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Passover (Pesach) - The Feast of Freedom

Pesach is a transliteration of the Hebrew word for Passover. It is the term that we and most of our friends use when talking about this important Spring holiday. We will try to be consistent in our use of Pesach, but be aware that the words are interchangeable.

We probably spend more time thinking about and preparing for Pesach than any other holiday in the Jewish year. There are a number of reasons for this, but we chose two to expound upon:

• Everything is different. It's not until Pesach rolls around each year that we realize how much of our life revolves around preparing, eating, and cleaning up after food. We empty our cabinets, pantry, and refrigerator and re-stock them with Pesach dishes and supplies. Every time we get a glass of water or a piece of fruit, we are reminded that it is Pesach.
• Pesach commemorates the events that made us a people. We spend two evenings each year talking about how we were slaves in Egypt and how G-d delivered us. Each of us, in every generation, is commanded to feel as if he or she personally was delivered from slavery and brought to freedom. Two nights are not enough, so we study beforehand to prepare ourselves for discussion, and the thoughts we digest afterwards often carry us well beyond the end of Pesach.

Pesach therefore requires both physical preparation and spiritual or intellectual preparation. We clean our house from one end to the other, top to bottom, more thoroughly than at any other time of the year. We study the Haggadah so that when that first seder begins, we can add our thoughts to the discussion. We plan our meals carefully, and begin shopping. We try to learn some new tunes each year and make sure that everyone is familiar with them so that we can sing together during our seder.

This is what we're working on as we develop our page for Pesach:

• A glossary of Pesach terms -- Includes most of the words that show up in italics on this page.
• Being vegetarian on Pesach - What to eat when you don't eat meat and can't have rice or legumes.
• The Pesach Birthday - Two of us have April birthdays, and one or the other almost always falls during Pesach. What do you do to celebrate when you can't have cake? Includes a couple of cake recipes.
• Physical preparation for Pesach - cleaning and menu plans
• Spiritual/intellectual preparation for Pesach -- Songs, haggadot, and assigning parts
• Chametz - That stuff we're trying to get rid of.

Pesach Links

We used to maintain a select group of links to other Passover/Pesach web sites. They haven't been checked in so long that I decided to take them out for the time being. I will collect a few and post them here before Passover 2010. In the meantime, I will leave the headers up so you have an idea where this is likely to go.

Mainly for Kids

Pesach Cleaning and Food - Physical Preparation

The Haggadah and Beyond - Spiritual Preparation

Collections of Pesach Resources