Happy Passover!

Origins of the Passover Feast
The first reference to Passover has been found in the Book of Exodus and then in the New Testament of the Bible. According to Exodus 12, King James Version, about 3000 years ago, God promised the people of Israel to free them from the slavery in Egypt and unleash the tenth plague that was to 'Smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.' To be sure that Israelites were not the ones to save his wrath, he instructed them to mark their door posts with lamb's blood, stating: "and when I see the blood, I will pass over you." The book was later translated to English in William Tyndale. Thus, the name 'Passover' came into vogue for this celebration. Since the original word in the Hebrew Torah for 'pass over' was 'Posach', the celebration is also known as 'Pesach'. There have been references that confirm that the parts of this feast were observed even in earlier times. The Genesis 19:3 talks about 'unleavened bread' while Maimonedes has a short commentary saying - "It was Passover". Though there have been no particular reasons stated for eating unleavened bread but the best guess is that people used to be in such a hurry to serve the angels that they did not have enough time to let the dough rise and prepare proper, leavened bread. Besides the two main commandments of eating matzoh and prohibiting leavened foods on the days of Pesach, one of the ancient rituals still followed by Samaritans was to offer sacrifice of a lamb in the evening on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Nisan (or Abib). These commandments are now clubbed together as observing Seder or the special Passover feast on the first two evenings of the holiday.