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Escape from Slavery!
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Escape from Slavery
This is the story of how the Israelites decided to gain
freedom from slavery in Egypt.
They were led by Moses and his vision of a life of
freedom in the ‘Promised Land’.
Your challenge is to help the Israelites escape from slavery.
To achieve freedom you need to bring together all the
items needed for the Pesach (Passover) celebration meal.
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Escape from Slavery
The Israelites had lived happily in Egypt
for many generations.
After hundreds of years the King of
Egypt (Pharaoh) decided to make the
Israelites into slaves. He ordered that
they build temples and houses for the
Egyptians.
The Egyptians made the Israelites work
extremely hard and treated them badly.
God could see how hard the Israelites
had to work and how they suffered.
Question 1 Why were the Israelites slaves?
Escape from Slavery
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Correct - Well done. The Israelites had grown in number and
Pharaoh was now afraid of them.
You now have the Haroset for your Seder plate. Haroset is made from a mix of apple
and nuts. It serves to remind Jews today of the mortar the slaves used when they
were building temples and homes for the Egyptians.
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Escape from Slavery
God did not want the Israelites to suffer any longer and chose a man called Moses
to lead them away from Egypt.
God spoke to Moses in mysterious ways.
Moses was a poor speaker so he asked
his brother Aaron to help him.
Together Moses and Aaron asked
Pharaoh to release the Israelites from
slavery and allow them to worship their
own God.
Pharaoh did not know of the Israelite’s God. He refused to let them go and instead, he
ordered that the Israelites should be made to work even harder.
Question 2 What did God ask Moses to do next?
Escape from Slavery
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Correct - Well done. God told Moses to see Pharaoh and ask him again.
You now have the Lettuce for your Seder plate. Lettuce (or other leaves) tastes
sweet when you first start to eat it. After a few mouthfuls the taste becomes bitter.
Lettuce on the Seder plate reminds Jews of how good life was before they
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became slaves.
Escape from Slavery
The Israelites were working harder than ever before, Moses and Aaron went back to
see Pharaoh.
They wanted to show him the
power of their God.
Aaron threw his staff onto the
ground in front of Pharaoh.
Immediately the staff changed
into a snake.
Pharaoh however was not at all
impressed. He knew his
magicians could do the same.
So then God sent ten great
plagues, one after the after, to
Show Pharaoh his power.
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Escape from Slavery
The ten great plagues:
1
The river Nile filled with blood
2
The houses swarmed with frogs
3
The dust turned into gnats
4
People were covered with flies
5
The animals became sick and died
6
Ugly sores covered the Egyptians’ faces
7
Hail pelted hard on the land and the crops were flattened
8
Locusts gobbled up any crops the were left
9
Darkness
forfor
three
long
days
Darknessengulfed
engulfedthe
theland
land
three
long
days
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Escape from Slavery
God spoke to Moses again.
He told him of one final plague
that would persuade Pharaoh
to let the Israelites leave Egypt.
This final plague would be the
death of every male firstborn of
both people and animals.
Moses was to tell the Israelites
to prepare a meal of roast lamb
for their family and to use some of the blood to mark the doorway of their homes.
Question 3 Why did the Israelites mark their doorways with lambs’ blood?
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Correct - Well done. So God would know not to kill anyone in that house.
You now have the Lamb shank for your Seder plate. The lamb shank reminds Jews of
the temple where they would make sacrifices to God.
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Escape from Slavery
Escape from Slavery
That night, at midnight, God took the life of all the male firstborn of Egypt’s people
and animals.
A loud cry rose up from the Egyptians because so many of their people had died.
Now Pharaoh and all of the Egyptians wanted the Israelites to leave. Some even gave
the Israelites gifts of gold, silver and clothing to help them on their way.
The Israelites rushed to leave Egypt.
Question 4 Why did the Egyptians give the Israelites gifts of gold, silver and clothing?
