Passover is an expression of Jewish indigeneity in the Land of Israel - opinion

• Published date: 17 April 2024
• Author: BEN M. FREEMAN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Whether it's circumcision or the mikveh, celebrating Rosh Hashanah or Shavuot, or whether it's speaking Hebrew or praying for rain in Israel, we represent our connection to the Land of Israel itself

As we approach Passover next week, it is worth considering it is the festival most observed by Jews around the world, and happens to be one of the most significant expressions of indigeneity. In it, we honor our origin story as a people when we became a nation centered in the Land of Israel as well as the land itself.

Not only is it rooted in the formation of the Jewish nation and our journey to the Land of Israel, but before Passover became a story about the exodus from Egypt, most historians agree that it started life as two separate festivals: one harvest festival known as Hag Hamatzot and the other known as Passover, both rooted in the agricultural cycle and change of seasons. Hag Hamatzot, was based on the barley harvest and was rooted in sanctifying the first crops. As part of this ancient celebration, our ancestors ate matzah to sanctify the first produce of the soil.

The ancient holiday of Passover is rooted in the sacrifice of the most recently born animal by semi-nomadic Israelites. Hence, the paschal lamb. Some historians then posit that these festivals were then fused with the exodus story to create Passover as we know it today. And as Tamara Prosic wrote in The Development and Symbolism of Passover, "The combined feast became a commemorative celebration through which the people relived the events on which the existence as an independent nation was based."

The Book of Shemot (literally translating to "Names," but commonly referred to as Exodus), written around 26,00 years ago in the Southern Israelite Kingdom of Judah, instructs Jews how to celebrate this festival. In it, YHWH instructs Moses to tell everyone about the paschal lamb. He says to set aside a 10-day- to one-month-old lamb/kid to be killed on the 14th day, and to place its blood on the lintels and doorposts of houses where the meat is to be consumed. Then, at night, they must eat the roasted meat together with unleavened bread (matzot) and bitter herbs (maror).

Passover a significant part of Judean culture

This rite is to be adhered to in every generation for all time. Following the building of a temple in Jerusalem, Passover became a pilgrimage festival (one of the three in the Jewish calendar year). In Melachim (Book of Kings), it is recorded that King Josiah of Judah (said to have...