What is Passover?
Passover (“Pesach” in Hebrew) is the first of the three pilgrimage festivals, and commemorates the Israelites’ escape from slavery in Egypt, as described in the Book of Exodus. The holiday takes its name from a miracle: the angel God sent to slaughter the Egyptians' first-born sons “passed over” the homes of the Hebrews, who had been instructed to sacrifice a lamb and use its blood to mark the lintels of their doorways.
