{"id":782,"date":"2013-03-14T22:13:39","date_gmt":"2013-03-15T02:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/truthsyoucanuse\/?p=782"},"modified":"2013-03-14T22:13:39","modified_gmt":"2013-03-15T02:13:39","slug":"how-to-read-the-passover-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/2013\/03\/how-to-read-the-passover-story.html","title":{"rendered":"How To Read the Passover Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"passover<\/a><\/p>\n

Passover is the most celebrated Jewish holiday in America. For many the most memorable part of it is the food.<\/p>\n

Yet, Passover is also a teaching tool. We \u00a0highlight and expound upon important parts of the Exodus story. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fortunately, in his monumental work on the Jewish holidays, Abraham Bloch summarized them. Each is rooted in a biblical verse. Here they are:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The display of God\u2019s power<\/strong>: “And that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.\u201d (Exodus 10:2)<\/li>\n
  2. Remembrance of divine miracles:<\/strong> “And when in time to come your son asks you, \u2018What does this mean?\u2019 you shall say to him, \u2018By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.\u201d (Exodus 13:14)<\/li>\n
  3. God\u2019s protection of the Jewish people:<\/strong> \u201cThe blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.\u201d (Exodus 12:13)<\/li>\n
  4. The obligation to express gratitude for God\u2019s intervention:<\/strong> “On the seventh day you must explain to your children, ‘I am celebrating what the Lord did for me when I left Egypt.\u201d (Exodus 13:8)<\/li>\n
  5. That\u2019s God\u2019s deliverance marked the fulfillment of the earlier promises to Abraham:<\/strong> \u201cBecause He loved your ancestors, He chose to bless their descendants, and He personally brought you out of Egypt with a great display of power.\u201d (Deuteronomy 4:37)<\/li>\n
  6. That the Exodus is the beginning of the Israelite journey to sovereignty in the land of Israel and free exercise of their religion:<\/strong> \u201cObserve therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.\u201d (Deuteronomy, 11:8)<\/li>\n
  7. That the Exodus reminds us of the possibility of redemption:<\/strong> Stand in awe of the\u00a0Lord\u00a0your God and serve him.\u00a0Hold fast\u00a0and take your oaths in his name.\u00a0He is the one you praise;\u00a0he is your God, who performed for you those great\u00a0and awesome wonders\u00a0you saw with your own eyes.<\/li>\n
  8. To remember that we were once slaves:<\/strong> \u201cBe careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.\u201d (Deuteronomy 6:12)<\/li>\n
  9. To follow God\u2019s commandments because we were once slaves, and the laws preserve our freedom<\/strong>: \u201cRemember that you were once slaves in Egypt, so be careful to obey all these decrees. \u00a0(Deuteronomy, 16:12)<\/li>\n
  10. To sustain the Covenant in every generation:<\/strong> \u201cThe king gave this order to all the people: \u2018Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in the Book of the Covenant.\u2019\u201d (2 Kings: 23:21)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    To receive a free Passover Hagaddah and Rabbi Moffic’s weekly digest of Jewish wisdom, click\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Passover is the most celebrated Jewish holiday in America. For many the most memorable part of it is the food. Yet, Passover is also a teaching tool. We \u00a0highlight and expound upon important parts of the Exodus story. \u00a0 Fortunately, in his monumental work on the Jewish holidays, Abraham Bloch summarized them. Each is rooted…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[57,313,250,300,140,29,290,312,292,251],"class_list":["post-782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bible","tag-egypt","tag-exodus","tag-freedom","tag-israel","tag-moses","tag-passover","tag-pharaoh","tag-seder","tag-slavery"],"yoast_head":"\nHow To Read the Passover Story - Truths You Can Use<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/2013\/03\/how-to-read-the-passover-story.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How To Read the Passover Story - Truths You Can Use\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Passover is the most celebrated Jewish holiday in America. 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