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The Story of Passover
Contributed by Alan Drimmer

  • TOP HAGGADAHS FOR 2023
  1. The story of Exodus begins around 2000 BC after Joseph journeys to Egypt and serves several Pharaohs with distinction. But 400 years later, a new Pharaoh named Ramses II feels threatened by the Jewish descendants of Jacob who had increased greatly in size. Ramses embarks on a campaign to subdue the Israelites, forcing them into slavery and eventually decreeing that all Jewish boys must be killed at birth. The Jewish women resist the decree, and one woman named Jochebed opts to save her newborn son by setting him afloat on the Nile river in a basket. Pharaoh’s daughter discovers the abandoned child, naming him Moses. Pharaoh raises Moses as his son, a powerful prince.
  1. As Moses grows older, he becomes aware of his Jewish roots and becomes conflicted about his origins and privileged royal status. In a fit of rage, Moses kills an Egyptian overseer who is beating an Israelite slave. Moses flees in fear to Midian, a village in the Sinai Peninsula, where he meets a priest named Jethro and marries the man’s daughter, Zipporah, beginning a new life as a shepherd.
  1. God, however, is concerned for the suffering of the Israelites, and he appears to Moses in the form of a burning bush. God speaks to Moses, informing him of his plan to return the Israelites to Israel—to “a land flowing with milk and honey”—and he sends Moses back to Egypt to liberate the Jewish slaves. Moses is timid and resists, citing his lack of eloquence and abilities, and refuses to go. God is angered but encourages Moses, presenting him with a staff for performing miracles and instructing Moses to take his brother, Aaron, with him as an aid.
  1. Moses and Aaron return to Egypt, where Moses organizes the Israelites and confronts the Pharaoh, demanding the release of the Jewish people. Moses performs a miracle, turning his staff into a snake, but Pharaoh is unimpressed and only increases the workload for the Israelites. God responds by inflicting a series of ten plagues on Egypt. Before each plague, Moses demands the Israelites’ release, demanding Pharaoh to “Let My People Go,” but Pharaoh refuses to release the Jews each time. The tenth and final plague kills all the firstborn males in Egypt.
  1. Before the final plague, Moses instructs the Jewish people to stay inside but to cover their door posts in the blood of a sacrificed lamb as a sign for God to protect their homes from his killings. Pharaoh relents and releases the more than 600,000 Israelites. Upon leaving, Moses enjoins the Israelites to commemorate this day by celebrating the festival of Passover, named for God’s protection from the final plague.
  1. Guided by God in a cloud during the day and by fire during the night, Moses and the Israelites head towards the sea. Pharaoh chases them and backs them against the water, threatening to destroy them. The Israelites complain that Moses has taken them to die in the wilderness, and Moses, at God’s bidding, parts the sea for the people to cross. Pharaoh follows the Jews and Moses closes the waters back again, drowning the Egyptian army. Witnessing the miracle, the people decide to trust Moses, and they sing a song extolling God as a great and loving warrior. 
haggadah Section: -- Four Children

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