Passover, The Jewish Festival Of Freedom, In 5 Simple Steps

(CTN News) – Jews around the world celebrate Passover, the Jewish Festival of Freedom. The eight-day holiday begins this year at sundown on April 5 and commemorates the liberation of Hebrew slaves from ancient Egypt.

∙ 1. A Passover celebration is based on the Book of Exodus in the Torah (Bible), which describes Moses’ life and his mission to secure freedom for Israel. Following the Egyptians’ repeated refusal to release the Israelites, Moses performed a series of 10 plagues and miracles.

∙ 2. The centerpiece of the Passover celebration is the Seder, a two-night dinner. The Seder plate consists of six symbolic foods that retell the miraculous story of Moses and the Passover as described in the Book of Exodus. These foods include:

During Passover and other holidays, recited blessings are required for three pieces of matzoh, or unleavened bread. Matzoh is a representation of the ancient Israelites breaking free from slavery.

As well as representing priests, Levites, and Israelites, the three matzoh also commemorate the story in Genesis in which Abraham and Sarah were visited by three angels who baked bread in a hurry for them.

This plant represents the slaves’ backbreaking labor, which is called karpas in Hebrew. A salt water solution represents the tears of the slaves.

The Beitzah, a hard-boiled or roasted egg, represents the life cycle and the sacrifices made to the ancient Temple in Jerusalem before the holidays. After dipping the egg in salt water, it is also eaten.

Lamb shanks or bones are symbolic of the lamb sacrificed and consumed on the eve of the Exodus. To prevent the final plague of death from “passing over” the homes of the Israelite slaves, lamb’s blood was applied to their doorposts.

Charoset consists of a blend of apples, pears, nuts, and wine. It represents the mortar and bricks that the Israelites slaves used to build for their Egyptian masters.

∙ 4. Passover Seder involves children participating in an active way, including reciting The Four Questions: “Why is this night different from all other nights?” “I do not dip my vegetables in salt water even once. Why do we dip them twice?” “On all other nights, we eat leavened foods.

Why is only matzoh consumed on this night?” “On all other nights, we eat all vegetables. Why only bitter herbs are consumed on this night?”

∙ 5. Among the most popular Passover dishes are roasted chicken, gefilte fish, matzo ball soup, potato kugel, candied carrots, and rack of lamb.

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