Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major
Jewish holiday
Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' (, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar.This article focuses on practices of mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. ...
and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates
the Exodus
The Exodus (Hebrew language, Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yəṣīʾat Mīṣrayīm'': ) is the Origin myth#Founding myth, founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four of the five books of the Torah, Pentateuch (specif ...
of the
Israelites
Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age.
Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...
from slavery in
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
.
According to the
Book of Exodus
The Book of Exodus (from ; ''Šəmōṯ'', 'Names'; ) is the second book of the Bible. It is the first part of the narrative of the Exodus, the origin myth of the Israelites, in which they leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through the strength of ...
,
God
In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
commanded
Moses
In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...
to tell the Israelites to slaughter a lamb and mark their doorframes with its blood, in addition to instructions for consuming the lamb that night. For that night, God would send the
Angel of Death to bring about the
tenth plague, in which he would
smite all the firstborn in Egypt. But when the angel saw the blood on the Israelites' doorframes, he would ''pass over'' their homes so that the plague should not enter (hence the name). The story is part of the broader Exodus narrative, in which the Israelites, while living in Egypt, are enslaved en masse by the Pharaoh to suppress them; when Pharaoh refuses God's demand to let them go, God sends
ten plagues
In the Book of Exodus, the Plagues of Egypt () are ten disasters that the Hebrew God inflicts on the Egyptians to convince the Pharaoh to emancipate the enslaved Israelites, each of them confronting the Pharaoh and one of his Egyptian gods; the ...
upon Egypt. After the tenth plague, Pharaoh permits the Israelites to leave.
Scholars widely believe that the origins of Passover predate the biblical Exodus, with theories suggesting it evolved from earlier semi-nomadic or pre-Israelite rituals and was later transformed through religious and cultic traditions.
This story is recounted at the
Passover Seder
The Passover Seder is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar (i.e., at the start of the 15th; a Hebrew d ...
by reading the
Haggadah
The Haggadah (, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a foundational Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table fulfills the mitzvah incumbent on every Jew to reco ...
. The Haggadah is a standardized ritual account of the Exodus story, in fulfillment of the command "And thou shalt tell
iggadatathy son in that day, saying: It is because of that which the did for me when I came forth out of Egypt." Jews are forbidden from possessing or eating leavened foods (''
chametz
''Chametz'' (also ''chometz'', ', ''ḥameṣ'', ''ḥameç'' and other spellings Transliteration, transliterated from ; ) are foods with leavening agents that are forbidden to Jews on the holiday of Passover.
''Chametz'' is a product that is b ...
'') during the holiday.
Pesach starts on the 15th day of the
Hebrew month of
Nisan
Nisan (or Nissan; from ) in the Babylonian and Hebrew calendars is the month of the barley ripening and first month of spring. The name of the month is an Akkadian language borrowing, although it ultimately originates in Sumerian ''nisag' ...
, which is considered the first month of the Hebrew year. The Rabbinical Jewish calendar is adjusted to align with the solar calendar in such a way that 15 Nisan always coincides with Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday. The Hebrew day starts and ends at sunset, so the holiday starts at sunset the day before. For example, in 2025, 15 Nisan coincides with Sunday, April 13. Therefore, Pesach started at
sundown on Saturday, April 12, 2025.
Etymology
is rendered as
Tiberian , and
Modern Hebrew
Modern Hebrew (, or ), also known as Israeli Hebrew or simply Hebrew, is the Standard language, standard form of the Hebrew language spoken today. It is the only surviving Canaanite language, as well as one of the List of languages by first w ...
: . The verb () is first mentioned in the
Torah
The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...
's account of the Exodus,
and there is some debate about its exact meaning. The commonly held assumption that it means "He passed over" (), in reference to God "passing over" (or "skipping") the houses of the Hebrews during the final of the Ten Plagues of Egypt, stems from the translation provided in the Septuagint ( in Exodus 12:23,
and in Exodus 12:27.)
The
Targum Onkelos
Interlinear text of Hebrew Numbers 6.3–10 with British_Library.html" ;"title="Aramaic Targum Onkelos from the British Library">Aramaic Targum Onkelos from the British Library.
Targum Onkelos (or Onqelos; , ''Targūm ’Unqəlōs'') is t ...
, written in
Jewish Babylonian Aramaic
Jewish Babylonian Aramaic (Aramaic: ) was the form of Middle Aramaic employed by writers in Lower Mesopotamia between the fourth and eleventh centuries. It is most commonly identified with the language of the Babylonian Talmud (which was comp ...
, translates as , coming from the Hebrew root , meaning "to have pity". Cognate languages yield similar terms with distinct meanings, such as "make soft, soothe, placate" (
Akkadian ), "harvest, commemoration, blow" (
Egyptian
''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...
), or "separate" (
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
).
Pesach may also refer to the
lamb or
goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...
which was designated as the Passover sacrifice. Four days before the Exodus, the Hebrews were commanded to set aside a lamb,
and inspect it daily for blemishes. During the day on 14th Nisan, they were to slaughter the animal and use its blood to mark their
lintels and door posts. Before midnight on 15th Nisan, they were to consume the lamb.
The English term ''Passover'' is first known to be recorded in the
English language
English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...
in
William Tyndale
William Tyndale (; sometimes spelled ''Tynsdale'', ''Tindall'', ''Tindill'', ''Tyndall''; – October 1536) was an English Biblical scholar and linguist who became a leading figure in the Protestantism, Protestant Reformation in the year ...
's translation of the Bible, later appearing in the
King James Version
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English Bible translations, Early Modern English translation of the Christianity, Christian Bible for the Church of England, wh ...
as well. It is a literal translation of the Hebrew term. In the King James Version, Exodus 12:23 reads:
Origins and theories
The Passover ritual is "a mitzvah commanded by Torah (rather than of rabbinic origin)."
Apotropaic ritual
The Passover ritual is thought by modern scholars to have its origins in an
apotropaic rite unrelated to the Exodus to ensure the protection of a family home, a rite conducted wholly within a clan.
Ezov
Ezov (, some English-language Bibles transliterate as ''ezob'') is the Classical Hebrew name of a plant mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in the context of religious rituals.
Ezov is described as a small plant found on or near walls, with an aromatic ...
was employed to daub the blood of a slaughtered sheep on the lintels and door posts to ensure that demonic forces could not enter the home.
Barley harvest plus Exodus narrative
A further hypothesis maintains that once the
Priestly Code
The Priestly Code (in Hebrew ''Torat Kohanim'', תורת כהנים) is the name given, by academia,The book of Leviticus: composition and reception - Page 55 Rolf Rendtorff, Robert A. Kugler, Sarah Smith Bartel - 2003 "Research agrees that its ...
was promulgated, the Exodus narrative took on a central function, as the apotropaic rite was, arguably, amalgamated with the
Canaan
CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...
ite agricultural festival of spring which was a ceremony of
unleavened bread
Unleavened bread is any of a wide variety of breads which are prepared without using rising agents such as yeast or sodium bicarbonate. The preparation of bread-like non-leavened cooked grain foods appeared in prehistoric times.
Unleavened br ...
, connected with the
barley
Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...
harvest. As the Exodus motif grew, the original function and symbolism of these double origins was lost. Several motifs replicate the features associated with the
Akitu
Akitu or Akitum
()
()
is a spring festival and New Year's celebration, held on the first day of the Assyrian and Babylonian Nisan in ancient Mesopotamia and in Assyrian communities around the world, to celebrate the sowing of barley. Akit ...
spring festival of
ancient Mesopotamian religion
Ancient Mesopotamian religion encompasses the religious beliefs (concerning the gods, creation and the cosmos, the origin of man, and so forth) and practices of the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia, particularly Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and B ...
, which celebrates the sowing of barley. Scholars
John Van Seters
John Van Seters (May 2, 1935 – April 9, 2025) was a Canadian scholar of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and the Ancient Near East. He was a University Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina, and James A. Gray Professor of Bi ...
,
Judah Segal, and
Tamara Prošić disagree with the merged two-festivals hypothesis.
Biblical narrative
In the Book of Exodus
In the
Book of Exodus
The Book of Exodus (from ; ''Šəmōṯ'', 'Names'; ) is the second book of the Bible. It is the first part of the narrative of the Exodus, the origin myth of the Israelites, in which they leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through the strength of ...
, the Israelites are enslaved in ancient Egypt.
Yahweh
Yahweh was an Ancient Semitic religion, ancient Semitic deity of Weather god, weather and List of war deities, war in the History of the ancient Levant, ancient Levant, the national god of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Judah, Judah and Kingdom ...
, the god of the Israelites, appears to Moses in a
burning bush
The burning bush (or the unburnt bush) refers to an event recorded in the Jewish Torah (as also in the biblical Old Testament and Islamic scripture). It is described in the third chapter of the Book of Exodus as having occurred on Mount Horeb ...
and commands Moses to confront
the Pharaoh. To show his power, Yahweh inflicts a series of
ten plagues on the Egyptians, culminating in the plague of the death of the firstborn.
Before this final plague, Yahweh commands Moses to tell the Israelites to mark a
lamb's blood above their doors so God will pass over them and the plague of the death of the firstborn will not afflict them.
