The exodus from Egypt is the theme of the Jewish holiday of Passover ("pesa?"); the term continues to be used in the Passover Hagadah.[6] At the beginning of the Exodus narrative the Israelites are instructed to prepare unleavened bread as they will be leaving in haste, and to mark their doors with blood of the slaughtered sheep so that the "Angel" or "the destroyer" will "pass over" them while killing the first-born of Egypt. The Hebrew name for the festival, "Pesa?", refers to the "skipping over", "jumping over" or "passing over" by God over the Jewish houses while killing the first born of Egypt. (Despite the biblical story, scholars believe that the passover festival originated in a magic ritual to turn away demons from the household by painting the doorframe with the blood of a slaughtered sheep.)[7]
Jewish tradition has preserved national and personal reminders of this pivotal narrative into daily life. Examples of such reminders include the wearing of 'tefilin' (phylacteries) on the hand and forehead, which some Jews practice daily; the wearing of 'tzitzit' (knotted ritual fringes attached to the four corners of the prayer shawl); the eating of 'matzot' (unleavened bread) during the Pesach (Passover) holiday; the fasting of the firstborn a day before Pesach; the redemption of firstborn children and animals; and even the observance of the Sabbath.
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