By Rabbi Jack Shlachter
Los Alamos Jewish Center

The 8-day holiday of Passover is the most widely celebrated holiday on the Jewish calendar and traditionally requires a great deal of advance preparation. (My blood pressure is already rising as I recognize the rapid approach of the holiday). This year, Passover begins on Saturday evening, April 12. Passover commemorates the release of the Jewish people from slavery thousands of years ago, and many of us will have in our minds and hearts the remaining 59 hostages still held captive in Gaza following the Hamas atrocities of 18 months ago. 

The festive observance of Passover is referred to as a seder (literally “order”). The seder is a home-based or community ritual held on the first two nights of Passover modeled on the talk-feasts of ancient Greece.  The seder utilizes a manual called a Haggadah to guide participants in the 15-step ceremony, and questions are asked throughout the evening to stimulate the interest of even the youngest members.

Jews around the world developed their own unique customs associated with Passover. Yemenite Jews playfully hit each other with scallions during the seder to remember the whips used by the taskmasters on the Israelite slaves, and Ethiopian Jews would smash all their pottery and start fresh each year with new plates and bowls for Passover (this tradition is frowned on in my household).

Following some preliminary passages, the “talk” of the seder focuses on a retelling of the story of the Exodus, the goal being to inculcate the importance of freedom in successive generations. Oddly, Moses is not found in the story at all – the rabbis who composed the Haggadah in ancient times worried that he might become overly venerated and replace the true hero, viz., God, so they deliberately suppressed his role.

The “feast” is a festive meal which begins with the eating of some symbolic foods including bitter herbs (to remind us of the bitterness of slavery) and matzah (unleavened bread) representing bread of affliction.  Many Jews eschew leavened products for the entire 8 days of Passover. Bread can serve as a reminder of ways in which we are puffed up with pride. Passover is thus an opportunity to examine ourselves and make changes and improvements in how we live.

This year, the Los Alamos Jewish Center will hold a 2nd night seder beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 13. Reservations and pre-payment are required by Wednesday, April 9, and the details for this event, and, indeed, for all Los Alamos Jewish Center events, can be found under upcoming events at the LAJC website, www.lajc.org.

The Los Alamos Jewish Center is our community’s resource for Jewish worship, education, and life cycle events. LAJC is at 2400 Canyon Road, just down the street from PEEC Nature Center. For more information about the Los Alamos Jewish Center, go to www.lajc.org, call 505.662.2140 or email losalamosjewishcenter@lajc.org.