ISRAEL CELEBRATES PASSOVER = THE LIBERATION FROM EGYPTIAN SLAVERY = WEEK LONG
APRIL 20 2008
Israel kills 7 Hamas militants after attack on Gaza crossing - April 20
Barak: Hamas will pay for attack on Gaza border crossing - April 20
Saturday is the Sabbath of God and Sun day is the Lucifer's Sabbath = great falling away.
Israelis began celebrating Passover at sundown Saturday with a ritual meal, or Seder, including dozens who set up their table outside the prime minister's residence protesting his failure to bring home three missing soldiers.
Israeli security forces were on alert amid concerns that Palestinian militants would carry out attacks during the weeklong Jewish holiday. The Israeli military sealed the West Bank and Gaza until the end of Passover.
Earlier Saturday, Hamas suicide bombers blew up two jeeps packed with hundreds of pounds of explosives at an Israeli crossing in Gaza, wounding 13 soldiers. Hamas threatened more attacks to break the blockade of Gaza, imposed by Israel and Egypt after the Hamas takeover of the area last year.
"Hamas tried to harm the joy of the holiday," said Maj. Gen. Yoav Gallant, the Israeli military commander on the Gaza-Israel border. He said he was spending the Seder with soldiers.
Passover, a widely celebrated Jewish festival, commemorates the ancient Israelites' liberation from Egyptian slavery, when they fled so quickly they didn't have time to let their bread rise. During Passover, the eating of leaven bread is forbidden and the story of the exodus is retold during the Seder.
This year, Passover arrived at the end of the Jewish Sabbath, complicating preparations. Work is forbidden during the Sabbath, meaning most arrangements had to be completed a day before.
One Seder was held outside Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's official residence. About 50 friends of three Israeli soldiers missing in Gaza and Lebanon set up a long table for their communal meal, part of a protest against the government's failure to bring the soldiers home.
Two of the soldiers, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, were captured by Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas in 2006 in a cross-border raid that sparked Israel's war against Hezbollah in Lebanon. The third, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, was captured by Hamas-allied militants in 2006 and is being held in Gaza.
Miki Leibowicz, 32, one of the Seder guests, said Olmert must do more to bring the three home.
"Passover is a symbol of freedom, and our friends suffer from a lack of freedom," said Leibowicz.
Before the start of Passover, the government's counterterrorism adviser urged Israelis not to travel to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, long a popular vacation spot. Israel is worried about a growing presence of al-Qaida-linked cells in the Sinai, where Israelis were targeted in several bombings in recent years.
In Israel, holiday shopping was brisk. Passover is also a time of family trips and gifts, and the Israeli Manufacturers Association said Israelis spent around $441 million on Passover foods.
Prophecy News - End times Prophecy News for Russia, China, Iran, Bush, World, America, Iraq, Syria, North Korea,
 |
||
|
PLEASE SIGN UP AND ADD THESE FREE ADVERTISERS TO YOUR SITE |
||
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
Please rate this site at Just4Christ Top 50 Christian Sites |
|
 |
||
 |
||
|
||
 |
||
