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Holiday Planning | Passover

Passover is the most universally observed holiday of the Jewish calendar, and is a celebration of the ancient redemption from slavery in Egypt. It's an eight-day festival filled with food and wine, and includes a ceremonial Seder dinner during the first two evenings.

Passover Traditions

The rules surrounding Passover allow only certain ingredients to be consumed, and all food and wine must be certified Kosher for Passover, meaning they contain no leavened food or grains.

Passover begins by cleaning the house and making sure all leavened foods are removed from the home. The highlight of holiday is the Seder, which is a ritual banquet conducted on both the first and second evenings of Passover. The primary feature of the Seder is the reading of the Haggadah, which tells the story of the Exodus from Egypt.

The Seder Plate is an important part of the ceremony, and includes special items that are significant to the story in the Haggadah. Wine is also an important part of the Seder ceremony because each participant consumes four glasses of wine during the meal, and a fifth cup of wine is placed on the table for Elijah.

Your Passover checklist should include the following items:

  • Seder Plate
  • Baytzah (roasted egg)
  • Zeroa (shankbone)
  • Maror (horseradish or endive)
  • Charoset (mixture of apples, nuts and wine)
  • Karpas (lettuce, parsley or celery)
  • Matzos and Matzo Cover
  • Haggadah
  • Manischewitz Wine
  • Kiddush Cup
  • Elijah's Cup
  • Bowl of salt water and towels
  • Pillows
  • Candles
  • holiday-passover