Passover at the Wagman's

Last night marked the first night of Passover, an eight day holiday in which the Jewish faith celebrates the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. The term Passover comes from the fact that the Israelites marked their doors with lamb's blood so the Angel of Death would "pass over" their houses, and this is one of their faith's most important festivals. The Death of the Firstborn was the tenth plague sent by God through Moses so the Egyptian pharaoh would have no choice but to free the Israelites. The first nine plagues are as followed and the tenth will be illustrated through a brief clip from Disney's The Prince of Egypt:

1.) Blood

2.) Frogs

3.) Gnats

4.) Wild Beast

5.) Pestilence

6.) Boils

7.) Hail

8.) Locusts

9.) Darkness

My friend, Allison, invited me and four of her other friends to her house last night to participate in the first of the two Passover Seders. Since this falls during the time of Lent, I thought I would share my experience with my readers. Traditionally, Seders are a few hours long, but she told me that many Jewish families condense it using the 30 Minute Seder: That Blends Brevity with Tradition. Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) begins on the fifteenth day fo the Jewish month of Nissan. The exact date changes every year, but is usually in March or April, depending on the Jewish lunar calendar.

The Seder begins with the lighting of the festival (Yom Tov) candles, which signifies the beginning of the holiday. Then the festival Kiddush is chanted over the first cup of wine (we used grape juice), and throughout the meal there are four cups of wine. After this, each person took a bitter herb (we used celery) and dipped it into a bowl of salt water, and the salt water reminds us of the bitter tears shed by the Israelites when they were slaves. Then, Allison took the middle of the three covered Matzah bread and broke it in half, wrapping the larger of the two and hiding it (this is called the Afikomen, which means dessert). Then the four questions were asked in Hebrew:

1.) Why tonight?
2.) Why bitter herbs?
3.) Why dip the herbs in the salt water twice?
4.) Why do we eat reclining?

After this, the second cup of wine was blessed, and a lamb shank was presented on the Seder plate as a symbol of the original passover lamb. Next, the Afikomen was broken and passed around and the third glass of wine was blessed. Lastly, the final cup of wine was blessed, which was the conclusion of the Seder meal. I really enjoyed attending a Passover Seder, and it was really neat to experience another religion's holiday. Also, Mrs. Wagman makes REALLY delicious brisket!

Here is a picture of a Seder plate: