Hello ,
Thank you for your question.
There is a good article on the background of Passover at Suite 101:
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/catholic_christianity/15323
Passover: Celebration Ideas for Christians
Author: Kathryn Morse
Published on: March 26, 1999
"...The Jewish celebration of Passover is an eight-day feast which
begins with a Seder and includes extensive house cleaning and the
practice of charity. Seder means "order" and is a family meal with the
telling of the story of Passover. At the Seder, each person should
have a "Haggadah." Haggadah means "the telling" and is a guidebook for
the Seder. Different parts are assigned to family members and each
follows in the Haggadah. Besides the reading, certain foods are served
to aid in the telling of the story of Passover...
...The original Passover is from the history of the Hebrews in Egypt.
The story begins with the death of Joseph and the enslavement of the
Hebrew people in Egypt. The slaves were treated cruelly by the
Egyptian Pharoh, but nevertheless, the Hebrews grew in numbers. Such
numbers frightened the Pharoh (there might be an uprising) and the
Pharoah ordered all newborn Hebrew males to be killed. Now into the
story enters Moses, the Hebrew child who was hid in the reeds of the
Nile River and found and adopted by Pharoh's daughter...
...Moses sought out the Pharoah to ask for the release of the Hebrew
people. Pharoh repeatedly refused despite the number of plagues God
sent as punishment for not letting them go. Finally, God sent the
worst of the plagues, the death of the firstborn children in each
household. The Hebrews were spared this plague. They were instructed
to mark their doorposts with lamb's blood. Their homes were "passed
over" because of their obedience to mark their homes with the lamb's
blood. A heartbroken and frightened Pharoah allowed the Hebrews to
leave...
...The Lord ordered a festival of remembrance of the Passover which
included the eating of unleavened bread for eight days. Leaven or
yeast is a symbol of sin which can ferment and spread. (Jesus made use
of this analogy.) Unleavened bread is a sign of readiness to leave
immediately at the Lord's command. (You don't have to wait for bread
to rise.) Freedom from sin and readiness to obey is the continuing
message of the use of unleavened bread. (Exodus 12:14ff, Leviticus
23:4ff)..."
Perhaps more specific to your question is this page:
http://www.thewordsofeternallife.com/passover.html
"...But the story of Passover, as we read it in Exodus, was cast into
writing many centuries after the original events. It is a composite
festival, possibly representing the traditions of the different tribes
and peoples that made up ancient Israel-those that came out of Egypt
and those that joined them later in the desert, in the he land across
the Jordan River, and in the land of Canaan itself. The various
elements-the Passover lamb, the unleavened bread, the household
celebration, the public convocation, and the story of the deliverance
from Egypt-fused into a festival much greater than the sum of its
parts, a celebration not just of a specific historical event, but of
freedom itself, and of the religious dedication and respect fro law
and life that give meaning to freedom. Passover was to be a time of
thanksgiving, of spring renewal, of family and community solidarity.
Its hold on the Jewish people, its tremendous significance in Jewish
life and thought, cannot be calculated.
The Origins of Passover
Parts of the Passover observance resemble seasonal festivals of other
peoples, in which a new agricultural cycle is marked by a communal
meal, at which time, according to Theodor Gaster in Festivals of the
Jewish Year, the purity and perfection of the food consumed is of
considerable importance. Hense, the reason for an unblemished lamb;
for the requirement of inspecting if for four days; for eating it all
in one night, lest it spoil; and for banning any food made with a
fermenting substance (leaven). It was at one time a common practice,
as well, to sprinkle the animal's blood as a sign of the bond between
the participants of the meal, or as an appeal for protection fro their
god-a practice still observed, for example, among the Amur Arabs of
Palestine. Gradually, the Jews changed the significance of these
practices to coincide with their saga of the Exodus from Egypt. For
postbiblical Jews, the ritual of the lamb (called, in Hebrew, pesach)
was seen to define the emerging people as a nation and to earn them
the right of redemption. In the Bible itself, the blood on the
doorposts was a sign to the slaying angel, that he might "pass over"
or "skip" (pesach) the Israelite homes; the eating "in haste," a sign
of their impending journey; the unleavened bread, because they did not
have time to bake with leaven. What perhaps began as inherited customs
from other ancient peoples became vivid images in a drama of
miraculous redemption, celebrating the cooperation of man and God in
the establishment of freedom and the rejection of bondage and
idolatry..."
This paper notes:
http://home.sandiego.edu/~guzman/papers/religion/Pentateuch/PassoverPaper.html
"This paper will look at the history and prehistory of the Passover
Tradition. It will attempt to determine where the tradition
originated, and whether it was original, or taken from some
preexisting ritual. The structure of the Passover will be analyzed
for changes over time and possible reasons for these changes. The
focus will center on what the Passover is, where it originates, and
its early development...
