but I can't drive home for just the day. :( For everyone who is spending tonight with their families, enjoy it!

Happy Passover! :)

Though this will be the first year I haven't been at home for the seder.

Happy Pesach everyone :)

Went to my in-laws for the seder. Holidays with them are always an adventure...

Here is a full explanation coutesy of http://www.holidays.net/passover/story.html

The Story of Passover

About 3000 years ago the Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians under the rule of the Pharaoh Ramses II. According to the Book of Exodus - Moses, a simple Jewish shepherd, was instructed by G-d to go to the pharaoh and demand the freedom of his people.

Moses' plea of let my people go was ignored. Moses warned the Pharaoh that G-d would send severe punishments to the people of Egypt if the Israelites were not freed. Again the Pharaoh ignored Moses' request of freedom. In response G-d unleashed a series of 10 terrible plagues on the people of Egypt.


1. Blood
2. Frogs
3. Lice (vermin)
4. Wild Beasts(flies)
5. Blight (Cattle Disease)
6. Boils
7. Hail
8. Locusts
9. Darkness
10. Slaying of the First Born
The holiday's name - Pesach, meaning "passing over" or "protection" in Hebrew, is derived from the instructions given to Moses by G-d . In order to encourage the Pharaoh to free the Israelites, G-d intended to kill the first-born of both man and beast. To protect themselves, the Israelites were told to mark their dwellings with lamb's blood so that G-d could identify and "pass over" their homes.

The Pharaoh was unconvinced and refused to free the Jewish slaves.

Until the last plague.

When the Pharaoh finally agreed to freedom, the Israelites left their homes so quickly that there wasn't even time to bake their breads. So they packed the raw dough to take with them on their journey. As they fled through the desert they would quickly bake the dough in the hot sun into hard crackers called matzohs. Today to commemorate this event, Jews eat matzoh in place of bread during Passover.

Though the Jews were now free, their liberation was incomplete. The Pharaoh's army chased them through the desert towards the Red Sea. When the Jews reached the sea they were trapped, since the sea blocked their escape.

It was then that a miracle occurred. The waves of the Red Sea parted and the Israelites were able to cross to the other side. As soon as they all reached the other side the sea closed trapping the Pharaoh's army as the waves closed upon them.

Then as the Israelites watched the waters of the Red Sea sweep away the Pharaoh's army they realized they were finally free.

Passover celebrates this history. The first 2 nights of the 8 day holiday are celebrated with lavish meals called Seders in which the stories and history of Passover are celebrated. Special foods, plates, silverware are all a part of the Seder.

Happy Pesach everyone...

My seder was very small, just me and my parents and my dog.

You know, there's something just not right about being 30 and still having to do the Four Questions! :rolleyes:

I am a little excited because apparently the Passover Fairy left a little package on my car.

I went out to my car on Friday, and there is a box sitting on the hood. Theres no name, the box is open, so I look inside, and there are wonderful little treats for Passover!! Someone's temple had sent it to them in the mail, but that person carelessly left it on the hood of my car, and forgot about it.

I now have motzah ball soup mix, some wonderful little chocolate, caramel, and nut candy, and a box of chocolate covered motzah bread. YUM!! I feel in love with this stuff when I was invited over to a friend's house in high school (I'm not Jewish...not that there is anything wrong it, but a Jew with a tattoo of a Celtic Cross would be a little odd...)

I asked the people in my building, and none of them claimed the box of treats...so now, I'm going to enjoy them!

PS- All the individual boxes are still wrapped, so no one is doing an elaborate plot to assaniate me, lol

It's not just motzah, seders, and the end of our slavery...that'd be a routine. I guess that's why tonight is different ;)

-Rudey

Well, this is why i'm glad i'm not orthodox and keep strict dietary law...



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April 6, 2004
Five Are Burned in Pre-Passover Fire Ritual in Brooklyn
By SHAILA K. DEWAN and ANDY NEWMAN

A rabbi's 27-year-old son was badly burned during a pre-Passover ritual yesterday morning on 42nd Street in Borough Park, Brooklyn, when he poured paint thinner on a ceremonial fire, the police said.

