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I love Passover. It is one of my favorite spiritual holidays/events. The other is Christmas Eve. Let me explain. I am Christian, and my extended family is Jewish. Consequently, for the past 25 years I have been very much a part of my extended family's Passover Seders. There is a core group of us that gathers every year.
So few non-Jews understand the beauty of Passover, that I thought I would take some time here to describe what happens at a traditional Seder.
Passover is a holiday that lasts for eight days. This year the first night of Passover will be April 2nd. Passover remembers the struggles of Israelites while enslaved in Egypt, the process of their winning freedom and their physical/emotional/spiritual journey into that freedom. The word "Passover" refers to the angel of Death "passing over" the houses of the Israelites during plagues sent to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. The Passover rituals are meant to make us aware of the deepest meanings of enslavement and freedom, and to celebrate our relationship with G-d.
During the Exodus from slavery, people had to leave their dwellings immediately. There was no time to cook in advance. There was no time to let bread rise. So they had unleavened bread on their journey. This is why, in kosher or observant homes, all trace of leavening is removed from the home before the first night of Passover - no risen bread, no crackers with yeast in them, no yeast-assisted fermented products or beverages. The orthodox family will even have separate dishes and utensils used only for Passover which have never touched leaven.
For the eight days of Passover, matzoh will be the 'bread'. Many of you may have seen store-bought matzoh crackers (in big square boxes about a foot square.) But there is a much tastier matzoh which can be purchased in traditional orthodox communities called a "shmura matzoh" - (shmura means "watched"). It is hand made, baked in special matzoh ovens and everything about it has been rabbinically supervised, even the growing of the wheat used in it. These matzoh are roughly circular, punched with the same holes as the square ones, more unevenly toasty-dark in color and over a foot across.
On the first two nights of Passover, an elaborate meal is served, and a traditional liturgy (assembled in a document called a Haggadah -- which means "the telling") surrounds that meal and is spoken by the family. The Haggadah tells the tale of the Jews' transition from slavery to freedom, and talks about what that means for people today. There are special songs sung, special prayers said, and there is room for all to participate.
The food served, the elements of the liturgy and the songs sung may differ depending on whether the family has roots in the German/Eastern European traditions (Ashkenazi) or the Spanish/Middle Eastern traditions (Sephardic). See Kalyn Denny's column about Passover recipes for some fun cooking ideas.
Each family will have their own nuanced evening. And there are many different Haggadahs - all of which have the same major sections, but may focus the evening differently.
You can buy a Haggadah for feminists, a GLBT Haggadah, one for vegetarians, one for children, one that focuses on family, or ecological concerns, or peace, or even a Haggadah for Buddhists and Jews. A good basic online version of a traditional Ashkenazi Haggadah can be found here.
In the Seder (meal) I attend, the event lasts about 5 hours, and it is time spent in such zesty joy that it passes in an instant. It moves me deeply that as we say the prayers and observe the ritual -- that Jews are doing so with us across the globe. That as I observe, with my sweet extended family, these centuries-old traditions, we do so as part of a line of families through time. We do this with people in hiding who could not practice their faith openly. We do this as part of the same line of people who died for their faith. We do this with those gone before and those coming after -- in one unending hymn of praise.
One of my favorite moments is late in the meal. A cup has been filled with wine for Elijah, and has been sitting in the center of the table all night. At one point the door to the house is opened, so that Elijah can enter.
