Happy Passover everyone! For those who don't know, Passover is the Jewish holiday commemorating the Exodus from Egypt in Biblical times. It's celebrated at an at-home service called a Seder, where the Exodus story is retold, and a festive meal is served.

The Seders were Monday and Tuesday night. The holiday itself (read: too much matzoh ) lasts 8 days. We eat matzoh, an unleavened bread like a giant cracker, because when the Jews fled Egypt, there wasn't time for the bread to rise.

Sorry I didn't post this sooner, but I was too busy cleaning and cooking. Still 6 more days of preparing traditional holiday foods. Hubbo does equal kitchen time.

Shalom and a most joyful and blessed Pesach, Meredith!

Please do tell us more about the celebration. How is each day's celebration different from the next? Do the Jewish diaspora celebrate it in as many days as the community in Israel? I am confused as to whether it is Pesach or Yom Kippur which has a longer celebration/observation of the feast outside Israel.

My Jewish friends have been away from the office from yesterday and the today but, I get to see them again tomorrow. Then they are off again for Monday and Tuesday. We did get a fair share of matzohs from them on Monday, however. And there'll be more to look forward to tomorrow.

I am confused as to whether it is Pesach or Yom Kippur. lolas quote

me too but in truth i onlie heared of the latter.
i would also like to know how each day is diffrent and what the focus of that day is....go on tell more, educate us please, goooo onnnn. Everie wee detail and i for one dont mind if its a short storie as long as you got the energie and will to type it.

Meredith,
I hope your family has a blessed holiday...I know very little about the Jewish traditions, but find them fascinating. Please, tell us more.

Thanks all -- first, some terminology:
Pesach -- is the Hebrew word for Passover
Haggadah -- the small prayer book which recounts the story of the Exodus.
Seder -- the service which revolves around the reading of the Haggadah, complete with meal which has many symbolic foods. Literally, seder means order, because the service has to proceed in a certain fashion.
Yom Kippur -- the Day Of Atonement, which happens September or October
Diaspora -- the Jewish community living outside Israel

the calendar: The Hebrew calendar is lunar, 12 months of 30 days, so Holidays may or may not happen exactly the same time of year on the English (Gregorian??) calendar. Every 6 years, a month is added to cycle the calendar back to where it was, as many holidays are agriculture-based. Since Hebrew days start at sunset, all holidays begin at dusk.

Rosh Hashonah and Passover both fall on the first day of the new moon. "New moon" is defined as when the new moon is seen in Israel. In ancient times, messengers were sent out to Diaspora communities to say, "The new moon is seen in Israel. The holiday begins tonight."

There were two potential problems with this:
1. some of the Diaspora communities were more than one day on horseback from Israel; thus, the news about new moon might not reach them for another day.
2. it might be cloudy in Israel, so one couldn't see the new moon.
This is why certain Jewish holidays are celebrated two days in a row, to make sure that the actual celebration coincides with the new moon. Many communities still keep this custom, which is several thousand years old. However, modern Israelis often just observe one day.

Holidays that fall mid-month are celebrated one day, because the sighting of the new moon has already happened, and you just count from there.

Back to Passover --
My guess is most of you saw the 1960's movie Ten Commandments, with Charleton Heston. This is essentially the Passover story -- the ten plagues, and how the Jews left a life of bondage in Egypt and wandered for 40 years in the desert. This is the story that is recounted every year.

The reason it's retold is to remind us that everywhere there is bondage, we must fight for freedom. It's our duty to remember suffering in the past, so we don't look the other way when it happens in the present.

Passover lasts 8 days. The seder is held the first 2 nights. As long as the required elements are in the seder, interpretations are permitted. So not only are there traditional Haggadot (plural for Haggadah), but modern versions like a feminist Haggadah, an environmental Haggadah, and seders which include current events like the slaying at Darfur.

more...

I wanted to break this into two posts, because it was getting a little long.

PASSOVER FOODS
The main food associated with Passover is matzoh, a large flat bland cracker with perforations. I don't know if there is a traditional reason for the perforations, but I know about 20 jokes. (no, I'm not going there...) When the Jews left Egypt, it was in a huge hurry. Their bread didn't have time to rise. Thus, the matzoh, and the prohibition against eating any yeast breads or foods that have or could cause leavening to occur. No rice, no pasta, no beans, no regular flour. No products containing any of these.

so starch would be matzoh, matzoh farfel (matzoh broken up into little pieces), cake meal (matzoh under a steam roller) or potatoes. Baked goods contain a lot of eggs.

There are seemingly a bazillion Passover cookbooks. I have one, with a bunch of additional recipes I've cut out. Every year, Hubbo and I go through the recipes, and every year we eat the exact same thing.

Between the cooking and the cleaning, this holiday is a lot of work. Hubbo forgoes his nukebox dinners, so we cook every night. We also keep separate holiday dishes and utensils, although not many non-Orthodox do.

There are a lot of traditional songs, which we sing. For my money, the absolute best more-or-less Passover album is "Moses Smote the Water," a klezmer-gospel blend from the Klezmatics.

Actually, I'd call it the best album (cd, really) out there, period. Since it came out 2 years ago, we've listened to that cd more than any other piece of music we own.

Wow...thanks for the information...that is so interesting...

Meredith, have a blessed Passover! We did a Seder a few weeks ago, with our teens at church. They loved it and learned much about the roots of our Catholic faith.
I even made my first chicken matzoh ball soup. It was good! I was nervous about eating lamb, but it was delicious!

thanks for the info MBEAD and i love the tradision and what it stands for and how its interprited and used today...i gonna get your QUOTEThe reason it's retold is to remind us that everywhere there is bondage, we must fight for freedom. It's our duty to remember suffering in the past, so we don't look the other way when it happens in the present END QUOTE

thats an exilent sentiment and one i natrillie hold, makes some sences out the past and keeps saftie for today knowing that whatever the past bad thing is it wont happen again....I realie like that this is the teaching about the past and not just loling about in anger or bitterness, if its done to you , or shame if its ones people that did.

In recent abolision of slavereie walks ffor remembrenes and as an apoligie for the churches part in it....one sillie comentater said " those kids hanging their heads in shame for what their people did to our people"...

I hate the thought of any kid with their head hung in shame for stuff that happend hundred of years ago. I thought heads bowed was a mark of respect and concentrasion!!! Their is a balnces and a healthie way to view past events and your quoted philosphy exemplifies the healthie attitude, well in my oppinion anyway.

Happy Passover, Meredith! I have wonderful memories of family sedars. My father always led the prayers and songs, which were joyous and boisterous. Lively conversations, amazing food (I can't seem to replicate any of my mothers fabulous dishes), and laughter filled our home. When I was a child, my parents made their own wine for the Sedar.

Thank you sharing the tradition with everyone. The spirit of this holiday passes the story and tradition on to children and reminds everyone why we struggle for a better world and finer humanity.