Four other onlookers, including two young children, were also burned when the can of paint thinner exploded.

The accident had some local officials calling for greater safety measures and oversight of the annual ritual, which involves burning leavened bread and other food not permitted during the Passover holiday.

Though the Fire Department is tolerant of the fire rituals, by yesterday afternoon Ladder 148 in Borough Park had put out 125 blazes deemed unsafe, Capt. Michael Gala said.

Yesterday, as the first evening of Passover was beginning, it was unusually blustery, and in the city's heavily Jewish neighborhoods, sidewalks were ablaze with small fires that were difficult to control. In Borough Park, the air smelled of toast.

While many of the blazes were uncontained, a fire in front of a synagogue and yeshiva used by the Breslov sect of Hasidic Jews was burning in a five-gallon metal pail, a fire official said.

Because the wind kept putting out the fire, the son of the Breslov rabbi, identified by witnesses as Moshe Schick, was trying to revive it with paint thinner. But some embers were still burning, and just as he poured, a gust of wind came up and the stream of liquid vaporized in a flash, a fire official said.

Mr. Schick, with his father looking on, dropped to the ground and rolled, yelling "call Hatzolah," the private Jewish ambulance service, said one witness, Yaakov Baum, 20, a student at the yeshiva. "He was on fire rolling toward me," Mr. Baum said. Another witness, who would not give his name, said that at one point Mr. Schick rolled under a car and had to be pulled out.

"They do it every year with these liquids," Mr. Baum said. "If it's cold and windy, people say, 'Make the fire a little bigger.' " Newspapers, books and cardboard are used as fuel.

A 2-year-old, a 9-year-old, a 15-year-old and a 50-year-old, all male, were also burned in the explosion, a spokesman for Staten Island University Hospital said. All four were in stable condition at the hospital's burn unit.

The 50-year-old's hands were covered in second- and third-degree burns because he had tried to put out the fire, said the hospital spokesman, Brian Morris.

But Mr. Schick, who Mr. Baum said has three daughters, was the most seriously hurt, with burns covering 20 percent of his body, including his torso, arm and face. He was also at the burn unit, in serious but not life-threatening condition, Mr. Morris said.

Passover celebrates the flight of the Jews from Egypt some 3,000 years ago.

According to tradition, they left quickly and there was no time to let the bread rise, so during the eight days of Passover, Jews eat matzo, a cracker-like flat bread.

Preparation for the burning ritual begins the night before Passover, when families go through their houses, searching by candlelight for leavened bread and other forbidden food, often collectively referred to as chametz.

Sometimes, the bread is deliberately hidden throughout the house. The next day, before the evening's Seder meal, the chametz is burned and a prayer is said, it is believed, to release the family of ownership.

According to Rabbi Jack Meyer, who said he serves as a liaison to the Fire Department in Borough Park, people have occasionally been hurt during the burning of the chametz. "But never anything like this," he said. "Let's hope they learn a lesson."

Captain Gala said the Fire Department had set up a special command post yesterday in Borough Park, just as it had done for years in Williamsburg. "If it's a controlled fire for religious purposes, no threat to safety, we move on," he said. "We ask the officers to make good judgments."

State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who represents the area, said he and City Councilman Simcha Felder would call on the community to find a better way to control the fires. Mr. Hikind said he found it ironic that yesterday morning he had given an interview about how the Police Department had stepped-up antiterrorism measures during Passover and two hours later he was talking to reporters about an entirely different kind of danger.

"We've been lucky for a long, long time in not having a serious situation, but we've reached now the point that we need to do something about it," Mr. Hikind said. "Yes, we're going to continue doing it, but we need some strong supervision."

In heavily Jewish areas, like those in Rockland County, some synagogues offer controlled burning at specific times.

I hear ya! Last year I hosted the seder for my family, and when we got to the Four Questions everyone looked at me and said "aephi alum is the youngest..." (I think it's a nefarious plot by my in-laws to get me to have kids ;) )

Or you could have your dog read them... :p