Passover: Celebrating Now, Remembering Then

Passover: Celebrating Now, Remembering Then — page 1
Why is this night different from all other nights When we celebrate Passover the youngest child asks the Four Questions Why on this night do we eat unleavened bread Why do we eat bitter herbs Why do we dip in salt water Why do we recline Why do we tell the Passover story year after year time and time again What do we remember We remember the Israelites lived peacefully in Egypt for many years until a new Pharaoh came to power Worried that the Israelites would become plentiful prosperous and powerful he forced them to become slaves treating them harshly We remember when this cruel Pharaoh ordered all baby boys born to Israelites to be drowned one mother refused and instead put her baby in a basket and floated it down the river We remember the Pharaoh’s daughter found this baby and named him Moses which meant drawn out of the water She brought up Moses in Pharaoh’s palace but Moses never forgot he was an Israelite and that his people suffered greatly We remember when Moses saw a slave driver whipping an Israelite he became so angry he killed the slave driver Fearing he would be punished Moses fled to the land of Midian where he worked as a shepherd for many years We remember while tending his flock one day Moses saw a burning bush from which he heard the voice of God commanding him to return to Egypt to free the Israelites Moses returned to Egypt and demanded of the Pharaoh Let my people go