The biblical regulations for the observance of the festival require that all
leavening
In cooking, a leavening agent () or raising agent, also called a leaven () or leavener, is any one of a number of substances used in doughs and batters that cause a foaming action (gas bubbles) that lightens and softens the mixture. An altern ...
be disposed of before the beginning of the 15th of Nisan according to Exodus 13:7 An unblemished lamb or goat, known as the
Passover sacrifice
The Passover sacrifice (), also known as the Paschal lamb or the Passover lamb, is the sacrifice that the Torah mandates the Israelites to ritually slaughter on the evening of Nisan 14, before Passover of Nisan 15, and eat lamb on the first night ...
or "Paschal Lamb", is to be set apart on 10th Nisan,
and slaughtered at dusk as 14th Nisan ends in preparation for the 15th of Nisan when it will be eaten after being roasted. The literal meaning of the Hebrew is "between the two evenings". It is then to be eaten "that night", 15th Nisan,
roasted, without the removal of its internal organs with unleavened bread, known as matzah, and bitter herbs known as .
Nothing of the sacrifice on which the sun rises by the morning of the 15th of Nisan may be eaten, but must be burned.
The biblical regulations of the original Passover at the time of the Exodus only also include how the meal was to be eaten: "your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly: it is a passover offering to ."
The biblical requirements of slaying the Paschal lamb in the individual homes of the Hebrews and smearing the blood of the lamb on their doorways were celebrated in Egypt. However, once Israel was in the wilderness and the
Tabernacle
According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instru ...
was in operation, a change was made in those two original requirements. Passover lambs were to be sacrificed at the door of the Tabernacle and no longer in the homes of the Jews. No longer, therefore, could blood be smeared on doorways.
The Passover in other biblical passages
Called the "festival
fthe unleavened bread" () in the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
. '' Book of Leviticus
The Book of Leviticus (, from , ; , , 'And He called'; ) is the third book of the Torah (the Pentateuch) and of the Old Testament, also known as the Third Book of Moses. Many hypotheses presented by scholars as to its origins agree that it de ...
:
The sacrifices may be performed only in a specific place prescribed by God. For Judaism, this is Jerusalem.
The biblical commandments concerning the Passover (and the Feast of Unleavened Bread) stress the importance of remembering:
* Exodus 12:14 commands about God's sparing of the firstborn from the
Tenth Plague: "And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever."
* Exodus 13:3 repeats the command to remember: "Remember this day, in which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, for by strength the hand of the LORD brought you out from this place."
* Deuteronomy 16:12: "And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt; and thou shalt observe and do these statutes".
In 2 Kings 23:21–23 and 2 Chronicles 35:1–19, King
Josiah
Josiah () or Yoshiyahu was the 16th king of Judah (–609 BCE). According to the Hebrew Bible, he instituted major religious reforms by removing official worship of gods other than Yahweh. Until the 1990s, the biblical description of Josiah’s ...
of
Judah restores the celebration of the Passover, to a standard not seen since the days of the
judges
A judge is an official who presides over a court.
Judge or Judges may also refer to:
Roles
*Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc.
*Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...
or the days of the
prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...
Samuel
Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...
.
Ezra 6:19–21 records the celebration of the passover by the Jews who had returned from
exile in Babylon, after the
temple had been rebuilt.
In extra-biblical sources
Some of these details can be corroborated, and to some extent amplified, in extrabiblical sources. The removal (or "sealing up") of the leaven is referred to in the
Elephantine papyri and ostraca
The Elephantine Papyri and Ostraca consist of thousands of documents from the Egyptian border fortresses of Elephantine and Aswan, which yielded hundreds of Papyrus, papyri and ostracon, ostraca in hieratic and Demotic (Egyptian), demotic Egyptia ...
in an
Imperial Aramaic
Imperial Aramaic is a linguistic term, coined by modern Aramaic studies, scholars in order to designate a specific historical Variety (linguistics), variety of Aramaic language. The term is polysemic, with two distinctive meanings, wider (socioli ...
papyrus letter from the
5th century BCE from
Elephantine
Elephantine ( ; ; ; ''Elephantíne''; , ) is an island on the Nile, forming part of the city of Aswan in Upper Egypt. The archaeological site, archaeological digs on the island became a World Heritage Site in 1979, along with other examples of ...
, Egypt. The slaughter of the lambs on the 14th is mentioned in
Jubilees
The Book of Jubilees is an ancient Jewish apocryphal text of 50 chapters (1,341 verses), considered Biblical canon, canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, as well as by Haymanot, Haymanot Judaism, a denomination observed by membe ...
, a Jewish work of the
Ptolemaic period
The Ptolemaic Kingdom (; , ) or Ptolemaic Empire was an ancient Greek polity based in Egypt during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 305 BC by the Macedonian Greek general Ptolemy I Soter, a companion of Alexander the Great, and ruled ...
, and by the
Herodian-era writers
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...
and
Philo
Philo of Alexandria (; ; ; ), also called , was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt.
The only event in Philo's life that can be decisively dated is his representation of the Alexandrian J ...
. These sources also indicate that "between the two evenings" was taken to mean the afternoon. Jubilees states the sacrifice was eaten that night, and together with Josephus states that nothing of the sacrifice was allowed to remain until morning. Philo states that the banquet included hymns and prayers.
Date and duration
The Passover begins on the 15th day of the month of
Nisan
Nisan (or Nissan; from ) in the Babylonian and Hebrew calendars is the month of the barley ripening and first month of spring. The name of the month is an Akkadian language borrowing, although it ultimately originates in Sumerian ''nisag' ...
, which at present falls between March 26 and April 25 of the
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...
. The 15th day begins in the evening, after the 14th day, and the seder meal is eaten that evening. Passover is a spring festival, so the 15th day of Nisan typically begins on the night of a
full moon after the northern
vernal equinox. However, due to
leap months falling after the vernal equinox, Passover sometimes starts on the second full moon after vernal equinox, as in 2016.
To ensure that Passover did not start before spring, the tradition in ancient Israel held that the
lunar new year
Lunar New Year is the beginning of a new year based on lunar calendars or, informally, lunisolar calendars. Lunar calendar years begin with a new moon and have a fixed number of lunar months, usually twelve, in contrast to lunisolar calendar ye ...
, the first day of Nisan, would not start until the barley was ripe, being the test for the onset of spring. If the barley was not ripe, or various other phenomena indicated that spring was not yet imminent, an intercalary month (
Adar II) would be added. However, since at least the 4th century, the intercalation has been fixed mathematically according to the
Metonic cycle
The Metonic cycle or enneadecaeteris (from , from ἐννεακαίδεκα, "nineteen") is a period of almost exactly 19 years after which the lunar phases recur at the same time of the year. The recurrence is not perfect, and by precise obser ...
.
In
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, Passover is the seven-day holiday of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, with the first and last days celebrated as legal holidays and as holy days involving holiday meals, special prayer services, and abstention from work; the intervening days are known as
Chol HaMoed
''Chol HaMoed'' (), a Hebrew phrase meaning "mundane of the festival", refers to the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot. As the name implies, these days mix features of ''chol'' (mundane) and ''moed'' (festival).
On Passover, ''Chol HaMoe ...
("Weekdays
fthe Festival"). Jews outside of Israel celebrate the festival for eight days.
Reform
Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...
and
Reconstructionist Jews usually celebrate the holiday over seven days.
Karaites use a different calendar; they rely on visual identification of ripe barley and the date of Passover cannot be determined before this. Some modern Karaites follow the Rabbinical calendar in modern Israel because of social pressure.
The
Samaritans
Samaritans (; ; ; ), are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. They are indigenous to Samaria, a historical region of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah that ...
use a calendrical system that uses a different method from that current in Rabbinic practice; it sometimes is the same date on the solar calendar, sometimes two days later, and sometimes an entire month later. In 2024, Rabbinical Passover begins at sunset on 22 April. On the calendar used by the Samaritans, 22 April 2024 is also the day of the Passover sacrifice. Karaite and Samaritan Passovers are each one day long followed by the six-day Festival of Unleavened Bread, for a total of seven days.
Prohibition of Chametz
Removing all leaven (''chametz'')

Leaven, in Hebrew ''
chametz
''Chametz'' (also ''chometz'', ', ''ḥameṣ'', ''ḥameç'' and other spellings Transliteration, transliterated from ; ) are foods with leavening agents that are forbidden to Jews on the holiday of Passover.
''Chametz'' is a product that is b ...
'' (
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
: ''ḥamets'', "
leavening
In cooking, a leavening agent () or raising agent, also called a leaven () or leavener, is any one of a number of substances used in doughs and batters that cause a foaming action (gas bubbles) that lightens and softens the mixture. An altern ...
") is made from one of five types of grains
[ combined with water and left to stand for more than eighteen minutes. The consumption, keeping, and owning of ''chametz'' is forbidden during Passover. Yeast and fermentation are not themselves forbidden as seen for example by wine, which is required, rather than merely permitted. According to Halakha, the ownership of such ''chametz'' is also proscribed.
''Chametz'' does not include ]baking soda
Sodium bicarbonate (IUPAC name: sodium hydrogencarbonate), commonly known as baking soda or bicarbonate of soda (or simply “bicarb” especially in the UK) is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. It is a salt (chemistry), salt compose ...
, baking powder
Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent, a mixture of a carbonate or bicarbonate and a weak acid. The base and acid are prevented from reacting prematurely by the inclusion of a buffer such as cornstarch. Baking powder is used to increas ...
or like products. Although these are defined in English as leavening agents, they leaven by chemical reaction, not by biological fermentation. Thus, bagels, waffles and pancakes made with baking soda and matzah meal are considered permissible, while bagels made with sourdough and pancakes and waffles made with yeast are prohibited.
The Torah commandments regarding ''chametz'' are:
* To remove all ''chametz'' from one's home, including things made with chametz, before the first day of Passover It may be simply used up, thrown out (historically, destroyed by burning), or given or sold to non-Jews.
* To refrain from eating ''chametz'' or mixtures containing ''chametz'' during Passover.
* Not to possess ''chametz'' in one's domain (i.e. home, office, car, etc.) during Passover.
Observant Jews spend the weeks before Passover in the process of thorough housecleaning, to remove all ''chametz'' from every part of the home. Jewish law
''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mit ...
requires the elimination of olive
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...
-sized or larger quantities of leavening from one's possession, but most housekeeping goes beyond this. Even the seams of kitchen counters are thoroughly cleaned to remove traces of flour and yeast, however small. Any containers or implements that have touched ''chametz'' are stored and not used during Passover.
Some hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...
s, resort
A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...
s, and even cruise ship
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...
s across America
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, and Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
also undergo a thorough housecleaning to make their premises "kosher for Pesach" to cater to observant Jews.
Interpretations for abstinence from leaven or yeast
Some scholars suggest that the command to abstain from leavened food or yeast suggests that sacrifices offered to God involve the offering of objects in "their least altered state", that would be nearest to the way in which they were initially made by God.[Bokser, Baruch M. (1992) "Unleavened Bread and Passover, Feasts of" in ''The Anchor Bible Dictionary'', ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday), 6:755–765][Greenberg, Moshe (1974) "Lessons on Exodus". New York] According to other scholars the absence of leaven or yeast means that leaven or yeast symbolizes corruption and spoiling.[Sarna, Nahum M. (1986) "Exploring Exodus". New York]
There are also variations with restrictions on eating matzah before Passover so that there will be an increased appetite for it during Passover itself. Primarily among Chabad
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (; ; ), is a dynasty in Hasidic Judaism. Belonging to the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) branch of Orthodox Judaism, it is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, as well as one of ...
Chassidim, there is a custom of not eating matzah (flat unleavened bread) in the 30 days before Passover begins. Others have a custom to refrain from eating matzah from Rosh Chodesh Nissan, while the halacha
''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mi ...
merely restricts one from eating matzah on the day before Passover.
Kitniyot
Kitniyot
''Kitniyot'' (, ''qitniyyoth'') is a Hebrew word meaning legumes. During the Passover holiday, however, the word ''kitniyot'' (or ''kitniyos'' in Ashkenazi dialects) takes on a broader meaning to include grains and seeds such as rice, corn, sunf ...
(Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
: קִטְנִיּוֹת, ''qitniyyot''; literally "small things") refers to legumes, rice, maize, and other foods that are similar to grains. Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. They traditionally speak Yiddish, a language ...
historically refrain from eating kitniyot on Passover, despite there not being a clear commandment to include them in the category of chametz. Since the 19th century, the Reform movement
Reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social system, social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more Radicalism (politics), radical social movements such as re ...
has permitted eating kitniyot, and in 2015 the Conservative movement followed suit. Sephardi Jews
Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...
have always permitted eating kitniyot on Passover.
Gebrochts
Gebrochts (Yiddish
Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
: געבראקטס, lit. 'broken', also known as Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
: מצה שרויה, romanized
In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...
: ''matzah shruya'', lit. 'soaked matzah') refers to matzah
Matzah, matzo, or maẓẓah ('','' : matzot or Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashk. matzos) is an Unleavened bread, unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover festival, during which ''chametz'' (lea ...
that has absorbed liquid. Some Hasidic Jews
Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those affi ...
avoid gebrochts as well, to avoid the possibility that a clump of flour that was never properly mixed with water (and thus is still susceptible to leavening) may come into contact with the liquid.
Sale of leaven
Leaven
In cooking, a leavening agent () or raising agent, also called a leaven () or leavener, is any one of a number of substances used in doughs and batter (cooking), batters that cause a Effervescence, foaming action (gas bubbles) that lightens and ...
or ''chametz'' may be sold rather than discarded, especially in the case of relatively valuable forms such as liquor
Liquor ( , sometimes hard liquor), spirits, distilled spirits, or spiritous liquor are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through ethanol fermentation, alcoholic ferm ...
distilled
Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...
from wheat, with the products being repurchased afterward. In some cases, they may never leave the house, instead being formally sold while remaining in the original owner's possession in a locked cabinet until they can be repurchased after the holiday. Modern observance may also include sealing cabinets and drawers which contain "Chametz" shut by using adhesive tape, which serves a similar purpose to a lock but also shows evidence of tampering. Although the practice of selling "Chametz" dates back many years, some Reform rabbinical authorities have come to regard it with disdain – since the supposed "new owner" never takes actual possession of the goods.
The sale of ''chametz'' may also be conducted communally via a rabbi
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
, who becomes the "agent" for all the community's Jews through a halakhic procedure called a ''kinyan'' (acquisition). Each householder must put aside all the ''chametz'' he is selling into a box or cupboard, and the rabbi enters into a contract to sell all the ''chametz'' to a non-Jew (who is not obligated to celebrate the commandments) in exchange for a small down payment
In accounting, a down payment (also called a deposit in British English) is an initial up-front partial payment for the purchase of expensive goods or services such as a car or a house. It is usually paid in cash or equivalent at the time of fin ...
(''e.g.'' $1.00), with the remainder due after Passover. This sale is considered completely binding according to Halakha, and at any time during the holiday, the buyer may come to take or partake of his property. The rabbi then re-purchases the goods for less than they were sold at the end of the holiday.
Separate kosher for Passover utensils and dishes
Due to the Torah injunction not to eat ''chametz'' (leaven) during Passover, observant families typically own complete sets of serving dishes, glassware and silverware (and in some cases, even separate dishwashers and sinks) which have never come into contact with ''chametz'', for use only during Passover. Under certain circumstances, some ''chametz'' utensils can be immersed in boiling water ('' hagalat keilim'') to purge them of any traces of ''chametz'' that may have accumulated during the year. Many Sephardic
Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...
families thoroughly wash their year-round glassware and then use it for Passover, as the Sephardic position is that glass
Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...
does not absorb enough traces of food to present a problem. Similarly, ovens may be used for Passover either by setting the self-cleaning function to the highest degree for a certain period, or by applying a blow torch
A blowtorch, also referred to as a blowlamp, is an ambient air fuel-burning tool used for applying flame and heat to various applications, usually in metalworking, but occasionally for foods like crème brûlée.
Description
Early blowtorches u ...
to the interior until the oven glows red hot (a process called ''libun gamur'').
Search for leaven
On the night of the fourteenth of Nisan
Nisan (or Nissan; from ) in the Babylonian and Hebrew calendars is the month of the barley ripening and first month of spring. The name of the month is an Akkadian language borrowing, although it ultimately originates in Sumerian ''nisag' ...
, the night before the Passover Seder
The Passover Seder is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar (i.e., at the start of the 15th; a Hebrew d ...
(after nightfall on the evening before Passover eve), Jews do a formal search in their homes known as '' bedikat chametz'' for any possible remaining leaven (''chametz
''Chametz'' (also ''chometz'', ', ''ḥameṣ'', ''ḥameç'' and other spellings Transliteration, transliterated from ; ) are foods with leavening agents that are forbidden to Jews on the holiday of Passover.
''Chametz'' is a product that is b ...
''). The Talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
ic sages instructed that a search for ''chametz'' be made in every home, place of work, or any place where ''chametz'' may have been brought during the year. When the first Seder is on a Saturday night, the search is conducted on the preceding Thursday night (thirteenth of Nisan) as ''chametz'' cannot be burned during Shabbat.
The Talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
in Pesahim
Pesachim (, lit. "Paschal lambs" or "Passovers"), also spelled Pesahim, is the third tractate of '' Seder Moed'' ("Order of Festivals") of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. The tractate discusses the topics related to the Jewish holiday of Passov ...
(p. 2a) derives from the Torah
The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...
that the search for ''chametz'' be conducted by the light of a candle and therefore is done at night, and although the final destruction of the ''chametz'' (usually by burning it in a small bonfire) is done on the next morning, the blessing is made at night because the search is both in preparation for and part of the commandments to remove and destroy all ''chametz'' from one's possession.
Blessing for search and nullification of hametz
Before the search is begun there is a special blessing
In religion, a blessing (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the impartation of something with doctrines of grace, grace, Sacred, holiness, spiritual Redemption (theology), redemption, or Will of God, divine will.
Etymology and Germani ...
. If several people or family members assist in the search then only one person, usually the head of that family recites the blessing having in mind to include everyone present:
:Blessed are You, Hashem our God, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with his commandments and has commanded us concerning the removal of chametz.
The search is then usually conducted by the head of the household joined by his family including children under the supervision of their parents.
It is customary to turn off the lights and conduct the search by candle
A candle is an ignitable candle wick, wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a Aroma compound, fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. ...
light, using a feather and a wooden spoon: candlelight effectively illuminates corners without casting shadows; the feather can dust crumbs out of their hiding places; and the wooden spoon which collects the crumbs can be burned the next day with the hametz. However, most contemporary Orthodox authorities permit using a flashlight, while some strongly encourage it due to the danger coupled with using a candle.
Because the house is assumed to have been thoroughly cleaned by the night before Passover, there is some concern that making a blessing over the search for hametz will be in vain (''bracha l'vatala'') if nothing is found. Thus, 10 morsels of bread or cereal smaller than the size of an olive are traditionally hidden throughout the house to ensure that some 'hametz will be found.
Upon conclusion of the search, with all the small pieces safely wrapped up and put in one bag or place, to be burned the next morning, the following is said:
:Any chametz or leaven that is in my possession which I have not seen and have not removed and do not know about should be annulled and become ownerless like the dust of the earth.
Morning of 14th of Nisan
Note that if the 14th of Nisan is Shabbat
Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...
, many of the below will be celebrated on the 13th instead due to restrictions in place during Shabbat.
Fast of the Firstborn
On the day preceding the first Passover seder (or on Thursday morning preceding the seder, when the first seder falls on Motza'ei Shabbat
The term Motza'ei Shabbat (—literally, the going out of the Sabbath) in Judaism refers to the time in the evening immediately following Shabbat, that is Saturday night. It is a time when, following one's declaration of the intention to end Shabba ...
), firstborn sons are commanded to celebrate the Fast of the Firstborn
Fast of the Firstborn ( or ''taʿăniṯ bəḵorim'') is a unique fast day in Judaism, which usually falls on the day before Passover (i.e., 14 Nisan, a month in the Hebrew calendar; Passover begins on 15 Nisan). In modern times, the fast is u ...
which commemorates the salvation of the Hebrew firstborns. According to Exodus 12:29, God struck down all Egyptian firstborns while the Israelites were not affected. However, it is customary for synagogues to conduct a ''siyum
A ''siyum'' () is the completion of any established unit of Torah study in Judaism. The most common units are a single volume of the Talmud, or of Mishnah, but other units of learning may lead to a siyyum.
The typical structure of a siyyum includ ...
'' (ceremony marking the completion of a section of Torah learning) right after morning prayers, and the celebratory meal that follows cancels the firstborn's obligation to fast.
Burning and nullification of leaven
On the morning of the 14th of Nisan
Nisan (or Nissan; from ) in the Babylonian and Hebrew calendars is the month of the barley ripening and first month of spring. The name of the month is an Akkadian language borrowing, although it ultimately originates in Sumerian ''nisag' ...
, any leavened products that remain in the householder's possession, along with the 10 morsels of bread from the previous night's search, are burned (''s'rayfat chametz''). The head of the household repeats the declaration of ''biyur chametz'', declaring any ''chametz'' that may not have been found to be null and void "as the dust of the earth":
:Any chametz or leaven that is in my possession which I have not seen and have not removed and do not know about should be annulled and become ownerless like the dust of the earth.
The original declaration, as recited in Aramaic
Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...
, is:
כל חמירא וחמיעא דאכא ברשותי דלא חמתה ודלא בערתה ודלא ידענא לה לבטל ולהוי הפקר כעפרא דארעא
Should more ''chametz'' actually be found in the house during the Passover holiday, it must be burnt as soon as possible.
Unlike ''chametz'', which can be eaten any day of the year except during Passover, kosher for Passover foods can be eaten year-round. They need not be burnt or otherwise discarded after the holiday ends.
The historic Passover sacrifice has not been brought following the Romans' destruction of the Second Temple
The siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE was the decisive event of the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), a major rebellion against Roman rule in the province of Judaea. Led by Titus, Roman forces besieged the Jewish capital, which had become ...
approximately two thousand years ago, and it is therefore still not part of the modern Jewish holiday.
In the times when the Jewish Temples stood, the lamb was slaughtered and cooked on the evening of Passover and was completely consumed before the morning as described in Exodus 12:3–11.
Not eating matzah from sunrise until sunset (day before Passover)
Even matzot that are kosher for Passover cannot be eaten all day on during the daylight hours before Passover eve. Some even practice this up to 30 days before.
Passover sacrifice
The main entity in Passover according to Judaism is the sacrificial lamb. During the existence of the Tabernacle
According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instru ...
and later the Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accord ...
, the focus of the Passover festival was the Passover sacrifice, also known as the Paschal lamb, eaten during the Passover Seder on the 15th of Nisan. Every family large enough to completely consume a young lamb or wild goat was required to offer one for sacrifice at the Jewish Temple on the afternoon of the 14th day of Nisan, and eat it that night, which was the 15th of Nisan. If the family was too small to finish eating the entire offering in one sitting, an offering was made for a group of families. The sacrifice could not be offered with anything leavened, and had to be roasted, without its head, feet, or inner organs being removed and eaten together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs (''maror
''Maror'' ( ''mārōr'') are the bitter herbs eaten at the Passover Seder in keeping with the biblical commandment "with bitter herbs they shall eat it." ( Exodus 12:8). The Maror is one of the symbolic foods placed on the Passover Seder pla ...
''). One had to be careful not to break any bones from the offering, and none of the meat could be left over by morning.
Because of the Passover sacrifice's status as a sacred offering, the only people allowed to eat it were those who had the obligation to bring the offering. Among those who could not offer or eat the Passover lamb were an apostate
Apostasy (; ) is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous religious beliefs. One who ...
, a servant, an uncircumcised man, a person in a state of ritual impurity
Ritual purification is a ritual prescribed by a religion through which a person is considered to be freed of ''uncleanliness'', especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification ...
except when a majority of Jews are in such a state, and a Gentile
''Gentile'' () is a word that today usually means someone who is not Jewish. Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, have historically used the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is used as a synony ...
. The offering had to be made before a quorum
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a group necessary to constitute the group at a meeting. In a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature), a quorum is necessary to conduct the business of ...
of 30. In the Temple, the Levites
Levites ( ; ) or Levi are Jewish males who claim patrilineal descent from the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi descended from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. The surname ''Halevi'', which consists of the Hebrew definite article "" ''Ha-' ...
sang Hallel
Hallel (, 'Praise') is a Jewish prayer, a verbatim recitation from Psalms which is recited by observant Jews on Jewish holidays as an act of praise and thanksgiving.
Types Full Hallel
Full Hallel () consists of all six Psalms of the Hallel, in ...
while the priests
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, ...
performed the sacrificial service. Men and women were equally obligated regarding the offering (''Pesahim'' 91b).
Today, in the absence of the Temple, when no sacrifices are offered or eaten, the mitzvah
In its primary meaning, the Hebrew language, Hebrew word (; , ''mīṣvā'' , plural ''mīṣvōt'' ; "commandment") refers to a commandment Divine law, from God to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law () in large part consists of disc ...
of the sacrifice is memorialized in the ''Seder Korban Pesach'', a set of scriptural and Rabbinic passages dealing with the Passover sacrifice, customarily recited after the ''Mincha
Mincha (, ; sometimes spelled Minchah, Minhah, Mincho or Minchuh) is the afternoon prayer service in Judaism.
Etymology
The name ''Mincha'', meaning "gift" or "offering", is derived from the meal offering that accompanied each sacrifice offered ...
'' (afternoon prayer) service on the 14th of Nisan, and in the form of the '' zeroa'', a symbolic food placed on the Passover Seder Plate
The Passover Seder plate (, ''ke'ara'') is a special plate containing symbolic foods eaten or displayed at the Passover Seder. It is used to show all the symbolic foods that are used for the Passover Seder.
Symbolic foods
Each of the six items ...
(but not eaten), which is usually a roasted shankbone (or a chicken wing or neck). The eating of the afikoman substitutes for the eating of the sacrifice at the end of the Seder meal ( Mishnah Pesachim 119a). Many Sephardic Jews
Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...
have the custom of eating lamb or goat meat during the Seder in memory of the sacrifice.
Matzah
A symbol of the Passover holiday is matzah
Matzah, matzo, or maẓẓah ('','' : matzot or Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashk. matzos) is an Unleavened bread, unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover festival, during which ''chametz'' (lea ...
, an unleavened flatbread made solely from flour and water which is continually worked from mixing through baking, so that it is not allowed to rise. Matzo may be made by machine or by hand. The Torah contains an instruction to eat matzah, specifically, on the first night of Passover and to eat only unleavened bread (in practice, matzah) during the entire week of Passover. Consequently, the eating of matzah figures prominently in the Passover Seder
The Passover Seder is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar (i.e., at the start of the 15th; a Hebrew d ...
. There are several explanations for this.
The Torah says that it is because the Hebrews left Egypt with such haste that there was no time to allow baked bread to rise; thus flat, unleavened bread, matzah, is a reminder of the rapid departure of the Exodus. Other scholars teach that in the time of the Exodus, matzah was commonly baked to travel because it preserved well and was light to carry (making it similar to hardtack
Hardtack (or hard tack) is a type of dense Cracker (food), cracker made from flour, water, and sometimes salt. Hardtack is inexpensive and long-lasting. It is used for sustenance in the absence of perishable foods, commonly during long sea voyage ...
), suggesting that matzah was baked intentionally for the long journey ahead.
Matzo has also been called ''Lechem Oni'' (Hebrew: "bread of poverty"). There is an attendant explanation that matzah serves as a symbol to remind Jews what it is like to be a poor slave and to promote humility, appreciate freedom, and avoid the inflated ego symbolized by more luxurious leavened bread.
''Shmura matzah'' ("watched" or "guarded" matzah), is the bread of preference for the Passover Seder in Orthodox Jewish communities. Shmura matzah is made from wheat that is guarded from contamination by leaven from the time of summer harvest to its baking into matzot five to ten months later.
In the weeks before Passover, matzot are prepared for holiday consumption. In many Orthodox Jewish communities, men traditionally gather in groups to bake handmade matzah for use at the Seder, the dough being rolled by hand, resulting in a large and round matzah. Groups also work together in machine-made matzah factories, which produce the typically square-shaped matzah sold in stores.
