Monday, March 25, 2013

Why We Celebrate Passover - A Modern Take


This off-topic essay is my response to a request from my cousin Shelley.  

We were slaves in the land of Egypt. Our ancestors must’ve been a lot better at manual labor than we are today. Why else would the Pharaohs make them build pyramids?   After years of dreaming of having the freedom to become accountants, doctors, and lawyers, the Jews were fed up. Moses, their leader, went to the Pharaoh and asked him to let his fellow-steins go.

The Pharaoh, in his best Yul Brynner impression, raised one eyebrow towards his bald head and said “No.”

Moses told him he’d be sorry. G-d sent plagues to Egypt. The first was blood.

“No,” said Pharaoh.

Then came fire.

“Goodness gracious, great balls of fire! But still, no”

Locusts, hail, and a few others nobody likes to talk about followed.

The last one was the Death of the First Born. The angel of death flew around Egypt, passing over (get it?) the houses of the Jews, but entering the houses of the Egyptians to slay their oldest child.

Finally after his own son died, Pharaoh said, “don’t let the door hit you in the ptolyme (which is Egyptian for ‘ass’).”

So we left, crossed the Red Sea, hung out in the desert and ate food like it was Manna from Heaven, which it was, until we made it to Israel, 40 years later. Apparently, not one Jewish man had been willing to stop and ask for directions.

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