It's that time of year again! 'Tis time for Passover! What is Passover, might you ask? Well, it's one of the best Jewish holidays, of course! Now, i will now begin the WHOLE tale of Passover, so grab some popcorn.
Ahem:
Imagine...yourself in Egypt. Jewish, of course. A pharoah orders you to work, day and night. He wants you to work for Egyptians, forever. But what's this? He just decreed: No more Jewish babies! They must be killed! Would you be enraged? Well, I know Moses' parents were! So, there he was. Moses. Born into his mother's hands. But she knew she couldn't keep him for long. So she went down to the river, and made a nice, paper basket. She placed her dear baby into it, and sailed Moses off down the river.
NOW, in the pharoah's palace, the pharoah's wife has just gone down to the river to retrieve some water.. But, what's this?! A baby? In the river? She knew if pharoah found out about him, he'll be killed! So, the pharoah's wife hid him until he wasn't in danger anymore.
Soon, Moses grew into a young adult. One day he saw an egyptian beating a Jew. When the Jew died from the abuse, Moses became so enraged he went over and beat the egyptian himself. When the egyptian died, Moses felt ashamed. He punished himself by becoming a shepard in the mountains.
One day, while tendiing to his cattle, Moses saw a burning bush. Peculiarly, the bush did not furl or disintergrate, but just burned. The bush spoke out.
"Moses, it is me, God."
Moses jumped, and scared. God told Moses to free the people of Egypt. To do so, God gave Moses a staff, that could lead the people, and scare the pharoah.
Down in Egypt, Moses demanded that the pharoah to release the Jews. But the pharoah refused to. Now, Moses used the staff to call down 10 plagues. Blood-filled rivers, locust, frogs, cattle-sickness, boils, flys, beasts, and more. Finally, it came. The final plague. Moses warned the Jews that the angel of death was coming, and to put lamb's blood on their doorpost. When the angel of death came, it killed the first born son of each family. But if it saw lamb's blood on a doorpost, it would PASS OVER the house, knowing it was a Jewish home.
As Pharoah cried out when he discovered his dead son, he exiled the Jews from Egypt. He wanted the Jews out as fast as possible, before he changed his mind. the Jews, meanwhile, were baking bread. When word got out of their liberation from Egypt, they rushed the bread from the oven and put it on their backs. They called it Matzah, since the bread was like a cracker.
Now, as the Jews ran over the desert, they approached an ocean. The Egyptians were right behind them, as Pharoah changed his mind once again and wanted them back. Moses, still with his staff, raised his arms. The sea split into two, allowing the Jews to cross. once the Jews crossed, Moses joined the seas back.
Passover, is about the Jews' liberation from Egypt. It celebrates Moses' bravery, and leadership. And the foods we eat on Passover all stand for something. Then parsley in the salt water, for example, symbolizes the Jews' tears from being in slavery. So tonight, at sundown, me, my family, and other Jews will all enjoy a hearty feast, and yell; L'chayim!