I’ll tell you a little secret that will perhaps surprise you:I find Passover exhausting. There is so much preparation! My husband and I re-kosher our kitchen,clean it of all leavened products,and there is lots of cooking,cleaning,hosting,and time at synagogue.
Passover celebrates the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt that took place more than 3000 years ago. As the Jewish people fled slavery in Egypt,they did not have time to properly bake their bread,so they ate unleavened bread. To commemorate Passover,Jewish people spend eight days eating matzah (unleavened bread) and remember the slavery and oppression of the Jewish people in Egypt.
A family gathers around a seder table during Passover.iStock/ Jodi Jacobson
Out of all the Jewish festivals (and there are many!),Passover is the one that is most celebrated by Jewish people around the world. Kosher grocery stores do their best trade in the lead-up to the holiday,as thousands of extra people,many of whom do not usually keep kosher,come to buy products that their families will use over the festival.
On the first two nights of Passover,most families will host a seder,a ceremonial meal that involves storytelling,songs and symbolic foods. With four cups of wine,three matzahs,a 15-step ritual including the maror (bitter herbs) and opportunities for children to ask questions through theMa Nishtana,Passover is a full – and long – family affair.
The weeks before Passover are a buzz of frenetic energy,as I plan all the shopping,cooking,guest lists,cleaning and hosting schedules. Because Passover requires so much preparation,I dread it a little.
Preparing matzah balls and chicken soup,a Passover classic.iStock/ chameleonseye
But when the table is set and the food is cooked,I’m always ready to enjoy the festival that celebrates the birth of the Jews as a nation. I mean,there is a certain joy to celebrating nationhood,3500 years on. A few years ago,I did a DNA test and found out that my family history is 99.9 per cent Ashkenazi Jews. We’ve always been Jewish. And I love that my children will be the next ones in our long chain of tradition.
So,despite the exhaustion of all the preparation,I remind myself of the joy I find in sitting down as a family,observing our Jewish traditions. When we sit together and recall the Exodus,it’s our way of saying:We are here. We exist. And we are remembering our history.
Nomi Kaltmann is an Orthodox rabbi.
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