The baking of matzah is labour-intensive,[ as less than 18 minutes is permitted between the mixing of flour and water to the conclusion of baking and removal from the oven. Consequently, only a small number of matzot can be baked at one time, and the group members are enjoined to work the dough constantly so that it is not allowed to ferment and rise. A special cutting tool is run over the dough just before baking to prick any bubbles which might make the matza puff up; this creates the familiar dotted holes in the matzah.
After the matzot come out of the oven, the entire work area is scrubbed down and swept to make sure that no pieces of old, potentially leavened dough remain, as any stray pieces are now hametz and can contaminate the next batch of matzah.
Some machine-made matzot are completed within five minutes of being kneaded.][
]
Passover seder
It is traditional for Jewish families to gather on the first night of Passover (first two nights in Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...
and Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
communities outside Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
) for a special dinner called a seder
The Passover Seder is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar (i.e., at the start of the 15th; a Hebrew day begins at su ...
(Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
: ''seder'' – derived from the Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
word for "order" or "arrangement", referring to the very specific order of the ritual). The table is set with the finest china and silverware to reflect the importance of the meal. During this meal, the story of the Exodus from Egypt is retold using a special text called the Haggadah
The Haggadah (, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a foundational Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table fulfills the mitzvah incumbent on every Jew to reco ...
. A total of four cups of wine are consumed during the recitation of the Haggadah. The seder is divided by the haggadah into the following 15 parts:
# ''Qāḏēš'' – recital of the Kiddush
Kiddush (; ), , is a blessing recited over wine or grape juice to sanctify the Shabbat and Jewish holidays. Additionally, the word refers to a small repast held on Shabbat or festival mornings after the prayer services and before the meal.
S ...
and drinking of the first cup of wine
# ''Urḥaṣ'' – the washing of the hands – without blessing
# ''Karpas'' – dipping of the ''karpas
Karpas () is one of the traditional rituals in the Passover Seder. It refers to the vegetable, usually parsley or celery, that is dipped in liquid and eaten. The karpas is traditionally placed on the seder plate on the left side, below the roast ...
'' in salt water
# ''Yaḥaṣ'' – breaking the middle matzah; the larger piece becomes the '' afikoman'' which is eaten later during the ritual of ''Ṣafun''
# ''Maggiḏ'' – retelling the Passover story, including the recital of " the four questions" and drinking of the second cup of wine
# ''Raḥṣā'' – second washing of the hands – with blessing
# ''Moṣi'' – traditional blessing before eating bread
Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...
products
# ''Maṣā'' – blessing before eating matzah
# ''Maror'' – eating of the maror
''Maror'' ( ''mārōr'') are the bitter herbs eaten at the Passover Seder in keeping with the biblical commandment "with bitter herbs they shall eat it." ( Exodus 12:8). The Maror is one of the symbolic foods placed on the Passover Seder pla ...
# ''Korēḵ'' – eating of a sandwich made of matzah and maror
# ''Shulḥān ʿorēḵ'' – lit. "set table" – the serving of the holiday meal
# ''Ṣafun'' – eating of the '' afikoman''
# ''Bareich/ Barēkh'' – blessing after the meal and drinking of the third cup of wine
# ''Hallel
Hallel (, 'Praise') is a Jewish prayer, a verbatim recitation from Psalms which is recited by observant Jews on Jewish holidays as an act of praise and thanksgiving.
Types Full Hallel
Full Hallel () consists of all six Psalms of the Hallel, in ...
'' – recital of the Hallel, traditionally recited on festivals; drinking of the fourth cup of wine
# ''Nirṣā'' – conclusion
These 15 parts parallel the 15 steps in the Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accord ...
on which the Levite
Levites ( ; ) or Levi are Jewish males who claim patrilineal descent from the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi descended from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. The surname ''Halevi'', which consists of the Hebrew definite article "" ''Ha-' ...
s stood during Temple services, and which were memorialized in the 15 Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament.
The book is an anthology of B ...
(#120–134) known as ''Shir HaMa'a lot'' (Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
: ''shiyr ha-ma'alôth'', " Songs of Ascent").
The seder is replete with questions, answers, and unusual practices (e.g. the recital of Kiddush
Kiddush (; ), , is a blessing recited over wine or grape juice to sanctify the Shabbat and Jewish holidays. Additionally, the word refers to a small repast held on Shabbat or festival mornings after the prayer services and before the meal.
S ...
which is not immediately followed by the blessing over bread, which is the traditional procedure for all other holiday meals) to arouse the interest and curiosity of the children at the table. The children are also rewarded with nuts and candies when they ask questions and participate in the discussion of the Exodus and its aftermath. Likewise, they are encouraged to search for the '' afikoman'', the piece of matzah which is the last thing eaten at the seder. Audience participation and interaction is the rule, and many families' seders last long into the night with animated discussions and singing. The seder concludes with additional songs of praise and faith printed in the Haggadah, including ''Chad Gadya
Chad Gadya ''or'' Had Gadya (Aramaic language, Aramaic: חַד גַדְיָא ''chad gadya'', "one little goat", or "one kid"; Hebrew language, Hebrew: "גדי אחד ''gedi echad''") is a playful cumulative song in Aramaic and Hebrew language, ...
'' ("One Little Kid" or "One Little Goat").
Maror
Maror
''Maror'' ( ''mārōr'') are the bitter herbs eaten at the Passover Seder in keeping with the biblical commandment "with bitter herbs they shall eat it." ( Exodus 12:8). The Maror is one of the symbolic foods placed on the Passover Seder pla ...
(bitter herbs) symbolizes the bitterness of slavery in Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. The following verse from the Torah
The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...
underscores that symbolism: "And they embittered (Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
: וימררו ''ve-yimareru'') their lives with hard labor, with mortar and with bricks and with all manner of labor in the field; any labor that they made them do was with hard labor" (Exodus
Exodus or the Exodus may refer to:
Religion
* Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible
* The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan
Historical events
* Ex ...
1:14).
Four cups of wine
There is a Rabbinic requirement that four cups of wine are to be drunk during the seder meal. This applies to both men and women. The Mishnah says (Pes. 10:1) that even the poorest man in Israel must drink. Each cup is connected to a different part of the seder: the first cup is for Kiddush, the second cup is connected with the recounting of the Exodus
The Exodus (Hebrew language, Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yəṣīʾat Mīṣrayīm'': ) is the Origin myth#Founding myth, founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four of the five books of the Torah, Pentateuch (specif ...
, the drinking of the third cup concludes Birkat Hamazon
Birkat Hamazon ( "The Blessing of the Food"), known in English as the Grace After Meals ( "to bless", Yinglish: Bentsching), is a set of Hebrew language, Hebrew blessings that Halakha, Jewish law prescribes following a meal that includes at le ...
and the fourth cup is associated with Hallel. A fifth cup of wine is poured near the end of the seder for the prophet Elijah
Elijah ( ) or Elias was a prophet and miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC), according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible.
In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worsh ...
, a symbol of the future redemption, which is left un-touched.
The four questions and participation of children
Children have a very important role in the Passover seder. Traditionally the youngest child is prompted to ask questions about the Passover seder, beginning with the words, ''Mah Nishtana HaLeila HaZeh'' (Why is this night different from all other nights?). The questions encourage the gathering to discuss the significance of the symbols in the meal. The questions asked by the child are:
:Why is this night different from all other nights?
:On all other nights, we eat either unleavened or leavened bread, but tonight we eat only unleavened bread?
:On all other nights, we eat all kinds of vegetables, but tonight, we eat only bitter herbs?
:On all other nights, we do not dip ur food
Ur ( or ) was an important Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia, located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar () in Dhi Qar Governorate, southern Iraq. Although Ur was once a coastal city near the mouth of the Euphrates on the Persian ...
even once, but tonight we dip twice?
:On all other nights, we eat either sitting or reclining, but tonight we only recline?
Often the leader of the seder and the other adults at the meal will use prompted responses from the Haggadah, which states, "The more one talks about the Exodus from Egypt, the more praiseworthy he is." Many readings, prayers, and stories are used to recount the story of the Exodus. Many households add their own commentary and interpretation and often the story of the Jews is related to the theme of liberation and its implications worldwide.
Afikoman
The '' afikoman'' – an integral part of the Seder itself – is used to engage the interest and excitement of the children at the table. During the fourth part of the Seder, called ''Yachatz'', the leader breaks the middle piece of matzah into two. He sets aside the larger portion as the ''afikoman''. Many families use the ''afikoman'' as a device for keeping the children awake and alert throughout the Seder proceedings by hiding the ''afikoman'' and offering a prize for its return.[ Alternatively, the children are allowed to "steal" the ''afikoman'' and demand a reward for its return. In either case, the ''afikoman'' must be consumed during the twelfth part of the Seder, ''Tzafun''.
]
Concluding songs
After the Hallel, the fourth glass of wine is drunk, and participants recite a prayer that ends in "Next year in Jerusalem
''L'Shana Haba'ah B'Yerushalayim'' (), is a phrase that is often sung at the end of the Passover Seder and - in the Eastern Asheknazic rite - at the end of the ''Ne'ila'' service on Yom Kippur. Its use during Passover was first recorded by Isaa ...
!". This is followed by several lyric prayers that expound upon God's mercy and kindness, and give thanks for the survival of the Jewish people through a history of exile and hardship. "Echad Mi Yodea
"Echad Mi Yodea" () is a traditional cumulative song sung on Passover and found in the haggadah. It enumerates common Jewish motifs and teachings. It is meant to be fun and humorous, while still imparting important lessons to the children presen ...
