What and When is Passover?
Passover is a 7-day holiday that commemorates a time in history when Israelites were slaves in Israel, approximately 3,000 B.C. (or as some say, BCE “Before the Common Era). It begins at nightfall on the 14th day after a full moon in the month of Nissan in the Hebrew calendar, and lasts for seven days.
The lunar reckoning means that the dates in our modern calendar vary from year to year. In 2022, Passover began on April 15 and lasts until April 22.
As we’ve studied in the Old Testament book of Exodus, (one of the five books in the Jewish Torah) The prophet Moses was commanded to tell the Pharaoh of Egypt that a number of plagues would visit his kingdom if he would not release his Israelite slaves and let them go out into the desert to worship their god (JWH) Jehovah.
As portrayed in filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille’s epic 1956 movie “The Ten Commandments”, the last plague finally did the trick. The Angel of Death (represented in the movie by a creeping green fog) killed the firstborn child of every family in Egypt. But Moses had warned the Israelites to place the blood of a sacrificial lamb on the doorposts of their houses. Those who obeyed the prophet found that their homes were “passed over” by the plague, sparing their firstborn children. Every year afterwards, the Israelites have remembered the event by celebrating Passover, taking wine and bread in anticipation of an even greater deliverance. In like manner, Christians today partake of the emblems of the Sacrament weekly, however, the order is bread and wine, in remembrance of the broken body and spilt blood of Christ that saves us from death and hell.
Who Celebrates Passover?
Who were/are the Israelites (AKA “Children of Israel”), and how did they become slaves? And what are the differences between Jews, Israelites, and Hebrews? Aren’t they all the same? Many people today use those terms interchangeably. But scripturally and historically, each of them has a different meaning. “Hebrews” generally refers to the birthright descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. “Israelites” refers to descendants of Jacob, whose name was changed by God to “Israel”. He had twelve sons, who fathered the twelve houses or “tribes” of Israel. The term “Jews” technically refers to descendants of one son (Judah), but it has colloquially come to include other Israelites. Jewish people are known for celebrating Passover, but what is the bigger picture?
Why Would Latter-day Saints Celebrate a “Jewish” Holiday?
When Jacob/Israel’s son Joseph was sold into Egypt as a slave, his family later joined him as a famine raged throughout the land. Ultimately they all became slaves of the Pharaoh, and remained so for 400 years. So when Moses brought God’s plagues upon Egypt, it was ALL the twelve tribes of Israel who were “passed over” by the angel of death. Every Latter-day Saint is either born into or adopted into one of the tribes of Israel, a lineage that is declared in their Patriarchal Blessing. Thus the Passover is just as much part of our family history as it is for our Jewish “brothers”.
How is Passover Observed?
The first night of the 7-day Passover begins at nightfall with a “seder” or family supper. Key elements of this ceremonial meal included the use of unleavened bread and other special foods, and there is a dialogue that takes place as family members remembers how God blessed the Israelites during the exodus from Egypt. The details of the ceremony follow a “script” of sorts, called a “Haggadah”. Many different-but-similar versions of this script can be found on the internet, along with menus and instructions for preparation of the Passover foods.
Judah and Joseph – A Special Kinship
Two of the twelve houses or tribes of Israel (Judah and Joseph) are given special mention in the scriptures. Joseph is sometimes represented by his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. When Jacob’s oldest son Ruben (and his tribe) lost his birthright through unrighteousness, Joseph’s two sons took their place in the twelve. But if it were not for Judah, there would be no descendants of Joseph. When his other brothers became jealous and wanted to kill him, it was Judah who suggested that they sell him into slavery in Egypt instead.
Judah and Joseph in Prophesy
Although throughout history there has been conflict and even wars among the twelve tribes of Israel, we’re told in prophesy of a special relationship in the latter days between the peoples of Judah and Joseph.
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. –Ezekiel 37:19
Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim –Isaiah 11:13
Passover Seders at BYU – Starting a New Tradition
Beginning in the 1960’s, students at BYU from Pasadena, California formed an Israeli dance group called the Yovail Dancers, and one of their activities was to hold a Passover Seder annually in the Wilkinson Center on campus. Through this and other examples, some Latter-day Saints have begun a new tradition of celebrating this “Jewish” holiday by some of Israel’s other “tribes”.
The B’nai Shalom Fellowship
In 1967 some Latter-day Saints who are of Jewish family heritage and their friends began meeting semi-annually at General Conference time to celebrate not only Passover, but their ethnic identity and interests. They called their fellowship B’nai Shalom, The Children of Peace. The gatherings of this group have continued to the present in Utah, and other gatherings are now held in the states of Washington and Arizona.
A Growing Kinship Between Judah and Joseph
Over the years there have been numerous occasions when Latter-day Saint and Jewish congregations have shared positive experiences and created growing bonds of kinship. Brigham Young donated land in the Salt Lake Valley for the first Jewish synagogue. In California, stake centers have been used by nearby Jewish temples for overflow needs on their high holy days. When one stake center was being renovated, a synagogue in the neighborhood offered Sunday use of their building until the construction was completed.
In 2016, the Jewish former New York Attorney General Bob Abrams suggested to a Latter-day Saint friend (who was a General Authority) that the Church might want to celebrate the 175th anniversary of Orson Hyde’s prayer given on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, dedicating that land for the return of the Jews. He helped make the necessary arrangements for that to happen. In 2020 he also organized an online dialog between Jewish and Latter-day Saint leaders. It was sponsored by the America-Israel Friendship League and it was called “Climbing God’s Mountains: Building Bonds Between Israel, the Jewish People, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-SfEir9ofM
The Church has hosted delegations of Jewish leaders at temple dedications, and other interfaith activities have fostered a growing sense of “kinship” between the peoples of Judah and Joseph.
One production company is preparing a television documentary for broadcast about the many parallels, and the unique bond between the Jews and the Latter-day Saints.
It’s nice to see prophecy being fulfilled.
Robert Starling has been a writer and producer for the NBC Television Network and has worked at Schick Sunn Classic Pictures, Osmond Productions, and the media production department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has served in various producing capacities on feature films such as: “Jack Weyland’s Charly”, “In Search of Historic Jesus”, “Tears of a King”, “Scout Camp: The Movie”, and “Abandoned Mine”. His recent book “A Case for Latter-day Christianity” is available in many bookstores, on Barnes and Noble, and on Amazon.com in printed and e-book versions. He lives in Riverton, Utah with his wife Sharon. They have four adult children and eleven grandchildren.