The Passover (Pesach) 15th-21st of the month of Nisan March/April

In Biblical times the Passover was kept for seven days. Later, outside Israel, an extra day was added which is still kept by the Orthodox, though not by Progressive Jews. This very important festival commemorates the time when the Israelites were the slaves of the Egyptians. Moses led his people to safety across the Red Sea after the Angel of Death had killed the first-born of every Egyptian family and spared the Israelites by passing over their houses. Moses was born in Egypt and brought up by a royal Egyptian princess, but his nursemaid was his own mother and so he was always aware of his origins within the Jewish slave community. Thothmes III (ruled 1501-1448 BCE) was Pharaoh when Moses escaped from Egypt after killing a slave driver. Amenhotep II ( 1448-1420 BCE) was the pharaoh who suffered the plagues.

At Passover, Jews eat special meals which include unleavened bread (the Egyptians demanded their immediate departure so their bread had no time to rise). At family reunions the youngest asks questions about the origin and meaning of the feast and is answered in a traditional form by the head of the household. Formerly in Israel the festival was one of the three occasions of pilgrimage to the Temple of Jerusalem.

The Jews Leave Egypt

Moses grew up in Egypt in the household of Pharaoh's daughter, but he knew he was an Israelite by birth. One day he killed an Egyptian who was ill-treating an Israelite slave, and fled to Midian. Here he married the daughter of Jethro, a village priest.

One day, as he was looking after his father-in-law's flocks in the desert he came to Horeb, the mountain sacred to God. There he saw a bush burning fiercely. This was not unusual- in the heat sometimes fires were caused. But this bush did not seem to be burning to ashes. It kept on burning and did not go out. While he stared in wonder at the burning bush, Moses heard God calling him out of the fire.

God told him that he was to go back to set free the Jewish slaves. Moses was afraid and reluctant, but whatever excuses he found, God had an answer for him. Full of fear Moses set out for the land of Egypt from which he had run away.

Moses went to the royal palace and said to Pharaoh, 'The Lord God of Israel says, "Let my people go."

Pharaoh just laughed: 'Let them go ?' he said. 'Certainly not. Who is this God of Israel to tell me what to do ? The Jewish slaves are needed to build my pyramids and temples. But I'll tell you what I will do -I will make them work harder!'

The Israelites were furious with Moses. Of course, he had not set them free. How could he? What was worse, they were being made to work harder and the soldiers bullied them even more.

Moses prayed to God for help and returned to Pharaoh to threaten him that if he did not let the Israelites go free the River Nile and all the waters of Egypt would be turned to blood. All the fish would die. The rivers would stink and the Egyptians would be unable to drink any of the water. Angrily Pharaoh refused and Moses immediately turned the river red. For seven days the water remained like this but Pharaoh was angry and still refused to free the slaves.

Then Moses made the land swarm with frogs; they swarmed into the villages and towns. They swarmed into houses and even in the royal palace of Pharaoh. They got into bedrooms and in beds; in the ovens and even in the bread. In desperation Pharaoh promised to let the Israelites go. But as soon as the frogs had gone, he changed his mind: 'The Israelites will remain my slaves,' he said.

God gave Moses the power to send plagues of lice, flies, and cattle disease. All the Egyptian herds died, but none of the Israelites' cattle became ill.

God sent a plague of boils on the Egyptians, a storm of hailstones which ruined all the Egyptian crops, a plague of locusts which ate what green plants remained. These clouds of locusts were so thick that they turned the sky black, but not so black as the three days of darkness which God sent to the land of Egypt. Each time Pharaoh promised that he would let the slaves go out of Egypt, but when the plague stopped, Pharaoh changed his mind.

God promised Moses that one final plague would make Pharaoh keep his promise. Moses called all the people of Israel together.

'You must mark your doorposts with the blood of a freshly killed lamb or kid-goat. Tonight the Angel of Death will pass over the land of Egypt and kill the first-born son of every house where there is no mark. After this, Pharaoh will set you free.

The Israelites did what Moses told them and, at midnight, death came to Egypt. From the palace of Pharaoh himself to the poorest home in the land, the eldest son of every family was struck dead.

In the middle of the night, Pharaoh sent for Moses: 'Get out of my land.

Take your people, and take your flocks and herds. Leave my land for ever.' The Israelites hurriedly cooked themselves something to eat. They did not have time to let the bread rise properly and so they took it flat and heavy as it was. They packed the few things they had and set off with Moses away from the land of Egypt. At last they were free.

After the Israelites had been saved, the people danced to the Lord to show their thanks, while Moses sang what is now called 'The Song of the Sea'.

I will sing to the Lord,
For he has risen up in triumph;
He has hurled horses and riders into the sea.
The Lord is my safety and my protection ;
He has shown that he is my saviour .
He is my God, and I will sing his glory;
He is my father's God, and I will sing his praise.
The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.
(from the Book of Exodus of the Torah, c.1OOO BCE)