" ("Who Knows One?") is a playful song, testing the general knowledge of the children (and the adults). Some of these songs, such as "Chad Gadya
Chad Gadya ''or'' Had Gadya (Aramaic language, Aramaic: חַד גַדְיָא ''chad gadya'', "one little goat", or "one kid"; Hebrew language, Hebrew: "גדי אחד ''gedi echad''") is a playful cumulative song in Aramaic and Hebrew language, ...
" are allegorical.
Hallel
During Passover, the recitation of ''Hallel
Hallel (, 'Praise') is a Jewish prayer, a verbatim recitation from Psalms which is recited by observant Jews on Jewish holidays as an act of praise and thanksgiving.
Types Full Hallel
Full Hallel () consists of all six Psalms of the Hallel, in ...
'' a collection of Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament.
The book is an anthology of B ...
praising and thanking God, is an integral part of the daily prayer service. On the initial day(s) of Passover, it is recited in its entirety, similar to the practice observed on Shavuot
(, from ), or (, in some Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi usage), is a Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday, one of the biblically ordained Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan; in the 21st century, it may ...
and throughout Succot
Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths, is a Torah-commanded Jewish holiday celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which Israelite ...
. However, for the subsequent days of the Passover holiday, only half of the Hallel is recited. This traditional practice is widely observed by adherents of the Jewish faith as a way of expressing gratitude and celebrating the significance of Passover, while maintaining variations in the recitation of Hallel based on specific days within the festival.
Counting of the Omer
Beginning on the second night of Passover, the 16th day of Nisan, Jews begin the practice of the Counting of the Omer
Counting of the Omer (, Sefirat HaOmer, sometimes abbreviated as Sefira) is a ritual in Judaism. It consists of a verbal counting of each of the 49 days between the holidays of Passover and Shavuot. The period of 49 days is known as the "omer p ...
, a nightly reminder of the approach of the holiday of Shavuot
(, from ), or (, in some Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi usage), is a Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday, one of the biblically ordained Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan; in the 21st century, it may ...
50 days hence. Each night after the evening prayer service, men and women recite a special blessing and then enumerate the day of the Omer. On the first night, for example, they say, "Today is the first day in (or, to) the Omer"; on the second night, "Today is the second day in the Omer." The counting also involves weeks; thus, the seventh day is commemorated, "Today is the seventh day, which is one week in the Omer." The eighth day is marked, "Today is the eighth day, which is one week and one day in the Omer," etc.
When the Temple stood in Jerusalem, a sheaf of new-cut barley was presented before the altar on the second day of Unleavened Bread (Passover). Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...
writes:
On the second day of unleavened bread, that is to say the sixteenth, our people partake of the crops which they have reaped and which have not been touched till then, and esteeming it right first to do homage to God, to whom they owe the abundance of these gifts, they offer to him the first-fruits of the barley in the following way. After parching and crushing the little sheaf of ears and purifying the barley for grinding, they bring to the altar a
issaron
for God, and, having flung a handful thereof on the altar, they leave the rest for the use of the priests. Thereafter all are permitted, publicly or individually, to begin harvest.[Josephus, Antiquities 3.250–251, in Josephus IV Jewish Antiquities Books I–IV, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1930, pp. 437–439.]
Since the destruction of the Temple, this offering is brought in word rather than deed.
One explanation for the Counting of the Omer is that it shows the connection between Passover and Shavuot. The physical freedom that the Hebrews achieved at the Exodus from Egypt was only the beginning of a process that climaxed with the spiritual freedom they gained at the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai, also known as Jabal Musa (), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is one of several locations claimed to be the Mount Sinai (Bible), biblical Mount Sinai, the place where, according to the sacred scriptures of the thre ...
. Another explanation is that the newborn nation which emerged after the Exodus needed time to learn their new responsibilities vis-a-vis Torah and mitzvot
In its primary meaning, the Hebrew word (; , ''mīṣvā'' , plural ''mīṣvōt'' ; "commandment") refers to a commandment from God to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law () in large part consists of discussion of these commandments ...
before accepting God's law. The distinction between the Omer offering – a measure of barley, typically animal fodder – and the Shavuot offering – two loaves of wheat bread, human food – symbolizes the transition process.
Chol HaMoed: The intermediate days of Passover
In Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, Passover lasts for seven days with the first and last days being major Jewish holidays
Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' (, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar.This article focuses on practices of mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. ...
. In Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...
and Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
communities, no work is performed on those days, with most of the rules relating to the observances of Shabbat
Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...
being applied.
Outside Israel, in Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...
and Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
communities, the holiday lasts for eight days with the first two days and last two days being major holidays. In the intermediate days necessary work can be performed. Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...
observes Passover over seven days, with the first and last days being major holidays.
Like the holiday of Sukkot
Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths, is a Torah-commanded Jewish holiday celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which Israelite ...
, the intermediary days of Passover are known as Chol HaMoed
''Chol HaMoed'' (), a Hebrew phrase meaning "mundane of the festival", refers to the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot. As the name implies, these days mix features of ''chol'' (mundane) and ''moed'' (festival).
On Passover, ''Chol HaMoe ...
(festival weekdays) and are imbued with a semi-festive status. It is a time for family outings and picnic lunches of matzah, hardboiled eggs, fruits and vegetables, and Passover treats such as macaroon
A macaroon ( ) is a small cake or cookie, originally made from ground almonds, egg whites, and sugar, but now often with coconut or other nuts. They may also include jam, chocolate, or other flavorings.
Etymology
The name ''macaroon'' is ...
s and homemade candies.
Passover cake recipes call for potato starch
Potato starch is starch extracted from potatoes. The cells of the root tubers of the potato plant contain leucoplasts (starch grains). To extract the starch, the potatoes are crushed, and the starch grains are released from the destroyed cells. Th ...
or Passover cake flour made from finely granulated matzah instead of regular flour, and a large amount of eggs to achieve fluffiness. Cookie recipes use matzah farfel
Matzah, matzo, or maẓẓah ('','' : matzot or Ashk. matzos) is an unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover festival, during which ''chametz'' (leaven and five grains deemed by Jewi ...
(broken bits of matzah) or ground nuts as the base. For families with Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
an backgrounds, borsht
Borscht () is a sour soup, made with meat stock, vegetables and seasonings, common in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. In English, the word ''borscht'' is most often associated with the soup's variant of Ukrainian origin, made with red be ...
, a soup made with beet
The beetroot (British English) or beet (North American English) is the taproot portion of a '' Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'' plant in the Conditiva Group. The plant is a root vegetable also known as the table beet, garden beet, dinner ...
s, is a Passover tradition.
While kosher for Passover packaged goods are available in stores, some families opt to cook everything from scratch during Passover week. In Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, families that do not kasher
(also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashkena ...
their ovens can bake cakes, casseroles, and even meat on the stovetop
A cooktop (American English), stovetop (Canadian and American English) or hob (British English), is a device commonly used for cooking that is commonly found in kitchens and used to apply heat to the base of pans or pots. Cooktops are often foun ...
in a Wonder Pot
Wonder Pot (, ) is an Israeli invention for baking on top of a gas stove rather than in an oven. It consists of three parts: an aluminium pot shaped like a Bundt pan except smooth-sided rather than fluted, a hooded cover perforated with venting ...
, an Israeli invention consisting of three parts: an aluminium
Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...
pot shaped like a Bundt pan, a hooded cover perforated with venting holes, and a thick, round, metal disc with a center hole which is placed between the Wonder Pot and the flame to disperse heat.
Seventh day of Passover
(, 'seventh ayof Passover') is another full Jewish holiday
Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' (, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar.This article focuses on practices of mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. ...
, with special prayer services and festive meals. Outside the Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, in the Jewish diaspora
The Jewish diaspora ( ), alternatively the dispersion ( ) or the exile ( ; ), consists of Jews who reside outside of the Land of Israel. Historically, it refers to the expansive scattering of the Israelites out of their homeland in the Southe ...
, is celebrated on both the seventh and eighth days of Passover. This holiday commemorates the day the Children of Israel
Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age.
Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanite populations and other peoples.Mark Smit ...
reached the Red Sea
The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
and witnessed both the miraculous "Splitting of the Sea" (Passage of the Red Sea
The Parting of the Red Sea or Crossing of the Red Sea (, lit. "parting of the sea of reeds") is an episode in The Exodus, a foundational story in the Hebrew Bible.
It tells of the escape of the Israelites, led by Moses, from the pursuing Egypt ...
), the drowning of all the Egyptian chariots, horses and soldiers that pursued them. According to the Midrash
''Midrash'' (;["midrash"]
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...
, only the Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...
was spared to give testimony to the miracle that occurred.
Hasidic
Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...
Rebbe
A Rebbe () or Admor () is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spirituality (Audio)''. UCTV, 20 Oct 2011. web. ...
s traditionally hold a ''tish
Tish is a feminine given name and a nickname.
People
Given name Arts and entertainment
* Tish Bellomo, former backing vocalist of rock group Blondie
* Tish Ciravolo, bass player and guitar maker
* Tish Cohen (born 1963), Canadian writer
* ...
'' on the night of and place a cup or bowl of water on the table before them. They use this opportunity to speak about the Splitting of the Sea to their disciples, and sing songs of praise to God.
