Passover
Passover, or Pesach in Hebrew, is one of the most important holidays in Judaism.
What is Passover?
Passover is an eight-day festival that usually occurs in March or April. This year, it’s celebrated from the twelfth to the twentieth of April. Passover is a celebration of the story of Exodus. During Passover, Jews remember how their ancestors left slavery behind them when they were led out of Egypt by Moses.
This story highlights the importance of courage and faith during hard times. For many, Passover is a time to connect with their heritage and share the story with the younger generation.
On the evening before Passover starts, Jews have a special service called a Seder. This takes place over a meal with family and friends at home. Family and friends come together and eat foods that symbolise different parts of the story, many use a special Seder plate too.
Here are some of the important elements of the meal:
- Matzah – A flat bread made without yeast. This remembers the Jews rushing to leave Egypt, and they didn’t have time to wait for their bread to rise.
- Maror – A bitter-tasting herb, to represent the bitterness of slavery.
- Charoset – A mix of apples, nuts, honey, and wine that represents the mortar that they used for building bricks when they were slaves in Egypt.
- The Afikomen – A piece of matzah is put in a cloth and hidden, young children search for it, like a treasure hunt
The ten plagues in Egypt
A big part of the Passover story is the ten plagues in Egypt. Each plague represents a step towards freedom.
These ten plagues included the River Nile turning to blood, frogs covering the land, insect infestations, animals dying, the Egyptians getting skin diseases, complete darkness for three days, and the first-born child in Egyptian families being killed.
God told Moses to tell the Jews to paint lamb’s blood on their doorposts. This way, the angel would know that Jewish people lived there. It would pass over that house and not kill the firstborn child. This is where the name Passover comes from.
How Passover is celebrated today
Although Seder is the most well-known aspect of Passover, other traditions make this holiday unique:
- People avoid foods from wheat, barley, rye, oats, or spelt that come into contact with water and been allowed to ferment and rise, these are called chometz.
- Before the festivities begin, it’s traditional to give your kitchen and sometimes, your entire home a deep clean to ensure it’s clear of all chometz.
- Some people ‘sell’ all of their chometz items to another person for the duration of Passover, such as a non-Jewish neighbour or friend
