Passover
Passover begins on the fifteenth day of the Jewish month, Nissan. It is seven or eight days long. Passover celebrates the Israelites' departure from ancient Egypt.
The Seder
The Seder is done on the night before the first day of Passover, after sundown. The Seder is a special ceremony where the story of their ancestors' liberation is told. Family members read from the Haggadah, the story book of passover, and traditional holiday songs are sung. Five foods symbolic of Passover sit on the table in a traditional Seder plate. There is one food in each section. A spring vegetable dipped in saltwater represents the ancestors' tears and sweat. Maror is usually lettuce or horseradish and it represents the bitter oppression of the pharaohs' opression. Charoset is a mixture of nuts, apples, honey, and wine. It represents the mortar the Isrealites were forced to use to build cities. The Passover sacrifice is represented by a roasted shank bone. A roasted egg symbolizes renewal and rebirth.
After the Seder
The Seder is followed by a Passover meal. The meal may vary, but no bread made with yeast is eaten. Instead of bread with yeast, matzah is eaten. Matzah is a thin, unleavened bread made without yeast. It is much like a a cracker. Unleavened bread is eaten for symbolic reasons. It represents that the Jews fled Egypt so quickly that their bread didn't have time to rise. Some other things the passover meal may include are salmon, beef brisket, and chicken. Some Jews even stop eating foods containing corn, rice, legumes, and grains during Passover.