Passover

Starting with the 2nd day of Passover, the counting of the Omer begins, which is a count of 49 days until Shavu'ot.

Other than that, the only thing that happens is that the Passover dietary restrictions are lifted.

The Seder starts with a cup of wine. Then a small piece of legume (parsley, potatoes or radish, usually) dipped in saltwater Then another cup of wine Then the Matzo Then the bitter herbs - usually raw horseradish or lettuce dipped in Charoset. Then the Hillel-sandwich - Matzo and bitter herbs Then the meal. The meal is often started by eating the egg from the Seder plate. No roasted food may be served at the Seder meal. The meal may consist of many courses - usually at least one of them with meat. All food must be kosher for Passover. For dessert the Afikomen is served - another piece of Matzo. Then 2 more cups of wine. In between each of the 4 cups of wine various parts of the Hagada-of-Pesach are recited along with singing and discussions of the Exodus. Sweets, nuts and candies are often distributed to the kids during the recital to pique their interest and get them to ask questions.

on passover, actually, it was the last strike that God did on the Egyptions; the one when all Egypt's male firstborns died. at that night of the strike, the Jewish people were eating the passover secrifice. so at that night, God passed over the Jews houses and kill only the Egyption male firstborns.

Passover is a holiday in which the Jews commemorate their freedom from slavery in the land of Egypt. It is important because the Jewish people are commanded to remember that they were once slaves, and to work for the freedom of all people.

Shevuos is about six weeks after Passover. If Lag BaOmer counts, then about two weeks after Passover is Lag BaOmer.

Yes. Passover celebrates the liberation of the Jews from Egypt. It has become a celebration of freedom, and a time for praying for the freedom of all people everywhere.

Passover is celebrated as a memorial of the Hebrews liberty from Egyptian slavery. It reminds every Hebrew of the day when the Angel of the Lord killed every first born of all the Egyptians starting from Pharaoh to the first born of the beast that lived in the land of Egypt. The Angel of God spared the first born of the Hebrews when He saw the sign of the blood on the lintel and on the two side posts of their homes; the Angel passed over their homes that had the sign of the blood and did not smite the Hebrews' first born. This was the very day when Jesus Christ was crucified as He is the symbol of the first born whom God was pleased to offer Him as a ransom for forgiveness of sin for all mankind not for the Jews alone. Easter is celebrated on Sunday that follows the Hebrews Passover which is the day in which Christ resurrected from the the dead.

The red wine at the seder symbolises HaShem's four statements of redemption in the Torah:

1. "I took you out"

2. "I rescued you"

3. "I liberated you"

4. "I took you to Me for a people"

The wine represents redemption while the colour of the red wine reminds us of the blood of the children killed for the Pharaoh.

Please see the related link for an explanation of the symbolism behind all the foods eaten at the seder.

The first plague was that God told Moses to raise his staff and bang it on the ground near the Nile. This turned all the water in the Nile to blood.

Jews do not eat leavened bread, pastries, cookies, crackers etc.

Passover must always fall out in the Spring. It is sometimes known as "the spring festival" or "Chag HaAviv"

For the Jews the Passover was a time to remember when God delivered their ancestors from Egypt. The Israelites were told to sacrifice a lamb and paint the lamb's blood on the door posts of their houses, they were saved from God's judgment on the people of Egypt by the blood of the lamb.

Jesus ate the Passover meal with his disciples to remember this time when the children of Israel were saved from God's judgment.

This is important to Christians because Jesus came and died as the "lamb of God" a sacrifice to save people from God's judgment on sin and all who believe will not face God's judgment.

Yes, they must be certified kosher for Passover though.

According to the chronology of the Bible, the first passover occurred around 1441 BC. This is computed through reference to:

1And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.

The date of Solomon's Temple has been fixed by archaeology at 961 BC and simple maths, in adding 480 years to that arrives at the 1441 BC date for the Exodus and of course, the Passover which immediately preceded it. It must be remembered that the Israelites, for all their faults, were careful and accurate historians, and were careful about accurate transmission of data. Further evidences which support the 1441 passover and Exodus are these: 1. Egypt, having gone through a period of great expansion, and military success and building works under Thutmose III went through a period of decline immediately after the Exodus. The Exodus having occurred during the reign of Amenhotep II c. 1450-1425 BC. This would correlate well, both with the plagues, the death of the firstborn and the loss of an army, as well as the loss of a major population of slaves. 2. The El-Amarna letters in which help is sought repeatedly from Egypt against invaders known as the Habiru, would seem to indicate the Israelite invaders. Repeated requests with no indication of a reply or of any assistance, would also tend to support the Biblical narrative.

3. Known Egyptian military campaigns in this period into Canaan, avoided the area known to have been taken by the Israelites.

4. Pottery remains at Kadesh -Barnea, where the Israelites spent a large part to their 40 years in the desert, date from the relevant period.

5. The conquest of Jericho also fits well the Biblical date for an Exodus in 1441 BC.

These five are some of the most significant supportive facts which suggest a likely 1441 BC date for the first Passover. No one can say for sure. It was supposed to have taken place just before the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt. The problem is that no obvious archaeological evidence has yet been found for this. Some say this was during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II who ruled from 1279 BC to 1213 BC. This would put the first Passover somewhere in that time period.

A more controversial claim is that Moses was actually the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III (note the similarity of the name Moses and Thutmose) whose reign was 1479 to 1425 BC. If this theory is the case the Exodus never actually happened and the Passover ritual is a remnant of older Egyptian and Mesopotamian rites. So, the first Passover may have occurred centuries later, when the Passover tradition entered Jewish legend.

At the Seder meal we retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt.

During the festival of the passover all the Jews came to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast, and it was very crowded indeed.

Yes you can eat sugar. You cannot eat anything that contains any of the forbidden grains or derivatives of these grains. Most Jewish people look for food labeled "kosher for Passover" so that they are sure that a forbidden food hasn't gotten in there somehow.

The second plague to hit Egypt was Frogs. The Hebrew word is Tz'fardaya.

Passover has always been celebrated in the Spring - there is a Biblical commendment to have the Passover feast in the springtime. It usually falls sometime in April, but is sometimes in late March as well.