The congregation at Temple Beth Israel in Northwest Fresno were preparing for a Passover celebration.
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Getting the seder meal ready for roughly 130 guests commemorating the exodus of the Jews from slavery in ancient Egypt some 33-hundred years ago.
"It's our foundation story it is the moment we became a people and formed our relationship with God," says Geanna Francis, the Education Director at Temple Beth Israel.
The Passover celebration was filled with rituals and music.
Max Winer, the rabbi's son, says the eight-day long festival goes beyond the formalities.
"It's very important to us because we put ourselves in the story, it's not this happened to my ancestors, it's to me, my family, to us."
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In Sanger, the crucifixion of Jesus came alive at St. Mary's Catholic Church.
The annual "Stages of the Cross" event brought out hundreds.
Many of them standing for two hours, witnessing the last supper and the son of god face his death.
An emotional Good Friday re-enactment that deeply touched those watching and even those performing.
"We get a lot of people crying, just the way we try to portray what happened more than 2,000 years ago," said event organizer Samuel Velazco.