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Washington Hebrew Congregation

Pesach, known as Passover in English, is a major Jewish spring festival, commemorating the Exodus from Egypt over 3,000 years ago. The ritual observance of this holiday centers around a special home service called the seder (meaning "order") and a festive meal; the prohibition of chametz (leaven); and the eating of matzah (an unleavened bread). On the eve of the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, we read from a book called the Haggadah, meaning "telling," which contains the order of prayers, rituals, readings and songs for the Pesach seder.

The seder has a number of scriptural bases. Exodus 12:3-11 describes the meal of lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs which the Israelites ate just prior to the Exodus. In addition, three separate passages in Exodus (12:26-7, 13:8, 13:14) and one in Deuteronomy (6:20-21) enunciate the duty of the parents to tell the story of the Exodus to their children. The seder plate contains various symbolic foods referred to in the seder itself.

In Jewish tradition and history, Pesach is one of the festivals noted for its diversity and many meanings. It is a festival that commemorates past slavery and the Exodus from Egypt; it is the national unity festival of our people in the melting pot of distress and salvation; the festival of the greatness of the Jewish family which knows the wonder of being together as a family; it is the spring festival in which the blossoming of nature symbolizes the renewal and awakening of a people delighting in life. Above all it is the festival of freedom, the freedom of every single Jewish individual and the freedom of the entire Jewish people.

More about Passover

For more about How to Spice Up Your Seder and The Four Questions, please click on these images...

Acknowledgements
Some materials used in our Passover pages were produced by URJ, as well as Rebecca Rubinstein.