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Correct - Well done. They were afraid that everybody else would be killed
if the Israelites stayed any longer.
You now have the Parsley for your Seder plate. Parsley represents the new spring
and the initial flourishing of the Israelites. In the Seder meal the parsley is dipped in
salt water or vinegar to taste the tears the slaves shed over their suffering.
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Escape from Slavery
The Israelites rushed to leave Egypt as quickly as possible.
Question 5 Why do you think the bread dough they took with them had no yeast?
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Correct - Well done. They didn’t have enough time to wait for the bread
to rise before they left.
You now have the Matzot for the Seder meal. Next to the Seder plate will be 3 pieces
of matzah wrapped or covered in a cloth. Matzot are made from unleavened bread
dough. They are used to remember the haste in which the Israelites left Egypt. next
Escape from Slavery
All the Israelites, maybe two million of them,
decided to follow Moses out of Egypt that
very night.
Moses told the Israelites that God
would bring them into the land he had
promised them – a land flowing with
milk and honey.
Question 6 Why do you think the Israelites followed Moses?
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Correct - Well done. Because they believed that Moses had been appointed
by God to lead them to their promised land.
You now have the Egg for the Seder plate. A roasted egg symbolises the cycle of life
– even in the most painful of times there is always hope for a new beginning.
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Escape from Slavery
The land around Egypt was full of enemies that they needed to avoid.
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As Moses led the Israelites away from Egypt and into the desert God sent some signs
to guide them.
Question 7 What did God send to guide the Israelites?
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Correct - Well done. A pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night.
You now have candles for the Seder meal. Candles are lit to bring light and joy to
the occasion of the Seder meal. It may remind Jews of the light that guided the
Israelites through the wilderness.
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Escape from Slavery
But Pharaoh had changed his mind and wanted the Israelites to return to Egypt.
He set out with horses and
chariots to recapture them.
The Israelites had reached the
shores of the Red Sea when
they saw Pharaoh’s army
coming towards them.
The Israelites were terrified.
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Question 8 What should the Israelites do next?
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Correct - Well done. Trust that Moses will come up with an answer to save
them from the Egyptians.
You now have Horseradish for the Seder plate. Horseradish represents the bitter
taste of slavery. This is dipped into the Haroset to associate the bitterness of slavery
with the hard work that went with it.
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Escape from Slavery
Moses raised his staff and stretched out his
hand. God parted the waters of the Red Sea
and the Israelites went across on dry land;
a huge wall of water on either side of them.
As the Israelites reached safety on the other
side the Pharaoh’s chariots tried to follow
them. The wheels and heavy armour weighed
them down in the mud.
Suddenly, the water crashed in on top of them
and they were all drowned. The Israelites had
escaped.
Question 9 What did Moses and the Israelites do next?
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Correct - Well done. They sang a song of thanks and praise to God for
saving them from slavery.
You now have Wine for the Seder meal. A sip of wine is drunk, even by children,
four times during the Seder meal. Wine symbolises how the Israelites celebrated
their escape and their new freedom. Jews say, ‘Next year in Jerusalem’ at the next
end of the meal.
Escape from Slavery
After many trials and tribulations over
the next forty years the Israelites finally
reached their promised land.
Moses saw the Promised Land from the
top of a mountain but he did not go with
the Israelites into the land.
There were many disputes amongst the
Israelites along the way. Some wanted
to turn back but each time God saved them from hunger, thirst and enemies.
There were also arguments about how they should live a good life and how they
should resolve their differences.
Question 10 What do you think God gave Moses that would help them live a good life?
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Correct - Well done. He gave Moses ten commandments for the
Israelites to keep.
You now have Cushions for the Seder meal. Each seat has a cushion or pillow. At the
Seder meal Jews can sit back in comfort and relax. This may remind them of the
freedom the Israelites experienced when they finally escaped from slavery.
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Now they were free to live according to their own laws and commandments.
Escape from Slavery