جشن پسح را به همه يهوديان جهان تبريك می‌گويم.
Happy Passover

History of Passover relates back to over 3,000 years ago, when the Jews were held as slaves by the Egyptian Pharaoh, Rameses II. Moses, who looked after the cause of the Jews, asked Pharaoh several times to release them from slavery, and warned Him that he would devastate his people by plagues. Moses inflicted 10 plagues, and after all the 9 plagues, the Pharaoh agreed to release the Jews from slavery, but quickly changed his mind. (You can read about the 10 plagues by clicking here.) After the 10th plague however, he let the Jews go. The Jews left in a hurry, owing to the fickle-mindness of the Pharaoh, and could thus only take unleavened bread with them, called Matza, which is a part of celebration even today.

As expected, the Pharaoh send his army after the Jews so that they could be brought back. The jews travelled for 40 days and nights, and reached Red Sea, where they saw the emperor's army advancing towards them. In despair they asked for help from Moses, who parted the waters of Red Sea for the Jews to cross. As soon as the Jews crossed, the Red Sea regained and drowned the soldiers.

Since the time of Jewish freedom from Egyptian slavery, Jews have celebrated this historical event by having a feast called the 'Seder'. The word 'Seder' means 'order' and refers to the order of historical events recalled in the Passover meal as well as the meal itself. The story of Passover is read from a book called the 'Haggadah'. While the main story of Passover is read by Jews the world over, local customs and traditions have changed over time, so that the festival has been adapted to reflect the life and routine of individual communities. This is why the festival of Passover is celebrated differently in Tunisia than in Canada.

Passover is celebrated for 8 days (7 for Reform Jews), and always begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan.
 

Moses was sitting in the Egyptian ghetto. Things were terrible. Pharaoh wouldn't even speak to him. The rest of the Israelites were mad at him and making the overseers even more irritable than usual, etc. He was about ready to give up.
Suddenly a booming, sonorous voice spoke from above: 
"You, Moses, heed me ! I have good news, and bad news."
Moses was staggered. The voice continued:
"You, Moses, will lead the People of Israel from bondage. If Pharaoh refuses to release your bonds, I will smite Egypt with a rain of frogs"
"You, Moses, will lead the People of Israel to the Promised Land. If Pharaoh blocks your way, I will smite Egypt with a plague of Locust."
"You, Moses, will lead the People of Israel to freedom and safety. If Pharaoh's army pursues you, I will part the waters of the Red Sea to open your path to the Promised Land."
Moses was stunned. He stammered, "That's.... that's fantastic. I can't believe it! --- But what's the bad news?"
"You, Moses, must write the Environmental Impact Statement."

An orthodox Rabbi dies and goes to heaven. As he's approaching the
gates, he hears a band of singing and dancing angels approach, and
begins to get excited. The lead angel approaches the Rabbi and asks
if he would mind stepping aside for a moment. Shocked, the Rabbi does so. 
The angels march out of the gates and encircle a man who has also
approached the gates. The man is an Egged bus driver [Egged,
pronounced like egg-head without the h, is the Israeli tour bus
company.] The joyous parade of angels carry the bus driver in ahead
of the Rabbi.
When the parade is gone, an angel returns to the Rabbi and says, "You
can come in now." The angel begins to lead the Rabbi inside alone.
The Rabbi, somewhat confused, says, "I'm not one to make waves or
anything, but I need to know something. I think I've been a good
Rabbi. I've worked hard all my life. Why is it that the Egged bus
driver gets led in by a band of angels ahead of me?"
The angel says, "Well, frankly, Rabbi, whenever you preached, people
slept. But whenever he drove, people prayed."

A little boy once returned home from Hebrew school and his father asked, "what did you learn today?" 
He answered, "The Rabbi told us how Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt."
"How?" 
The boy said "Moses was a big strong man and he beat Pharaoh up. Then while he was down, he got all the people together and ran towards the sea. When he got there, he has the Corps of Engineers build a huge pontoon bridge. Once they got on the other side, they blew up the bridge while the Egyptians were trying to cross."
The father was shocked. "Is that what the Rabbi taught you?"
The boy replied, "No. But you'd never believe the story he DID tell us!"

As Moses and the children of Israel were crossing the Red Sea, the children of Israel began to complain to Moses of how thirsty they were after walking so far. Unfortunately, they were not able to drink from the walls of water on either side of them, as they were made up of salt-water.
Then, a fish from that wall of water told Moses that he and his family heard the complaints of the people, but that they through their own gills could remove the salt from the water and force it out of their mouths like a fresh water fountain for the Israelites to drink from as they walked by.
Moses accepted this kindly fish's offer. But before the fish and his family began to help, they told Moses they had a demand. They and their descendants had to be always present at the seder meal that would be established to commemorate the Exodus, since they had a part in the story. When Moses agreed to this, he gave them their name which remains how they are known to this very day, for he said to them, "Go Filter Fish!"

Bernie, a young Jewish boy, decided he wanted to be an aeronautical engineer and build airplanes. Over the years he studied hard, went to the best schools, and finally got his degree. It didn't take long before he gained a reputation as the finest aeronautical engineer in all the land, so he decided to start his own company to build jets.
His company was such a hit that the President of the United States called Bernie into his office. "Bernie," the president said, "the President of Israel wants to commission your company to build an advanced jet fighter for his country. You have our approval--go out and design him the best jet fighter ever made."
Needless to say, Bernie was tremendously excited at this prospect. The entire resources of his company went into building the most advanced jet fighter in history. Everything looked terrific on paper, but when they held the first test flight of the new jet, disaster struck. The wings couldn't take the strain--they broke clean off of the fuselage! (The test pilot parachuted to safety, thank G-d.) Bernie was devastated; his company redesigned the jet fighter, but the same thing happened at the next test flight--the wings broke off again.
Beside himself with worry, Bernie went to his Schul to pray...to ask G-d where he had gone wrong. The rabbi saw Bernie's sadness, and naturally asked him what the matter was. Bernie decided to pour his heart out to the rabbi.
After hearing the problem with the jet fighter, the rabbi put his arm on Bernie's shoulder and told him, "Listen, I know how to solve your problem. All you have to do is drill a row of holes directly above and below where the wing meets the fuselage. If you do this, I absolutely guarantee the wings won't fall off."
Bernie just smiled and thanked the rabbi for his advice...but the more he thought about it, the more he realized he had nothing to lose. Maybe the rabbi had some holy insight. So Bernie did exactly what the rabbi told him to do. On the next design of the jet fighter, they drilled a row of holes directly above and below where the wings met the fuselage. And...it worked!! The next test flight went perfectly!
Brimming with joy, Bernie went to the Schul to tell the rabbi that his advice had worked. "Naturally," said the rabbi, "I never doubted it would."
"But Rabbi, how did you know that drilling the holes would prevent the wings from falling off?"
"Bernie," the rabbi intoned, "I'm an old man. I've lived for many, many years and I've celebrated Passover many, many times. And in all those years, not once--NOT ONCE--has the matzo broken on the perforation.