The part of the Yahwist narrative that we are concerned with begins
with Exod. 11:1-8. In this chapter, Moses warns Pharaoh about the
final plague and tells him that it will be so bad that “there will be
a loud cry throughout the land of Egypt, such as has never been or
will ever be again.” (Exod. 11:6) After giving Pharaoh this warning,
Moses also warns his fellow Jews. He instructs them to
Go, select lambs for your families, and slaughter the Passover lamb.
Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and
touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood in the basin.
None of you shall go outside the door of your house until morning.
For the LORD will pass through to strike down the Egyptians; when he
sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will
pass over that door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your
houses to strike you down. (Exod. 12:21-23)
With these words, Moses gives us the details of what will become the
first Passover sacrifice. The first Passover (the only Passover)
occurs at midnight of that same day.
At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of
Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the
firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and all the
firstborn of the livestock. Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all
his officials and all the Egyptians; and there was a loud cry in
Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. (Exod.
12:29-30)
We should also note that after this tenth plague, Pharaoh does indeed
tell the Jews to leave Egypt, and they leave in such a hurry that they
do not have time to leaven their dough. “So the people took their
dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls wrapped up in
their cloaks on their shoulders.” (Exod. 12:33-34)...
...All these verses have given us is a description of what happened
before, during, and after the Passover of the destroyer. There is no
mention of any meal that is eaten, of any restrictions on food, or on
remembering the Passover in the years to come. In fact, this is a
very simple description of the events that transpired and nothing
more. If we follow the principle of Occam’s razor, this simplicity
lends credibility to the probability of this being the earliest
account of the Passover...
...This account also lends the most credence to the theory that the
Passover actually stems from earlier nomadic rituals. We can compare
the movement of flocks at different times of year with the movement of
the Jews out of Israel. Naturally, there would be a desire to protect
the flocks from any dangers that might come upon them during the move.
“The new-born, of whom the first-born were particularly precious,
must have been the occasion for a special animal sacrifice, primarily
to keep away evil powers.” (Noth 90) Evil powers, often being known
to be out at night, would make nighttime the ideal hour for such a
sacrifice. Noth also argues, that “we should assume that the Passover
sacrifice was already known…before the stay in Egypt, as a cultic
ceremony performed before the spring departure to the summer
pasturage.” (91) This ceremony, was changed greatly over time, as
can be seen in the writings of the P tradition...
I think you will find this to be a most informative article. It
concludes:
"In the end, we can follow certain central themes that remain
unchanged in the celebration of the Passover over the centuries, while
other aspects change dramatically. Passover is the celebration of the
Exodus from Egypt of the Jews by Yahweh their LORD. It originates
from the mandate spoken to Moses to kill a lamb and smear its blood
onto the doorposts and lintel of all the houses of Israel so that the
destroyer will pass over that house when the Lord sends it to kill the
firstborn of Egypt. It at one time defines who is an Israelite, and
who an Israelite is. Although originating from two separate cultic
rituals, it has been merged seamlessly into the most important and
meaningful ritual of Judaism today."
In terms of the first haggadah, or was a haggadah used during the time
of the first temple, this page offers the following:
http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla64/069-150e.htm
The Early Printed Passover Haggadah: a Tale of Four Cities: Prague,
Mantua, Venice, Amsterdam
Nanette Stahl
Yale University Library
New Haven, Connecticut
USA
"The Passover Haggadah--a compilation of biblical passages, prayers,
hymns, and rabbinic literature--was probably assembled sometime during
the early post-biblical period in Palestine and is meant to be read
during the Passover Seder, a ceremonial meal held in Jewish homes to
commemorate the Israelite redemption from Egypt in biblical times. The
earliest extant version appeared in a 10th. century prayer book in
Babylonia (modern Iraq). The Haggadah became a cherished text for Jews
all over the world and nowhere is this high regard more evident than
in the illustrations lavished on it by generations of Jewish artists
or artists employed by Jews from medieval times to the present. These
illuminations represent Biblical scenes as well as scenes from
rabbinic legends.
The first printed version of the Haggadah would appear to have been
published in Guadalajara in 1482, just ten years before the expulsion
of the Jews from Spain. We cannot be certain, however, since no place
or date of publication is given in the text. The first Haggadah
printed with illustrations that has come down to us in its entirety
was produced in Prague in 1526. This was the first in a long line of
printed illustrated Haggadot, a tradition that continues to this
day...."
Search Strategy:
original +passover +celebration +tradition OR solomon
passover +solomon +celebration
passover +solomon OR "first temple" +celebration
passover +"first temple" +celebration
passover +during +"first temple" +celebration
first haggadah
I trust my research has provided you with the information you desired.
If a link above should fail to work or anything require further
explanation or research, please do post a Request for Clarification
prior to rating the answer and closing the question and I will be
pleased to assist further.
Regards,
-=clouseau=- |
