During the Passover Seder meal, certain 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. Special 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.
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.
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.
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Passover is a holiday which celebrates God having brought the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery. Outside the State of Israel, the holiday lasts for eight days, with two Seders (a special dinner and service) on the first two nights. In Israel, there is one Seder night and Passover is seven days.
During this holiday the food is very symbolic and represents the different aspects of the story.
Seder Plate:
Horseradish & Romaine Lettuce: bitterness of serving as slaves in Egypt
Charoset: the mortar used to construct buildings
Parsley Dipped into salt water: the tears of the slaves
Roasted Lamb Bone: the sacrifice and blood of the lamb put on the doors to alert the Angel of Death to pass over their homes
Egg: the circle of life and spring
There are also other restrictions that include not eating leavened wheat, spelt, barely, oats, rye, and regular flour in the form of leavened bread, cakes, pasta, etc. (hence we eat the unleavened matzah). There is also an additional restriction for Ashkenazi Jews; they customarily do not eat rice, corn, soy beans, string beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, mustard, sesame, and poppy seeds.
Some common foods eaten (mostly using matzah) are matzah brei, kugel, Gefilte fish, matzah ball soup.
Nothing. The Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur as known by Jews, is a fast day. It is the most serious fast day in the Jewish calendar.
the jews eat onions
Lamb can be kosher for Passover. However, Ashkenazi Jews traditionally do not eat lamb during Passover.
Some kosher restaurants are open for Passover.
There is the fast of the firstborn where firstborn males are supposed to fast the day of the eve of Passover. Once Passover starts, there is no fasting.
Rice (regardless of type) is classified as 'kitniyot'. This means that Ashkenazi Jews will not eat it during Passover but some Sephardi and Mizrachi groups will.
yes, they can. but no bread :(
Matzo, which is unleavened bread.
Jews eat the Passover meal to commemorate what happen to them a long time ago. In the Bible, it explains that the Jews were taken out of Egypt, in a hurry. Their bread did not have a chance to leaven, and so they ate what they call "matzoh" Now Jews have a meal with "matzoh" in it, to commemorate it.
The Jews eat the Passover Seder meal on the night of Passover (Pesach). It makes little difference whether Passover begins on Shabbat or on a weekday. Note that there are festive meals on every Shabbat, but they are not called "seder" and the foods are different.
Some of them do, and it's not always their fault.
Gefilte fish is eaten on Sabbath and Festivals throughout the year. It has no specific relevance to Passover.
As legumes, peanuts belong to a subcategory called 'kitniyot'. As such, they can be kosher for Passover, however, Ashkenazi Jews will not eat them.