554 REPOKT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1899. 



The head of the house takes the cup iu his right hand and the spice 

 box in his left, while the candle is usually held by a child, and, after 

 reciting several passages of the Scriptures, pronounces a blessing over 

 the wine, then over the spices, smelling them and passing them to the 

 others present, then over the light, closing with thanksgiving to God 

 for the distinction He made between Sabbath and workdays, between 

 things sacred and profane, etc. The cup is then passed around among 

 the members of the family and the candle extinguished with drops of 

 wine from the cup. This ceremony is called the hdldalah^ i. e. , sep- 

 aration or division, because it divides or separates the Sabbath from 

 the other days of the week. 



(b) PASSOVER. 



The feast of Passover is celebrated in commemoration of the deliv- 

 erance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt, as related in the first 

 chapters of the book of Exodus. It begins on the evening of the 

 14th of Nisan (March-April) and continues, with the Jews who live in 

 Palestine, for seven days, with those in other places for eight days. 

 It is the first of the three pilgrimage festivals (the two others being 

 the feast of the weeks, or Shahuoth, and the feast of the Tabernacles, 

 or Sukkothy and begins the ecclesiastical year.^ 



In ancient times the celebration of Passover centered around the 

 Paschal lamb. As it could not be slaughtered outside of the sanctuary ^ 

 its use ceased with the destruction of the Temple, and the eating of 

 unleavened bread, or magfoth, is now the principal feature of the Pass- 

 over feast. The eating or even the keeping of anything leavened or fer- 

 mented {hameg) is strictly prohibited, * hence the Passover is also called 

 the " ' feast of unleavened bread. " ' On the evening preceding Passover 

 the ceremony of " searching for leaven" (bedlqath hameg) takes place. 

 The head of the house, furnished with a candle, a wooden spoon, and 

 a feather brush, goes over the whole house and gathers all suspicious 

 crumbs into the spoon. This is burned on the morning of the 1-ith of 

 Nisan in the courtyard {hi' ur hameg). In the evening the feast begins 

 with a service in the synagogue. In the home the evening meal is of 

 the nature of a commemoration service, called Seder — order, arrange- 

 ment, or program. At the head of the table are cushioned chairs or 

 lounges for the master and mistress of the house to recline on, as was 

 done and is still customary in the Orient among the high and f reeborn. 

 On the table are the articles emblematic of the events commemorated. 

 These are: Three maggoth., or cakes oi unleavened bread, baked in the 



^Compare Exodus xxiii, 14-17; xxxiv, 23; Deuteronomy xvi, 16. 

 ^ Compare Exodus xii, 2; Leviticus xxiii, 5; Numbers xxviii, 16. 

 ^ Compare Deuteronomy xvi, 2. 



* Compare Exodus xxii, 19; xxiii, 7; Deuteronomy xvi, 3 and 4. 

 ^ Exodus xxiii, 15. 



