{"id":33459,"date":"2016-04-22T13:35:14","date_gmt":"2016-04-22T11:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/benjaminkanarekblog.com\/?p=33459"},"modified":"2016-04-22T13:35:14","modified_gmt":"2016-04-22T11:35:14","slug":"happy-passover-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebkmag.com\/rebuild\/eclectic\/happy-passover-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Passover 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Happy<\/a>
Happy Passover 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To all of our Jewish friends around the world, here is wishing you a very Happy Passover 2016.<\/p>\n

\n
The eight-day festival of\u00a0Passover<\/span>\u00a0is celebrated in the early spring, from the 15th through the 22nd of the Hebrew month of\u00a0Nissan<\/span>. It commemorates the emancipation of the\u00a0Israelites<\/span>\u00a0from slavery in ancient Egypt. And, by following the rituals of Passover, we have the ability to relive and experience the true freedom that our ancestors gained.<\/div>\n
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The Story in a Nutshell<\/h2>\n

After many decades of slavery to the Egyptian pharaohs, during which time the Israelites were subjected to backbreaking labor and unbearable horrors,\u00a0G\u2011d<\/span>\u00a0saw the people\u2019s distress and sent\u00a0Moses<\/span>\u00a0to Pharaoh with a message: \u201cSend forth My people, so that they may serve Me.\u201d But despite numerous warnings, Pharaoh refused to heed G\u2011d\u2019s command. G\u2011d then sent upon Egypt ten devastating plagues, afflicting them and destroying everything from their livestock to their crops.<\/p>\n

At the stroke of midnight of 15 Nissan in the year 2448 from creation (1313 BCE), G\u2011d visited the last of the ten plagues on the Egyptians, killing all their firstborn. While doing so, G\u2011d spared the Children of\u00a0Israel<\/span>, \u201cpassing over\u201d their homes\u2014hence the name of the holiday. Pharaoh\u2019s resistance was broken, and he virtually chased his former slaves out of the land. The Israelites left in such a hurry, in fact, that the bread they baked as provisions for the way did not have time to rise. Six hundred thousand adult males, plus many more women and children, left Egypt on that day, and began the trek to Mount Sinai and their birth as G\u2011d\u2019s chosen people.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a>\u00a0for the full Passover story.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"Passover<\/a><\/p>\n

Passover Observances<\/h2>\n

Passover is divided into two parts:<\/p>\n

The first two days and last two days (the latter commemorating the\u00a0splitting of the Red Sea<\/a>) are full-fledged holidays. Holiday candles are lit at night, and\u00a0kiddush<\/span><\/i>\u00a0and sumptuous holiday meals are enjoyed on both nights and days. We don\u2019t go to work, drive, write or switch on or off electric devices. We are permitted to cook and to carry outdoors (click here<\/a>\u00a0for the details).<\/p>\n

The middle four days are called\u00a0chol hamoed<\/span><\/i>, semi-festive \u201cintermediate days,\u201d when most forms of work are permitted.<\/p>\n

\"Happy<\/a><\/p>\n

NO\u00a0CHAMETZ<\/span><\/p>\n

To commemorate the unleavened bread that the Israelites ate when they left Egypt, we don\u2019t eat\u2014or even retain in our possession\u2014any\u00a0chametz<\/i>from midday of the day before Passover until the conclusion of the holiday.\u00a0Chametz<\/i>\u00a0means leavened grain\u2014any food or drink that contains even a trace of wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt or their derivatives, and which wasn\u2019t guarded from leavening or fermentation. This includes bread, cake, cookies, cereal, pasta and most alcoholic beverages. Moreover, almost any processed food or drink can be assumed to be\u00a0chametz<\/i>\u00a0unless certified otherwise.<\/p>\n

Ridding our homes of\u00a0chametz<\/i>\u00a0is an intensive process. It involves a full-out spring-cleaning search-and-destroy mission during the weeks before Passover, and culminates with a ceremonial\u00a0search for\u00a0chametz<\/i><\/a>\u00a0on the night before Passover, and then a\u00a0burning of the\u00a0chametz<\/i><\/a>\u00a0ceremony on the morning before the holiday.\u00a0Chametz<\/i>\u00a0that cannot be disposed of can be\u00a0sold to a non-Jew<\/a>\u00a0for the duration of the holiday.<\/p>\n

For more on this topic, see\u00a0Operation Zero Chametz<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"Passover<\/a><\/p>\n

MATZAH<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of\u00a0chametz<\/i>, we eat matzah\u2014flat unleavened bread. It is a\u00a0mitzvah<\/span>to partake of matzah on the two\u00a0Seder<\/span>\u00a0nights (see below for more on this), and during the rest of the holiday it is optional.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a>\u00a0for more on matzah.<\/i><\/p>\n

THE SEDERS<\/p>\n

The highlight of Passover is the Seder, observed on each of the first two nights of the holiday. The Seder is a fifteen-step family-oriented tradition and ritual-packed feast.<\/p>\n

The focal points of the Seder are:<\/p>\n