"Why is this night different from all other nights?"

Each year at Pesach, or Passover, the youngest participant asks this question, the first of four, to begin the recitation or retelling the story of the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt.

The story begins with Jacob, the father of 12 sons who later became the patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel. Ten of these sons, jealous of the favorite son, Joseph, sold him into slavery and told their father he had been killed by wild animals. After enduring many hardships, Joseph eventually ascended to a powerful position in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. When a severe famine covered the known world, Jacob, now called Israel, and his family relocated to Egypt under the protection of Joseph. For many years the "Habiru", as they came to be known, flourished in Egypt. Eventually, however, a pharaoh rose to power that feared and despised them and forced them into slavery.

God heard the prayers of the faithful and sent Moses to bargain with Pharaoh to release the slaves. The story of the last few days the Israelites spent in Egypt is one of the most amazing and thrilling tales in the Bible. Imagine the lavish courts of Pharaoh, easily the most powerful monarch of the world at this time. Imagine Moses and Aaron, his brother, contesting the Pharaoh's magicians with incredible "magic". Imagine God, working and speaking through Moses, casting the plagues upon all of Egypt.

The first plague, all the water turning to blood, was initiated. But the Pharaoh's magicians countered with enchantments. (Exodus 7:22) The second plague brought frogs to inundate the land. That plague was followed by lice, flies, the death of the cattle, boils and blains, hail and fire, locusts and darkness. After nine plagues, Pharaoh still refused to let the Hebrews go.

Before God sent the last plague, He instructed Moses to ready the people for flight. To spare the Israelites from the last plague, they were to sacrifice a lamb and sprinkle the blood all around the door jam. God then sent the angel of death to take the first-born of every household that did not have the blood sign. The angel "passed over" each house so sprinkled. Each family was also to be ready to flee. They had to roast, not boil, the lamb to eat, along with bitter herbs and unleavened bread (bread that had no yeast for there would not be time for it to rise.)

It happened as the Lord had told Moses. That night every first born human

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