Second Passover
The "Second Passover" (Pesach Sheni
Pesach Sheni (Hebrew: פסח שני, trans. ''Second Passover'') occurs every year on 14 Iyar. This is exactly one month after 14 Nisan, the day before Passover, which was the day prescribed for bringing the '' Korban Pesach'' ("Pas ...
) on the 14th of Iyar in the Hebrew calendar
The Hebrew calendar (), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance and as an official calendar of Israel. It determines the dates of Jewish holidays and other rituals, such as '' yahrze ...
is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
. '' Book of Numbers
The Book of Numbers (from Biblical Greek, Greek Ἀριθμοί, ''Arithmoi'', , ''Bəmīḏbar'', ; ) is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and complex history; its final f ...
as a make-up day for people who were unable to offer the pesach sacrifice at the appropriate time due to ritual impurity
Ritual purification is a ritual prescribed by a religion through which a person is considered to be freed of ''uncleanliness'', especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification ...
or distance from Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
. Just as on the first Pesach night, breaking bones from the second Paschal offering or leaving meat over until morning is prohibited.
Today, Pesach Sheni on the 14th of Iyar has the status of a very minor holiday (so much so that many of the Jewish people have never even heard of it, and it essentially does not exist outside of Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...
and traditional Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism, also known as Masorti Judaism, is a Jewish religious movements, Jewish religious movement that regards the authority of Jewish law and tradition as emanating primarily from the assent of the people through the generations ...
). There are not really any special prayers or observances that are considered Jewish law. The only change in the liturgy is that in some communities ''Tachanun
''Tachanun'' or ''Taḥanun'' ( "Supplication"), also called ''nefilat apayim'' ( "falling on the face"), is part of Judaism's morning (''Shacharit'') and afternoon (''Mincha'') prayer services; it follows the recitation of the ''Amidah'', the ce ...
'', a penitential prayer omitted on holidays, is not said. There is a custom, though not Jewish law, to eat just one piece of matzah on that night.
Notable events on Passover
Biblical
# Abel offered the lamb which was accepted
# The war of Abraham
Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...
and the four kings when he went to rescue Lot.
# The Covenant Between the Parts (1743 BCE): God forged a special covenant with Abraham. Genesis 15:13–18
# Abraham receives three visitors and prepares a meal for them. He receives the promise that Sarah
Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch, prophet, and major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pious woma ...
will have a child next year.
# The two angels go to Lot's house and spend the night with Lot. The next morning Sodom is destroyed.
# Isaac
Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...
was born on the first day of Passover. The Akedah happened on the same day as well, years later.
# Issac asking Esau
Esau is the elder son of Isaac in the Hebrew Bible. He is mentioned in the Book of Genesis and by the minor prophet, prophets Obadiah and Malachi. The story of Jacob and Esau reflects the historical relationship between Israel and Edom, aiming ...
to prepare a meal for him so he can bless him.
# Jacob wrestles with an angel and his name is changed to Israel. Genesis 32:25–29
# Moses at the burning bush. One year before the exodus, God speaks to Moses from the burning bush to go and deliver Israel.
# The Exodus. The children of Israel were protected by the blood of the lamb during the plague of the death of the firstborn. They were miraculously healed that night and walked out of Egypt in the morning. God gave them favour with their neighbors and they asked and received precious articles which was used to build the tabernacle.
# Gideon
Gideon (; ) also named Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth, was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites is recounted in of the Book of Judges in both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible.
Gideon was th ...
's victory over Midian
Midian (; ; , ''Madiam''; Taymanitic: 𐪃𐪕𐪚𐪌 ''MDYN''; ''Mīḏyān'') is a geographical region in West Asia, located in northwestern Saudi Arabia. mentioned in the Tanakh and Quran. William G. Dever states that biblical Midian was ...
and the barley cake dream
# King Hezekiah
Hezekiah (; ), or Ezekias (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the thirteenth king of Kingdom of Judah, Judah according to the Hebrew Bible.Stephen L Harris, Harris, Stephen L., ''Understanding the Bible''. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. "G ...
was healed and the Assyrian army defeated by an angel, killing 185,000 soldiers
# Queen Vashti is executed by King Achashverosh paving the way for Esther to become queen.
# Esther
Esther (; ), originally Hadassah (; ), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and ma ...
's fast was proclaimed during the Passover. Haman
Haman ( ; also known as Haman the Agagite) is the main antagonist in the Book of Esther, who according to the Hebrew Bible was an official in the court of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian empire under King Ahasuerus#Book of Esther, Ahasuerus, comm ...
erected the gallows for Mordecai
Mordecai (; also Mordechai; , IPA: ) is one of the main personalities in the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. He is the cousin and guardian of Esther, who became queen of Persia under the reign of Ahasuerus (Xerxes I). Mordecai's loyalty and ...
on the first night of the Passover. The same night, King Ahasuerus
Ahasuerus ( ; , commonly ''Achashverosh''; , in the Septuagint; in the Vulgate) is a name applied in the Hebrew Bible to three rulers of Ancient Persia and to a Babylonian official (or Median king) first appearing in the Tanakh in the Book of ...
could not sleep and that resulted in the downfall of Haman.
# Daniel spends a night in the Lion's Den
# King Belshazzar
Belshazzar ( Babylonian cuneiform: ''Bēl-šar-uṣur'', meaning " Bel, protect the king"; ''Bēlšaʾṣṣar'') was the son and crown prince of Nabonidus (), the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Through his mother, he might have been ...
of Babylon made use of the vessels of the temple and was subsequently judged by the handwriting on the wall.
Modern Day''
# 1979 – Uganda – Judaism was banned by Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 30 May 192816 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 until Uganda–Tanzania War, his overthrow in 1979. He ruled as a Military dictatorship, ...
in 1971. On Wednesday, 11 April 1979, corresponding to 14 Nisan 5739, Passover Night the new Government, composed of Ugandan rebels and Tanzanian troops, declared freedom of worship. And Passover was commemorated.
Traditional foods
Because the house is free of leaven (''chametz'') for eight days, the Jewish household typically eats different foods during the week of Passover. Some include:
Ashkenazi foods
* ''Matzah brei
Matzah brei ( ''matse bray'', literally 'matzah porridge'; , ''matzah brei'', or , ''matzah metugenet'', literally, "fried matzah"), sometimes spelled matzah brie, matzoh brei, or matzo brei, is a dish of Ashkenazi Jewish origin made from matzah ...
'' – Matzo Matzo is a spelling variant for matzah
Matzah, matzo, or maẓẓah ('','' : matzot or Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashk. matzos) is an Unleavened bread, unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover ...
softened in milk or water and fried with egg and fat; served either savory or sweet
* Matzo kugel
Kugel ( , pronounced ) is a baked casserole, most commonly made from lokshen ( ) or potato ( ). It is a traditional Ashkenazi Jewish dish, often served on Shabbos and Jewish holidays. American Jews also serve it for Thanksgiving dinner.
Etymo ...
– A kugel made with matzah instead of noodles
* ''Charoset
''Charoset'' is a sweet, dark-colored mixture of finely chopped fruits and nuts eaten at the Passover Seder. According to the Talmud, its color and texture are meant to recall mortar (or mud used to make adobe bricks), which the Israelites ...
'' – A sweet mixture of fruit, fresh, dried or both; nuts; spices; honey; and sometimes wine. The charoset is a symbol of the mortar the Israelites used for building while enslaved in Egypt (See Passover seder
The Passover Seder is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar (i.e., at the start of the 15th; a Hebrew d ...
)
* ''Chrain
(; ; or ; ; ; ; ; ; ; meaning 'horseradish' in all these languages) is a spicy paste made of grated horseradish. It is a common condiment for meat and fish dishes in Eastern and Central European cuisines (Slovene cuisine, Slovene, northern Cro ...
'' – Horseradish and beet relish
* Gefilte fish
Gefilte fish (; from , , lit. "stuffed fish") is a dish made from a poached mixture of ground deboned fish, such as carp, whitefish, or pike. It is traditionally served as an appetizer by Ashkenazi Jewish households. Popular on Shabbat and ...
– Poached fish patties or fish balls made from a mixture of ground, de-boned fish, mostly carp
The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...
or pike
Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to:
Fish
* Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus''
* Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes
* ''Esox'', genus of ...
* Chicken soup
Chicken soup is a soup made from chicken, simmered in water, usually with various other ingredients. The classic chicken soup consists of a clear chicken broth, often with pieces of chicken or vegetables; common additions are pasta, noodles, ...
with matzah ball
Matzah balls or matzo balls are Ashkenazi Jewish soup morsels made from a mixture of matzah meal, beaten eggs, water, and a fat, such as oil, margarine, or schmaltz, chicken fat. Known as knaidel in Yiddish ( pl., singular ; with numerous other ...
s (''kneydlach'') – Chicken soup served with matzah-meal dumplings
* Passover noodles – Noodles prepared from potato flour and eggs, served in soup. Batter is fried like thin crepes, which are stacked, rolled up and sliced into ribbons.
Sephardi foods
* ''Kafteikas di prasa'' – Fried balls made of leeks, meat, and matzah meal
* Lamb or chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...
leg – A symbol of God's strong hand and the sacrifice
* ''Mina'' (pastel
A pastel () is an art medium that consists of powdered pigment and a binder (material), binder. It can exist in a variety of forms, including a stick, a square, a pebble, and a pan of color, among other forms. The pigments used in pastels are ...
di pesach) – a meat or spinach pie made with matzot
* Sephardi ''Charoset
''Charoset'' is a sweet, dark-colored mixture of finely chopped fruits and nuts eaten at the Passover Seder. According to the Talmud, its color and texture are meant to recall mortar (or mud used to make adobe bricks), which the Israelites ...
