It is perhaps the greatest story in history of human freedom.
Some 3000 years ago, the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt.
According to the biblical book of Exodus, God sent a simple Jewish
shepherd named Moses to demand freedom for his people.
It is perhaps the greatest story in history of human freedom. Some 3000 years ago, the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. According to the biblical book of Exodus, God sent a simple Jewish shepherd named Moses to demand freedom for his people.
Pharaoh, the Egyptian ruler, refused Moses’ demand: “Let my people go!” In response, God unleashed a series of increasingly terrible plagues. Finally, Pharaoh consented to their freedom, and they fled from Egypt through the wilderness toward the Promised Land.
On Wednesday evening, Jews around the world begin an eight-day commemoration festival of Passover.
This annual event (known in Hebrew as “Pesach”) falls in March or April, in the Hebrew month of Nissan. It commemorates the exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.
The name comes from God’s “passing over” the houses of the Israelites when the first-born children and animals of the Egyptians were struck dead.
The traditional means of celebrating Passover is with a special meal called the “Seder,” sometimes considered “the ultimate Jewish cultural, experiential learning activity of the year.” Surveys have shown this to be the most-observed religious activity for American Jews, with more than 90 percent participation.
This ritualized meal (often considered to be the precursor for the Christian sacrament of Holy Communion) features a retelling of the Exodus story read from a special book called the “Haggadah” which also includes songs and prayers for the occasion. It is a communal event, meant to be shared with family and friends.
On Sunday, Congregation Emeth, South County’s Jewish community, sponsored a different Passover event.
In cooperation with the PJ Library Program of Silicon Valley, Acting Rabbi Debbie Israel, Eleanor Dickman of the PJ Library, and parent Emily Shem-Tov organized a Passover program for pre-schoolers at Morgan Hill’s Booksmart Bookstore.
Children and their parents were entertained with a story time featuring two children’s books about Passover, songs about Passover, a symbolic crossing of the Red Sea and a chance to taste one of the traditional dishes served at the Seder called “charoset.” The dish is a sweet paste made of fruits and nuts, said to resemble the consistency of the mortar used by the Israelites to bond the bricks together when forced to participate in building the pyramids.
The PJ Library program was established in 2005 by a Massachusetts Philanthropist named Harold Greenspoon. Noticing that many Jews seemed detached from their faith community, Greenspoon wanted a way to help them appreciate their heritage.
Realizing that one of the most important times for a family is the end of the day, he wanted to provide children’s books that emphasized Jewish history or values for parents to read to their young children at bedtime. Greenspoon named this the “PJ Library” because he imagined the children snug in their pajamas as they heard the stories.
Now the program has spread across the country. Thousands of Jewish children ages 6 months to 5 years in more than a hundred communities (more than 600 in Silicon Valley alone) now receive a free book each month
For more information about this
program, go to www.pjlibrary.org or
contact Congregation Emeth at
(408) 778-8200.
