Passover is the pre-eminent Jewish home holiday (although going to synagogue the first and last day is also traditional).  Passover is the holiday that commemorates our redemption from slavery and our exodus from Egypt.  Moses the shepherd is chosen by G-d to approach Pharaoh and demand freedom for the Israelites.  Pharaoh refuses.  After 10 famous plagues, the Israelites are allowed to go.  They leave in haste and arrive at the banks of the Red Sea as Pharaoh changes his mind again.  The final showdown ends dramatically when the sea splits in two, the Israelites walk through the seabed to safety, and the Egyptian army drowns as they attempt to follow the Israelites through the suspended waters.  The ritual most observed by American Jews, according to surveys, is not lighting Chanukah candles or fasting on Yom Kippur, but attending a Seder—a festive spring meal full of symbolism and good food—on Passover.  The Passover Seder has endured and evolved, carrying with it some ancient symbols, ethnic foods, and bold universalistic declarations wrapped in the particulars of the Jewish experience.  It also has remained in the mind’s eye of most Jews as the nostalgic centerpiece of warm and crazy memories of Jewish family gatherings.  Perhaps the leading factor for Passover’s super-status is—what else—food.  In Passover, more than any Jewish holiday, we have the complete melding of food, ritual and symbolism, and thus of body and soul. 

The Elimination of Chametz

Chametz is leavened bread, bread that has been allowed to rise and become fermented.  Chametz is different from all other forbidden foods in that it must be removed from the house before Passover.  “Leaven shall not be found in your houses for seven days” (Exodus 12:19).  One of the reasons Chametz is treated so much more strictly is that one is used to eating it during the rest of the year.  If one were allowed to keep Chametz in the house during Passover one could easily forget that it is Passover and eat the Chametz as one does during the rest of the year.

Tradition asks Jews to do an extensive cleaning of their dwelling places prior to Passover.  This is then followed by a four-part ritual “search and destroy” process which eliminates the possibility of any Chametz remaining:

Bedikat Chametz:  Searching for leaven on the night before the first Seder is a custom that has special appeal for children.  After the house has been cleaned for Pesach, a symbolic search for the last remains of leaven is made.  At various places in the home, pieces of leaven are hidden. Then children, with flashlights or other illuminations, search them out in the dark.  The bread is gathered in a bag and burned or disposed of the next morning with the following blessing: 

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al bi’ur chametz. 

Praised are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who hallows us with mitzvot and commands us to burn chametz. 

The Seder Plate

In front of the leader’s place is a large ornate plate that displays five important symbols of Passover.  First there are small white bits of rot, which look deceptively mild.  These are maror, or bitter herbs, eaten to remember the bitterness of Egyptian bondage.  The power of the herb, which is often horseradish, is astounding.  Romaine lettuce is also used as maror, because at first it tastes sweet, and then it turns bitter.  In the beginning, the Israelites’ life in Egypt was sweet, and then it turned bitter.  The next object on the plate is a brownish, unappetizing-looking mixture called haroset.  This mixture is also deceptive because it is delicious.  It is supposed to look like the mortar that the Israelites used to build the cities of Pithom and Raamses.  Made of apples, nuts, cinnamon, and wine, its sweetness represents the promise of a better world.  The mixture is also a reminder of the apple trees under which Israelite women bore their children, away from the eyes of the Egyptians.

The shank bone of a lamb, called the z‘roah, lies beside the haroset.  This symbolizes the lamb eaten in haste when the Israelites fled Egypt.  The shank bone is used because “the Lord, our God, brought us forth with a strong hand and an outstretched arm.”  The bone is a reminder of God’s arm.

Next to the shank bone is a roasted egg, called the beitzah.  It is a symbol of the animal sacrifice that was brought to the Temple for each festival.  The egg is also a symbol of life.  One Midrash, or legend, draws a connection between the egg and the Jews.  Just as an egg gets harder as it cooks, so the Jewish people grew harder the more tyrants throughout history tried to weaken them.

Last there is karpas, fresh greens that are usually parsley celery, or lettuce.  Karpas, which is a Greek word meaning hors d’oeuvre, is a symbol of new life in nature and the new life for the Jewish people when they were freed from bondage.  The karpas is dipped in salt water, which represents the tears of slavery.