What Is Passover?

Passover–or Pesach in Hebrew–celebrates the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt where they were enslaved by the Pharaoh for nearly 400 years. After decades of slavery in Egypt suffered by the Israelites, God sent Moses to the Pharaoh with a message to “let my people go”. When the Pharaoh did not heed Moses’ command, God created the ten plagues and brought them down on the Egyptians. From water turning to blood and locusts killing all crops, the worst of the plagues was the death of the Egyptians’ first born child. In fact, this is where the name “Pesach” comes from, literally meaning “passed over” because God passed over the homes of the Jewish people when killing the firstborns of the Egyptians. Like most Jewish holidays, it is a celebration of the strength of the Jewish people.