#pessach

[koenji]

This 2,500-year-old potsherd (c. 475 BC) contains one of the earliest known references to the Jewish festival of Passover.

The Aramaic note from the Island of Elephantine, Egypt, reads: "To Hoshaya. Greetings! Take care of the children until Ahutab gets there. Don't trust anyone else with them! If the flour for your bread has been ground, make a small portion of dough to last until their mother gets there. Let me know when you will be celebrating Pascha (Passover). Tell me how the baby is doing!"

Passover commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt and is observed annually by Jewish people all over the world. This year, Passover begins at sundown on 12 April and ends the evening of 20 April. via Ashmolean Museum

[weisswodka]

Happy Passover!

Seder with friends🥬🥚🥕🍎🍗

[bobemajses]

Baking Matzo before Passover, 1992, Tulchin, Ukraine

The Jews were in the 16th century among the first residents of Tulchin. In 1648, the Cossacks conquered the town. Hiding in the fortress of Tulchin, the Poles betrayed the Jews to the Cossacks after fighting them together, but were in turn massacred by their common enemy - a historical event which was the subject of many plays and novels. The number of Jews in Tulchin increased during the 19th century, and with 10,055 Jews in 1897, they formed 62% of the total population. After the German occupation of Ukraine in World War II, Tulchin was incorporated into the region of Transnistria, which had been handed over to Romania. During the autumn of 1941 all Jews of Tulchin were transferred to the camp of Peciora. In general, more Jews survived in the Romanian-occupied zones than in other parts of Ukraine - in 1959 there were still about 2,500 Jews in Tulchin (21% of the total population). The last synagogue was closed by the Soviet authorities in the 1960s. But Tulchin remained one of the few Ukrainian towns with a quite decent post war Jewish community. Jeffrey Veidlinger, author of "In the Shadow of the Shtetl", reports that in 2002, there were 262 Jewish residents, most of them elderly, still living in Tulchin.

[littleabriel-blog]

We are at that time of year again, when we are reminded that there is an almost 2000 year old argument about whether or not the Second Plague was a bunch of small froggies or one big kaiju froggie, and I just can't help but imagine a giant Hypnotoad materializing among the pyramids while Pharoah stands on the balcony of his palace with his eyes bugging out of his head and his jaw drops to the floor. I'd draw it if I had any artistic talent.

[jackaljakie]

Happy Pessach!

Did you find the Afikoman?

Yes! (congrats homie)

No... (better luck next time ^^)

We didn't hide any (shame on you)

Goy button

Voting ended onApr 13, 2025

[imyourbadjew]

Hey, about the feeling bad for the Pharaoh's soldiers drowned in the Red Sea - I was always taught growing up that the reason we spill drops of (red) wine when we recite the plagues is that we SHOULD mourn even our enemies, that even when violence is necessary, it's at best a necessary evil.

Is that not common practice?

That’s a very interesting question! I have not witnessed this habit before but my family is not the most observant so that might not mean much. Time to go down a research rabbit hole!

So from what I can gather from multiple sources, while this practice is not in the Haggadah, it is ancient. Like, almost two thousand years old. However, opinions seem to differ as to the reason for this act. Some regard it as a quasi-magical act (סגולה) that can deflect misfortune or inflict it on others (there is one account of a man who would run around the streets of Bagdad sprinkling wine on the houses of people who had wronged him); some consider that it signifies that when we recite the plagues they shouldn’t be applied to us; some say that it signifies the 16 bladed sword of HKB”H; and some follow the interpretation that you are familiar with. To elaborate, the idea seems to be that our joy shouldn’t be tainted by vengefulness or anger, or even that while it was necessary that our enemies be stricken down, we should not rejoice for it. This is different to the JVP Haggadah, which seems to imply that those who tried to destroy us shouldn’t have been harmed at all. That the soldiers of pharaoh should have been allowed to cross the Red Sea to share with us the land that lay beyond.

Which sounds very nice and lovely unless you know literally anything about the last 2000 plus years of Jewish history.

In any case, thank you very much for this ask that allowed me to learn more about our people, religion and culture!

[xxspacevampirexx]

My take on the frog discourse is that the plague actually consisted of 1000 frogs in a trenchcoat, disguised as one giant frog

[eretzyisrael]