Passover Meaning

Passover is a Jewish festival, which commemorates the day referred to as "Season of Our Freedom" by the Jews. From a seasonal perspective, the holiday marks the release of earth from the grip of the winter season. However, from a historical perspective, it holds a deeply religious and significant meaning for the Jews. Passover marks the exodus of Jews from Egypt, escaping their enslavement by the Egyptian pharaohs. Now, the festival is symbolic of the birth of the Jewish nation, ending their long search for a homeland. Passover holds immense religious and moral significance for Jews.

Passover, along with Shavuot ("Pentecost") and Sukkot ("Tabernacles"), is one of the three pilgrim festivals, during which the whole of Jewish population made a historic pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. On each Passover, the Jews restate the story of their exodus from Egypt, as explained in the Hebrew Bible. The spiritual adventure that marked its beginning with the Moses and ended in the formation of Israel is the essence of Passover. For Jews, Passover defines their existence and justifies it. Their freedom from oppression and slavery is commemorated by this festival, which established the basis of contemporary Judaism and Christianity.

The Jewish people celebrate the festival of Passover as it signifies attainment of their freedom from slavery and oppression. On the day, years before Christ took birth on earth; the Jews had cast aside their idols and renounced their pagan-like ignorance. This was also the time when God revealed himself to the children of Israel and imparted his divine knowledge to them. It is thus that the Passover festival, as celebrated in the present times, is celebratory of a unique kind of freedom that traces its roots to the Old Testament. It exemplifies the presence and power of Immanuel, a name that literally means "God with us".

Pesach story describes how Jews secured a victory over their apparently insurmountable enemy that had a vastly superior army. It is a tale of the Jewish redemption, with God's Ten Commandments, which lie at the heart of contemporary Judeo-Christian beliefs. These Ten Commandments brought Jews back to the right path, when they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years in the search of their holy land and became idolaters, thereby losing their religious morals. The overriding message and theme of Passover is based on freedom, gratitude and spiritual devotion. Right from the sacrificial lambs to the symbolic egg on the Seder plate, the symbolism of devotion and rebirth is evident.