Passover is a Jewish festival that begins on the 15th day of Hebrew month of Nisan. This festival is strictly celebrated in a traditional way. During the seven or eight days of the holiday, sacrifices are also offered to God, as a part of the custom. As per history, the Israelites offered sacrifice at the command of God. It was offered during the night before the Exodus from Egypt and later eaten by the Israelites, on special ceremonies, according to divine direction. The blood of this sacrifice was sprinkled on the door-posts of the Israelites.
The blood served as a sign to the angel of death, not to slay the first-born child in the house. In other words, the angel used to pass by the houses of the Israelites, on seeing the sign. Even today, the concept of sacrifice, based on the age-old rites and rituals, is followed during the Passover festival. In the earlier times, the animal used for Pesach sacrifice was a lamb. It was necessary that it be a male, one year old and without blemish. Each family or society offered one victim together, which did not require the "semikah" (laying on of hands).
It was mandatory to determine who were to take part in the Passover sacrifice, so that the killing might take place with the proper objectives. Only those who were clean before the law and circumcised were allowed to participate in the sacrifice. These people were prohibited to have leavened food in their possession during the act of killing the "paschal lamb". The place appointed for the sacrifice was the court of the Temple. Though the sacrifice was allowed to be carried out by a layman, the blood had to be caught by a priest.
In order to catch the blood of the sacrificed lamb, the priests had gold or silver cups in their hands. They assembled in a line, from the Temple court to the altar, where the blood was sprinkled. The priest, who caught the blood, as it dropped from the lamb, handed the full cup to the priest next to him, receiving from him an empty one. This process continued until the full cup reached the last priest, who sprinkled its contents on the altar. Once all was done, the lamb was hanged on special hooks or sticks and skinned.
The cups that were used by the priests to collect the blood were rounded on the bottom, so that they could not be set down, in which case, the blood had chances of coagulating. If the eve of the Passover fell on a Sabbath, the skin of sacrificed animal was removed down to the breast only. The abdomen was then cut open and the fatty portions, intended for the altar, were taken out, placed in a vessel, salted and offered by the priest on the altar, while the remaining entrails were taken out similarly and cleansed.