'' is usually made of figs
The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Moraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, together with western and southern Asia. It has been cultivated since ancient times and i ...
, raisin
A raisin is a Dried fruit, dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and South Afri ...
s and dates
Date or dates may refer to:
* Date, the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'')
* Jujube, also known as red date or Chinese date, the fruit of ''Ziziphus jujuba''
Social activity
*Dating, a form of courtship involving social activit ...
. Egyptian Jews
The history of the Jews in Egypt goes back to ancient times. Egyptian Jews or Jewish Egyptians refer to the Jewish community in Egypt who mainly consisted of Egyptian Arabic-speaking Rabbanites and Karaites. Though Egypt had its own community ...
use dates, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, and sweet wine, while Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
and Turkish Jews
The history of the Jews in Turkey ( or ; ; () covers the 2400 years that Jews have lived in what is now Turkey.
There have been Romaniotes, Jewish communities in Anatolia since at least the beginning of the common era. Anatolia's Jewish popu ...
use apples, dates, chopped almonds, and wine. Italian Jews
Italian Jews (; ) or Roman Jews (; ) can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living in or with roots in Italy, or, in a narrower sense, to mean the Italkim, an ancient community living in Italy since the Ancient Roman era, who use the It ...
add chestnuts. Iraqi Jews
The history of the Jews in Iraq (, ', ; , ) is documented from the time of the Babylonian captivity . Iraqi Jews constitute one of the world's oldest and most historically significant Jewish communities.
The Jewish community in Mesopotamia, kn ...
make charoset from a mixture of dates and nuts.
* Spring green vegetables – artichoke
The artichoke (''Cynara cardunculus'' var. ''scolymus''),Rottenberg, A., and D. Zohary, 1996: "The wild ancestry of the cultivated artichoke." Genet. Res. Crop Evol. 43, 53–58. also known by the other names: French artichoke, globe artichoke, ...
, fava beans
''Vicia faba'', commonly known as the broad bean, fava bean, or faba bean, is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption, and also as a cover crop. Vari ...
, pea
Pea (''pisum'' in Latin) is a pulse or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species. Peas are eaten as a vegetable. Carl Linnaeus gave the species the scientific name ''Pisum sativum' ...
s
Related celebrations, sermons, liturgy, and song in other religions
* That slaves can go free, and that the future can be better than the present, has inspired a number of religious sermons, prayers, and songs – including spirituals
Spirituals (also known as Negro spirituals, African American spirituals, Black spirituals, or spiritual music) is a genre of Christian music that is associated with African Americans, which merged varied African cultural influences with the exp ...
(what used to be called "Negro Spirituals"), within the African-American community. Philip R. Alstat, known for his fiery rhetoric and powerful oratory skills, wrote and spoke in 1939 about the power of the Passover story during the rise of Nazi persecution and terror:
* Saint Thomas Syrian Christians observe Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday, also referred to as Holy Thursday, or Thursday of the Lord's Supper, among other names,The day is also known as Great and Holy Thursday, Holy and Great Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries. is ...
as ''Pesaha'', a Malayalam word derived from the Aramaic or Hebrew word for Passover (Pasha, Pesach or Pesah) The tradition of consuming '' Pesaha Appam'' after the church service is observed by the entire community under the leadership of the head of the family.[Weil, S. (1982) "Symmetry between Christians and Jews in India: The Cananite Christians and Cochin Jews in Kerala". in ''Contributions to Indian Sociology'', 16.]
* The Samaritan religion celebrates its own, similar Passover holiday, based on the Samaritan Pentateuch
The Samaritan Pentateuch, also called the Samaritan Torah (Samaritan Hebrew: , ), is the Religious text, sacred scripture of the Samaritans. Written in the Samaritan script, it dates back to one of the ancient versions of the Torah that existe ...
. Passover is also celebrated in Karaite Judaism
Karaite Judaism or Karaism is a Rabbinic Judaism, non-Rabbinical Jewish religious movements, Jewish sect characterized by the recognition of the written Tanakh alone as its supreme religious text, authority in ''halakha'' (religious law) and t ...
, which rejects the Oral Torah
According to Rabbinic Judaism, the Oral Torah or Oral Law () are statutes and legal interpretations that were not recorded in the Five Books of Moses, the Written Torah (), and which are regarded by Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jews as prescriptive ...
that characterizes mainstream Rabbinic Judaism
Rabbinic Judaism (), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, Rabbanite Judaism, or Talmudic Judaism, is rooted in the many forms of Judaism that coexisted and together formed Second Temple Judaism in the land of Israel, giving birth to classical rabb ...
, as well as other groups claiming affiliation with Israelites
Several groups of people have claimed lineal descent from the Israelites (or Hebrews), an ancient Semitic-speaking people who inhabited Canaan during the Iron Age. The phenomenon has become especially prevalent since the founding of the State of ...
.
* Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
celebrates Easter
Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...
(not to be confused with the pre-Christian Saxon festival from which it derives its English name). The coincidence of Jesus' crucifixion with the Jewish Passover led some early Christians to make a false etymological association between Hebrew ''Pesach'' and Greek ''pascho'' ("suffer"). Because Easter's date in the calendar is related to lunar phases, Easter often falls on the same week as Passover but this is not necessarily the case; for example, the first full moon after the equinox might happen during the month of Adar
Adar (Hebrew: , ; from Akkadian ''adaru'') is the sixth month of the civil year and the twelfth month of the religious year on the Hebrew calendar, roughly corresponding to the month of March in the Gregorian calendar. It is a month of 29 days. ...
.
* In Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
, Ashura
Ashura (, , ) is a day of commemoration in Islam. It occurs annually on the tenth of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. For Sunni Muslims, Ashura marks the parting of the Red Sea by Moses and the salvation of the Israelites ...
commemorates Moses
In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...
's escape from Egypt through two days of fasting on 10th Muharram
Al-Muharram () is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is banned. It precedes the month of Safar. The tenth of Muharram is known as Ashura, an important day of commemoration in ...
.
* The 2014-published ''The Legislative Themes of Centralization: From Mandate to Demise'' ties Passover to apotropaic
Apotropaic magic (From ) or protective magic is a type of magic intended to turn away harm or evil influences, as in deflecting misfortune or averting the evil eye. Apotropaic observances may also be practiced out of superstition or out of tr ...
rite, unrelated to the Exodus
The Exodus (Hebrew language, Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yəṣīʾat Mīṣrayīm'': ) is the Origin myth#Founding myth, founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four of the five books of the Torah, Pentateuch (specif ...
.
Environmental links
Some see in Passover an important ecological lesson important to the contemporary situation with different ecological threats like climate change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
. For example, Rabbi Yonatan Neril, founder and executive director of the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development
The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development (ICSD), is a nonprofit organization that connects religion and ecology and mobilizes faith communities to act. Based in Jerusalem, ICSD was founded by Yonatan Neril, Rabbi Yonatan Neril in 2010.
...
, compares the impact of climate change to the Plagues of Egypt
In the Book of Exodus, the Plagues of Egypt () are ten disasters that the Hebrew God inflicts on the Biblical Egypt, Egyptians to convince Pharaohs in the Bible#In the Book of Exodus, the Pharaoh to emancipate the enslaved Israelites, each of th ...
and the refusal of modern society to change its way of thinking to the refusal of the Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...
to free the Jewish slaves. Scientists discovered evidence for climatic change at the end of the rule of Ramesses II
Ramesses II (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses) (; , , ; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was an Pharaoh, Egyptian pharaoh. He was the third ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty. Along with Thutmose III of th ...
, which could potentially impact the flow of the Nile, leading to red algae bloom. This could explain what is described as the ten plagues. According to Neril: "The Egyptians were very happy to have a free source of labor in the form of Israelite slaves. When God said this needs to stop, they were reluctant to change…Fossil fuels, in the past 150 years, have replaced slave labor as the key driver of human society. There's a Pharaoh within us that wants to continue to do something that's not right."
See also
* ''The Exodus Decoded
''The Exodus Decoded'' is a 2006 documentary film by "investigative archaeologist" and filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici and producer/director James Cameron. It aired on April 16 on The History Channel. The documentary proposes naturalistic origins fo ...
''
* Gebrochts
* Jewish greetings
There are several Jewish and Hebrew greetings, farewells, and phrases that are used in Judaism, and in Jewish and Hebrew-speaking communities around the world. Even outside Israel, Hebrew is an important part of Jewish life. Many Jews, even if the ...
* Kitniyot
''Kitniyot'' (, ''qitniyyoth'') is a Hebrew word meaning legumes. During the Passover holiday, however, the word ''kitniyot'' (or ''kitniyos'' in Ashkenazi dialects) takes on a broader meaning to include grains and seeds such as rice, corn, sunf ...
* Ashura
Ashura (, , ) is a day of commemoration in Islam. It occurs annually on the tenth of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. For Sunni Muslims, Ashura marks the parting of the Red Sea by Moses and the salvation of the Israelites ...
* Easter
Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...
References
External links
Passover Resources – ReformJudaism.org
Guide to Passover – chabad.org
'Peninei Halakha' Jewish Law – Yhb.org.il
Jewish Encyclopedia: Passover
Akhlah: The Jewish Children's Learning Network
All about Pesach
Secular dates for passover
Passover Countdown Timer
How many days to the next Passover.
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Hallel
Jewish festivals
Moses
Nisan observances