THE MASS:Its Ancient Roots

Part Ia: Holy Meals:Shabbat, Matzah, and Pesch

2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100

1234 BC

Developments during this Era

Food stuffs and animals (Cain and Abel) together become a forum for remembrance and strength among a People formed by their God, Yahweh.

The earliest forum or meal recalls the Sabbath. It is the shabbat meal; the night before the day of rest for the Jews.

Yahweh prepares to save the Jews from prolonged captivity in Egypt andpromise them a safe haven in the Promised Land. They are to recallboth the event celebrating their deliverance, being Passed Over, and their journey, the Exodus.

The Jewish Shabbat Meal

Date: Every Shabbat at Sundown on FridayPlace: In every Jewish homeTime: No later than 18 minutes before sundown Attending: Families Preparation: Leviticus 23:3 commands the Jews to "do no manner of work" on the Shabbat, Shabbat is primarily a day of rest and spiritual enrichment. The word "Shabbat" comes from the root Shin-Bet-Tav, meaning to cease, to end, or to rest.Environment: Two Shabbat candles are lit and a blessing is recited . This ritual, performed by the woman of the house, officially marks the beginning of the Shabbat. The candles represent the two commandments: zachor (to remember:  the creation of the world in Ex. 20:11) and shamor (to observe: the deliverance from slavery in Egypt in Deut. 5:15). Shabbat night dinner is usually the most festive and tasty of the week. There are no particular specifications as to what can be served, except for the usual rules of kosher which refers to traditional Jewish fare and avoidance of those that are prohibited (e.g., pork, shell fish, etc.).

The First of the Jewish Sacred MealsBiblical Origin of the Sabbath Meal

Shabbes, "rest" or "cessation") is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from week to week and from place to place, depending on the time of sunset at each location. In polar areas where there is no sunrise or sunset at certain times of the year, a different set of rules applies.Shabbat recalls the Biblical Creation account in Genesis, describing God creating the Heavens and the Earth in six days and resting on the seventh. It also recalls the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai when God commanded the Israelite nation to observe the seventh day and keep it holy.Shabbat is considered a festive day, when a Jew is freed from the regular labors of everyday life, can contemplate the spiritual aspects of life, and can spend time with family. Traditionally, three festive meals are eaten: on Friday night, Saturday morning, and late Saturday afternoon. The day is also noted for those activities prohibited on Shabbat according to Jewish law.

Shabbat is given special status as a holy day at the very beginning of the Torah in Genesis 2:1-3. It is first commanded after the Exodus from Egypt, in Exodus 16:26 (relating to the cessation of manna) and in Exodus 20:8-11 (as the fourth of the Ten Commandments). Shabbat is commanded and commended many more times in the Torah and Tanakh; special sacrifices are to be offered on the day. Shabbat is also described by the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos and Nehemiah.

Genesis 2:1-3Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed. Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing, he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,

because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.

Exodus 16:26 Moses then said, "Eat it (manna) today, for today is the Sabbath of the LORD. On this day you will not find any of it on the ground. On the other six days you can gather it, but on the seventh day, the

Sabbath, none of it will be there.“

Exodus 20:8-11Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. Six days you may

labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD, your God. No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter, or your male or female slave, or your beast, or by the alien who lives with you. In six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the LORD has blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

19001950 182000 18501975 1925 1875 1825

Abraham

Ur 18201995 BC

Isaac

1895

Jacob

1835

1835Esau

Terah and Family migrate

from Ur to Haran1925

+

The History of Shabbat, The Feast of Matzah (Unleavened Bread) and Passover

17001750 1600 16501775 1725 1675 1625

1715

Jacob

Esau

1634 1744Joseph

1727Sold into Egypt

+

Jacob and Family migrate to Egypt1705

+

ReubenSimeon

LeviJudah

IssacharZebulun

1734Benjamin

ManassehEphraim

Dinah

DanNaphtali

GadAsher

Famine

Hyksos Period 13th - 17th Dynasties

1688

?

15001550 1400 14501575 1525 1475 1425

Israel in Egypt

The People of Israel Prosper in Egypt

Amenhotep II1450 14251567 1526

Ahmose13th Dynasty Begins

1512Thutmose I

Thutmose IIThutmose III Thutmose IV

1411

Hebrews forciblyconscripted into hard labor gangs

1450+

13001350 1200 12501375 1325 1275 1225

EXODUS AND CONQUEST

1355Moses

1235

The Exodus1275 1234

Ten Commandmentsat Sinai

+

Aaron1358 1235

1321Joshua

1211

1367 1327Othmiel

1381Mesopotamians

1309Moabites

1229Ehud and Shamgar

Canaanites 1209

PERIOD OF THE JUDGES

Israelite malesare circumcised;

celebrate Passoverfirst time;

Jericho falls1234

+ +1228

Divides Canaanamong Tribes

Ramses II1237

Amenhotep III1379 1362

Akhenaton+

Introduced monotheistic

worship

Tutankhamen

1352Aya

1348

Horemheb1320

1318

Rameses I1304

Seti I19th Dynasty

1223Merneptah

1210 1200Seti II

Married his sister Nefertiti

The Passover Seder Meal

Date: The Hebrew month of Nissan, 14th dayPlace: In every Jewish home worldwideTime: Sundown on the Eve of Passover the Seder Meal was

be eatenAttending: Families; plus guests to finish the Passover lambPreparation: A yearling lamb was sacrificed, blood drained, skinned,

roasted with entrails, no bones to be broken, entirely consumed;

