What does the word Passover mean and why is it important to Jewish people?

Answer 1

Passover is where Moses rescued the Jews who had been enslaved by the Egyptian pharaoh. Jews find it important because that was the start of a new beginning for them and they had gained their freedom.

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Answer 2

Well, first, there's an issue with the grammar of the question, putting 'the' before Passover is incorrect, it's like saying "What is the Christmas".

That being said, Pesach (Passover), is the holiday during which Jews commemorate how HaShem (The Creator) brought our ancestors out from slavery in Egypt through Moshe (Moses).

Answer 3

Pesach (Passover) is important to us since in it we relive the Exodus from Egypt and our birth as a nation, both of which were preparations for receiving the Torah from God. It is called Passover because God passed over the Israelite homes as He struck the Egyptian firstborn (Exodus ch.12).
The highlight of Passover is the Seder meal. This meal is of great importance in Judaism. It is a 3325-year old continuoustradition that began on the night of the Exodus from Egypt (see Exodus chapter 12), and is fully detailed in our ancient Oral Traditions (Talmud, chapter Arvei Pesachim).
The Seder meal is one of those occasions, like Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, that Jews all over the world, Orthodox and non-Orthodox alike, observe in common. During the Seder, we keep the essential mitzva and customs of handing Jewish traditions down to the next generation, with the traditional Seder foods and the ceremony of reading the Passover Haggadah which retells the events of the Exodus.

During the Seder meal, other traditional foods are eaten in addition to the matzah: bitter herbs, parsley, wine and haroset (see below). Salt water, a roasted egg, and a bit of roasted meat are also on the table.
During all the days of Passover, matzah (unleavened bread) is eaten; while leavened foods such as bread, cake, cookies, cereal and pasta are forbidden. Certain prayers are added in the synagogue services, and the Torah is read each day.
Here is the symbolism of the items on the Seder plate:
The bitter herbs (maror) symbolize the harsh slavery which the Israelites suffered in Egypt. Horseradish and/or romaine lettuce are traditionally used for maror.
Charoset - A sweet mixture representing the mortar used by the Jewish slaves to build the storehouses of Egypt. In Ashkenazi Jewish homes, charoset is traditionally made from chopped nuts, grated apples, cinnamon, and sweet red wine.
Karpas - A vegetable other than bitter herbs, traditionally parsley, which is dipped into salt water at the beginning of the Seder. The dipping of a simple herb into salt water (which represents tears) recalls the pain felt by the Israelite slaves in Egypt.
Beitzah - A hard-boiled egg, symbolizing the korban chagigah (festival sacrifice) that was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem and roasted and eaten as part of the meal on Seder night. Although both the Pesach sacrifice and the chagigah were meat-offerings, the chagigah is commemorated by an egg, a symbol of mourning.
Z'roa - A roasted lamb or goat shank-bone, chicken wing, or chicken neck; symbolizing the korban Pesach (Pesach sacrifice), which was a lamb that was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem, then roasted and eaten as part of the meal on Seder night.

See also:

How is the Seder celebrated?

What is the importance of the Israelite Exodus?

Answer 4

Well, Jews are the only ones who celebrate Passover and it celebrates becoming free from slavery from the Egyptians.

Answer 5

Passover is a weeklong Jewish festival celebrating the events of the exodus from Egypt by the Children of Israel. This event marks (in a mythological sense, if not historical) the birth of the Jewish people as a distinct national group as opposed to being merely the extended family of descendants of the patriarch Jacob. Passover is celebrated by, in a sense, reliving the exodus by eating unleavened bread, remembering the story of the plagues, and the final plague of the death of the firstborn. Survival of that plague required the Passover sacrifice, which is remembered to this day (and in the days of the Temple, was repeated every year). Passover is also remembered as a harvest festival, when the spring barley harvest was completed, and more generally as a spring festival. To this day, Passover remains the most widely celebrated of the Jewish festivals. Many Jews who do nothing else Jewish remain attached to being Jewish because of an annual Passover seder (the festive meal that launches the weeklong festival).