Married a Jewish woman and learned to love this holiday. Anybody know why feminist Jews put oranges on their seder plates? Great story.

Passover commemorates God's taking the Jews out of slavery in Egypt and allowing us to reach this season.The holiday begins-depending on religious custom with one or two Seder's(meaning order in Hebrew) in which the story of God's liberating the Jews from Egyptian slavery-in which the Hitler of the era ordered that all Jewish males be drowned in the Nile.In response,God unleashes 10 plagues on Egypt-and the Jews are given their exit visas,following the 10th plague,in which all Egyptian first-born males are given the death sentence.The current Pharoah(Hitler) then changes his mind and sends his troops after the Jews,who cross the Red Sea(or sea of Reeds),as the sea parts and allows the Jews to cross,while Pharoah's posse drowns. The Passover story is read on the first one or two nights from the Haggadah,in which the leader of the revolt,Moses,is briefly mentioned once or twice and the focus is on a God -rather than god's-who relate to people;I believe God has a personality and takes sides-largely because of this holiday. What I'm not crazy about, mostly has to do with aspects of it that deal with a personal weakness,self-discipline.Jewish food isn't my favorite,to begin with,I try to be consistent with Judaism's dietary laws and stick to fish or cheese dishes if I eat out-and eating matzoh for eight days(unleavened bread)is a struggle(and constipating).While the religious reason has to do with the Jews making a fast getaway from Egypt and not waiting for the dough to rise,I prefer the explanation that bread was invented in Egypt and eating matzoh is a way for showing contempt for Egypt.I try to focus the rule of drinking four cups of wine during the Seders(my favorite Jewish holiday is Purim-in which you're supposed to drink til you don't know the difference between the good guys and the bad guys). My criticism,in general,is in terms of balance.Moses,whom Jews consider to be the greatest prophet,kills an Egyptian slavemaster,who is beating a Jewish slave to death-and The Ten Commandments(Ten Statements)in the original Hebrew prohibits murder rather than killing.Bringing a killer into a religious story would do a lot to make a statement to thugs who target innocent people and get away with it;they need to know that they just got very lucky.

Passover is as much a part of Christianity as it is a part of Judaism. Christians have taken the Pascal feast to the next level with Holy Communion, to remember when Christ offered Himself up as the Lamb to be slain for our sins. I've taken part in the Seder before, and I value the experience as much as sitting down to the Lord's Table.

Hmmmm. I thought this was about Pesach/Passover, a Jewish holiday. How did all this Jesus get in here? Anyway, my sister-in-law's family are Jewish (a.k.a. Members of the Tribe(that's there moniker not mine)). I've spent the last 3 Passover's with them, and enjoy the holiday as much as any Christian holiday. There is something about sharing a ritual that goes back thousands of years (not as far as the dinosaurs, but that's just evolution) that's special.

Ralphie-True that Paul never departed from his Jewish heritage or demanded that Jewish Christians renounce the law of Moses. However, he made it clear to everyone that the Mosaic Law could not function as a means of salvation. There is evidence that Paul was continuing to keep the Law when he stood before Felix in 24:11-12. The fact that he was coming to Jerusalem to worship was evidence of this. The point I am trying to make is was Paul preached you are saved by God through faith in Jesus Christ, not the Jewish Law.

. . . anyone else find it ironic that, as of the time of my posting, 35 people have rated this particular holiday, but no one left a post on it (in effect, passed over it)? In fact, it was the ONLY item in the list without comment. Hmm. ADDITION: Thanks so much to Gone Away for her input for the item description; I would have put it in the description itself, if I had room!