Thursday, April 14, 2011

Day 15 - Bible Verse

I honestly have nothing to put here. I was not raised reading the bible. I was raised in Judaism - but almost more cultural than religious. I have read bits and pieces of the bible - but I am no where near well versed enough to have a verse to write about.

I do love my religion/culture - just don't necessarilly feel it stems from a book. It stems more from the culture of my people more than anything. That being said - Monday night is the first night of Passover. So instead of a verse, I will write the four questions from this holiday - one of my favorite parts of the sedar:

Q1: Why is it that on all other nights during the year we eat either bread or matzoh, but on this night we eat only matzoh?

A1: Matzoh reminds us that when the Jews left the slavery of Egypt, they had no time to bake their bread. They took raw dough on their journey and baked it in the hot desert sun into hard crackers called matzoh.

Q2: Why is it that on all other nights we eat all kinds of herbs, but on this night we eat only bitter herbs?

A2: Maror reminds us of the bitter and cruel way the Pharaoh treated the Jewish people when they were slaves in Egypt.

Q3: Why is it that on all other nights we do not dip our herbs een once, but on this night we dip them twice?

A3: We dip bitter herbs into Charoset to remind us how hard the Jewish slaves worked in Egypt. The chopped apples and nuts look like the clay used to make the bricks used in building the Pharaohs buildings. We dip parsley into salt water. The parsley reminds us that spring is here and new life will grow. The salt water reminds us of the tears of the Jewish slaves.

Q4: Why is it that on all other nights we eat either sitting or reclining, but on this night we eat in a reclining position?

A4: We lean on a pillow to remind us that now we are free and can relax in comfort.

**Thanks to http://kosher4passover.com/4questions.htm for the details on the four questions for this post!

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