Environment: Table, with candles, wine cups and red wine, thePassover lamb and other kosher foods; a PassoverHaggadah

English Number Length Civil Equivalent

Nissan (Abib) 1 30 days March-April

Iyar 2 29 days April-May

Sivan 3 30 days May-June

Tammuz 4 29 days June-July

Av 5 30 days July-August

Elul 6 29 days August-September

Tishri 7 30 days September-October

Cheshvan 8 29 or 30 days October-November

Kislev 9 30 or 29 days November-December

Tevet 10 29 days December-January

Shevat 11 30 days January-February

Adar I (leap years only) 12 30 days February-March

Adar(called Adar Beit in leap years)

12 (13 in leap years) 29 days February-March

The Hebrew Calendar

The Passover in the Old TestamentThe Fourteenth Day of the First Month

From the scriptures Passover begins at twilight (the time between sunset and darkness) on the fourteenth day of the first month of the Hebrew calendar. This month is known by the names Abib or Nisan. In the Bible, days begin not at midnight, but at sunset or evening (Genesis 1:5; Leviticus 23:27, 32).

Leviticus 23:5On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD'S

Passover.

Exodus 12:5-6,11Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You

may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. . . . And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD'S Passover.

Numbers 9:2-5Let the children of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time. On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time. According to all its rites and ceremonies you

shall keep it. So Moses told the children of Israel that they should keep the Passover. And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, at twilight, in the Wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did.

Numbers 28:16On the fourteenth day of the first month is the Passover of the

LORD.

Joshua 5:10Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of

Jericho.

2 Chronicles 35:1Now Josiah kept a Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the first month.

Ezra 6:19And the descendants of the captivity kept the Passover on the

fourteenth day of the first month.

The Meaning of the Old Testament Passover

The Old Testament Passover is a memorial to God passing over the houses of the children of Israel when He killed the firstborn of man and beast in Egypt, during the night of the fourteenth. The Passover is not a memorial to the exodus of Israel from Egypt.

Exodus 12:12-14For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will

strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.

Exodus 12:21-27Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them,

Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. It will come to pass when you come to the land which the LORD will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. And it shall be, when your children say to you, What do you mean by this service? that you shall say, It is the Passover sacrifice of the LORD, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households. So the people bowed

their heads and worshiped .

The Feast of the Unleavened Bread (Matza)

Date: The Hebrew month of Nissan 14 for Seven DaysPlace: In every Jewish homeTime: Beginning at sundown in the Shabbat Nissan 14Attending: Families and the Hebrew nation Preparation:  Unleavened bread reflected the fact that the Israelites had no time to put leaven in their bread before their hasty departure from Egypt; it was also connected to the barley harvest (Leviticus 23:4-14). Environment: The first and the seventh days of Matza are holy (annual Sabbaths) and that an assembly must be called for worship as a body. They were to remove the sin (leaven) from their lives (not eat any or have any in their house) for the seven days (which is a complete unit of time; a week).

THE HEBREW MONTH OF NISSANSUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY

Day ofPreparationfor Passover

Day ofPreparationfor Sabbath

PASSOVERbegins/eaten

at sundown

SABBATHbegins

Sunday beginswith

sundown

First Day of the Week

Nissan 15 Nissan 16 Nissan 17 Nissan 8Nissan14

Feast of Unleavened Bread begins at sundown

Feast of Unleavened

Bread ends at

sundown

Nissan19 Nissan 20 Nissan 21

WEDNESDAY FRIDAYFRIDAY SATURDAY

SUNDOWNSabbath ends

DAY ONE DAY TWO DAY FOURDAY THREE DAY FIVE DAY SIX DAY SEVEN

SATURDAY

SABBATHbegins

Sabbath ends

Sunday beginswith

sundown

Nissan 22

THURSDAY

SABBATH SABBATH

The Feast of the Unleavened BreadThe Fifteenth Day of the First Month

The Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on the fifteenth day of the first month of the Hebrew Calendar. The first and the seventh days of the feast are Sabbath days. No regular work is to be done and a holy convocation or assembly is to take place.

Leavened bread products are avoided and not eaten throughout the week long festival. They are replaced with unleavened bread.

Leviticus 23:6-8And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of

Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.

Numbers 28:17-18And on the fifteenth day of this month is the feast; unleavened

bread shall be eaten for seven days. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. . . . And on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work.

So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. In the first month, on the

fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.

Exodus 12:17-20 For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since

whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.

The Fifteenth Day of the First Month is the Exodus

Israel left Egypt during the night of fifteenth day of the first month. They began leaving Egypt at twilight, 24 hours after killing the Passover lambs.

Numbers 33:1-5These are the journeys of the children of Israel, who went out of

the land of Egypt by their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron. Now Moses wrote down the starting points of their journeys at the command of the LORD. And these are their journeys according to their starting points: They departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the Passover the children of Israel went out with boldness in the sight of all the Egyptians. For the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had killed among them. Also on their gods the LORD had executed judgments. Then the children of Israel moved from Rameses and camped at Succoth.

Deuteronomy 16:1Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the LORD your God, for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought

you out of Egypt by night.

Deuteronomy 16:6But at the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at twilight, at the going down of the sun, at the time you came out of Egypt.

The End of History of the Mass, Ancient Roots Part Ia

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