Passover - Fast of The Firstborn

Fast of The Firstborn

On the morning of the Passover seder, firstborn sons are commanded to observe the Fast of the Firstborn which commemorates the salvation of the Hebrew firstborns. According to Exodus (12:29), God struck down all Egyptian firstborns while the Israelites were not affected. However, it is customary for synagogues to conduct a siyum (ceremony marking the completion of a section of Torah learning) right after morning prayers, and the celebratory meal that follows cancels the firstborn's obligation to fast.

Read more about this topic:  Passover

Famous quotes containing the words fast of, fast and/or firstborn:

    In a herber green, asleep where I lay,
    The birds sang sweet in the mids of the day;
    I dreamed fast of mirth and play.
    In youth is pleasure, in youth is pleasure.
    Robert Wever (fl. C. 1550)

    Man ... cannot learn to forget, but hangs on the past: however far or fast he runs, that chain runs with him.
    Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)

    Every milestone of a firstborn is scrutinized, photographed, recorded, replayed, and retold by doting parents to admiring relatives and disinterested friends. . . . While subsequent children will strive to keep pace with siblings a few years their senior, the firstborn will always have a seemingly Herculean task of emulating his adult parents.
    Marianne E. Neifert (20th century)