Passover (Hebrew).פּסַח), or Easter, — is the oldest of the Jewish holidays, it is associated with one of the most important events in Jewish history — with the Exodus from Egyptian slavery about 3,300 years ago, in 2448 according to the Jewish calendar.
The Passover holiday marks a chain of events as a result of which Jews became a people. The Israelites came to Egypt as one family — of the family of Jacob, consisting of seventy people, and came out as a people numbering six hundred thousand. At first, the family of Jacob was cordially received in the land of Goshen (one of the provinces of Egypt), but when there were too many Jews, special measures were taken against them. All residents of the country were entrusted with labor duties, and Jews — were especially difficult. Jews' houses were bugged and searched, wives were separated from their husbands, and newborn boys were killed.
Moshe (Moses) was the same boy who was destined to survive and save his people. Everyone knows this story. An amazing coincidence of circumstances saved him from inevitable death at the hands of the Egyptians and led to the fact that Moshe was raised in the palace of the pharaoh, but always felt like a part of his people. For the murder of an Egyptian who beat a Jew, he was sentenced to death, fled, and lived for many years in Africa and the Middle East. One day, while driving a herd of sheep across the Sinai Peninsula, I saw a burning, but not burning bush (« Burning Bush»). From the fire came the voice of the Almighty, commanding Moses to go to Egypt and lead the Jews out of slavery.
Passover — Spring Festival — symbolizes the awakening of nature, the renewal of the world and the liberation of man. This is a celebration of gaining freedom and dignity. The Jews had to choose young lambs from the cattle to which they were assigned as shepherds (and who did not die like the cattle of the Egyptians), slaughter them, fry them and eat them « with bitter herbs and unleavened bread». The lambs, which were sacred animals for the Egyptians, needed not only to be eaten, but to be done openly, in front of the Egyptians, and a few days before that it was necessary to mark the doorposts of their houses with the blood of these rams in the light of day. And on the night when the firstborn died in every family of Egyptians, death bypassed all the Jewish houses marked in this way.
There is a legend that before Exodus they did not have time to ferment the dough, so they baked unleavened cakes. True, there is evidence that the shepherd's Feast of Unleavened Bread was celebrated even before Moses. But until now, matzah — is unleavened flatbread that is supposed to be eaten on Passover, — is a reminder of the bread that the Jews ate when hastily leaving Egypt. The haste was not in vain — The Egyptian army led by Pharaoh chased them on their heels. But on the seventh day of the Exodus, the Red Sea parted before the Jews, and then closed its waters over the head of the Egyptians.
The day following the Easter Seder, — is the first day of the holiday. For religious people, — is a day of prayer and rest, when all work is prohibited. For the secular part of the Israeli population, this is a day off, which is usually spent with family, friends, and loved ones. This is followed by five days, the so-called half-holidays, when some institutions are open for half a day, and part — is not open at all. And the Easter week ends with another holiday. Israelis love to relax and often use Easter week to travel abroad with the whole family or to travel around the country, having picnics in its many picturesque corners.