The Shasta courier., 1868-04-18
The Passover.

The Hebrew festival of the Passover com.
menced on the evening of Monday, 9th inst,
ana continued until Tuesday last, the 14th,
period of eight days The festival is
reiigiously observed by Hebrews throughout
the world. The Hebrew newspaper, pub
llshed at San Francisco, says of it:
1t is fact which is no less astonishing
than 1t Is impressive to the thoughtful mind,
that this festival, which Moses commanded
the children of Israel to observe, in commem
Grafton of the "passing over" their house.
holds OF the destroying angel when the first
born OF the Egyptians were smitten, is to-
day, after the lapse Of more than three thou
sand years, celebrated by this peculiar
people, on the shores of the Pacific, amidst
the excitements and activities of the diverse
population which has here gathered from all
parts of the world. Nation after nation has
passed away, and the records of their deeds
and their peculiar institu tions have grown
dim in tradition but this wonderful people,
scattered throughout the world prosecuted
with unrelenting hatred for ages treated as
outcasts, and denied all rights of citizenship
even down to a very recent period, have kept
fasts and feasts, and they are now, as in past
ages, separate and distinct people, although
they have no nation, but are the citizens of all
lands. Skeptics may cavil as they please at
the revelations of Scripture, and attempt to
disprove the inspired records of Moses, but
the existence of the Israeltes at this day
most powerfully vindicates the integrity of
the sacred writings.
The term '' Passover" has three general
acceptations. 1t is used, first. to denote the
yearly solemnity celebrated on the 11th day
of the month Abb. or the green month,
called, after the captivity, the month of
Nisan, meaning the month of flight, because
the Israelites fed from Egypt in that month.
This was strictly the Passover Of the
Lamb, for on that day the Israelites were
commanded to roast the Paschal lamb and
eat it in their own houses. 1t signifies,
secondly, that annual festival celebrated on
the 10Th Of Nisan, which is called the Feast
of the Passover" And, thirdly, it compre-
hends the whole solemnitv, beginning on the
18th and ending on the 2lst day of Nissan
In strictness of speech, says Kitto. the
" Passover" and the Feast of Unfermented
Things" are distinct institutions. The Pass
over was to be kept on the eve of the l4th of
the first month { Abb or Nisan), in which,
although unfermented things were enioined
to he eaten with the lamb, yet the feast of
unleavened bread did not commence until the
following morning. continued seven days,
Of which the first and the last only were Sab,
baths-the first, probably, in commemoration
of their march out OF Egypt; the last, Of
their passage through the Red Sea.
Ga the 10th day of the month Abb. the
head of family separated Il ram or Il goat of
year old, without blemish, which was slain
On the l4th day. :" between the two even
ings," before the altar. Originally the blood
was sprinked on the posts of the door, but
afterward the priests sprinkled the blood
upon the bottom of the altar. The ram or
kid was roasted whole, with two splits forming
a cross. 1t was served up with salad of
bitter herbs, to remind them of the bitter
bondage in which they were held in Egypt,
and eaten with unleavened bread Wine,
also, to the quantity of four or five cups, was
drunk by each person. 1t has been a dis
puted question whether the wine used at this
feast was ordinary or fermented wine, or was
the pure, fresh juice of the grape. Those who
hold that it was unfermented wine, appeal
mainly to the expression unfermented
things" which Hebraists assert to be the
true rendering of the Hebrew word which is
translated ''unleavened bread" The rabbins
interpreted the command as extending to the
use of nnfermented i0ine as well as unfer-
mented bread and, accordingly, the modern
Jews generally use raisn wine at the feast of
the Passover. What remained of the flesh, ,
after the feast, was burned, so that it might
not see corruption Not less than ten, nor
more than twenty persons were admitted in
any single house to this solemn feast At the
first observance, the Hebrews ate the Pass.
over with their loiDs girt about, sandals on
their feet, slaves in their hands, and in haste,
like travellers ready for immediate departure,
but subsequently the usual mode of reclining
was adopted in token Of rest and security
The Passover was instituted ,49l years B.
c., and was celebrated in the new temple of
Jerusalem, according to Archbishop Usher,
on the 18th day of April SIS b. G. Since
the final destruction of the temple, the Pass
over has been celebrated by eating unleaven-
ed bread, during the eight days of its
continuance by abstinence from labor on
the first two and last two days of the term,
and on the first and second evenings by the
observance of various domestic rites, in com
memoration of the deliverance from Egyptian
bondage, including the recital of portions of
the Scripture, the chanting of psalms, and
familiar conversation on religious subjects :
The month of Abb, or Nisan, as it was
afterward named, corresponds very nearly tc
our month of April. 1t was named by Moses
the first month of the Hebrew year, but
according to the modern Jewish reckoning
the month Tisri is the first month, which
makes Abb the seventh month