One of Lily Rabinoff-Goldman’s favorite memories of Passover occurred while the world was shuttered.
In April 2020, a month after the COVID-19 lockdown, Rabinoff-Goldman said she could only celebrate Passover with just a couple members of her family.
“We had been so isolated and it was such a scary time and we were able to pod-up with my parents and my sister to celebrate Passover with them. And that was just a year where being able to be together took on such a new meaning,” Rabinoff-Goldman, the CEO of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Boston, told MassLive.
It wasn’t the big celebratory feast she usually had with her aunts, uncles and cousins, she said. At that time, the small dinner was just enough for her.
“It was a really beautiful and important time for us to be together,” she said.
Passover, or “Pesach” in Hebrew, is the Jewish holiday commemorating the Israelites’ liberation from slavery in ancient Egypt, as documented in Exodus.
The holiday lasts eight days – seven if you live in Israel – and falls on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan through the 22nd, according to Chabad.org.
This year, the holiday will be celebrated from the evening of April 22 to the evening of April 30.
Usually, on the first two nights of Passover, family and friends gather for the Seder.
The Seder, which is the Hebrew word for “order,” is a festive religious meal, according to Chabad.org. At this religious feast, the Haggadah – a religious text – is recited to retell the story of the Jewish people’s exodus from Egypt.
For Rabinoff-Goldman, who said she comes from a family that is “very observant,” she will be celebrating Seder on the first and last two days of the holiday.
“It’s really a very, very special time on the Jewish calendar,” Steven Schimmel, the executive director of the Jewish Federation of Central Massachusetts told MassLive. “I think some people would say it’s the most special time. It’s a holiday universally observed and celebrated by Jews, whether they’re very religious or not religious. They will almost undoubtedly be going to a Passover Seder.”
The Seder usually begins with the family’s youngest child asking four traditional questions that help explain the story of Passover, according to Chabad.com.
“On all nights we need not dip even once, on this night we do so twice?”
“On all nights we eat chametz or matzah, and on this night only matzah?”
“On all nights we eat any kind of vegetables, and on this night maror?”
“On all nights we eat sitting upright or reclining, and on this night we all recline?”
Just as every ritual evolves year-to-year, so do the answers and meaning behind each question, Rabinoff-Goldman said.
To her, the questions are, “a way of inviting everyone into the ongoing conversation of what Jewish peoplehood and freedom and our tradition in tasks, every year afresh.”
Also during the dinner, six symbolic meals that signify the Israelites’ liberation are prepared during Seder, Schimmel said.
- Matzah is an unleavened bread that represents the bread that the Israelites would have made in haste as they were running away from Pharaoh’s army in the story of Exodus.
- Shank bone, a roasted meat, represents the Paschal offering on the eve of the Exodus of Egypt.
- An egg, which represents the rebirth of spring.
- Bitter herbs represent the bitterness of slavery (many people use horseradish, according to Schimmel).
- Charoset is a sweet, dark-colored paste made of apples, pears, nuts and wine. The paste represents the mortar and brick used to build the pharaoh’s cities in ancient Egypt when the Jewish people were enslaved.
- Vegetables represent the backbreaking work of slavery. The vegetables are dipped in salt water which represents the tears of the enslaved.
“A lot of this has to do with being enslaved and having the redemption of gaining freedom because that is what the story of Exodus is about,” Schimmel said.
During a Seder, certain foods made with leavened bread and grain are avoided as it represents having an ego, Schimmel added.
Some Jews go to the extent of clearing their whole house of any leavened bread products before Passover.
“So eating the leavened bread symbolically would be like pulling you away from remembering that we were slaves in Egypt,” he said. “The rising of the bread is supposed to represent much more of a proud ego and we’re not supposed to think like that during this holiday.”
Instead, the observers of the Jewish holiday usually eat matzah, a popular unleavened flatbread. The matzah represents the bread the Israelites took with them while they fled Egypt.
During Seder, Jewish observers also sit in a reclined manner which represents their freedom.
“In ancient times, If you were a slave, you couldn’t sit in a reclined manner, but on this night we’re no longer slaves, but we’re remembering that. So we sit reclined that’s part of the Passover,” he said.
The following days after Seder, are meant for Jews to spend time with their families, continuing to observe the holiday, Schimmel said.
“And continuing to eat matzah. We eat matzah throughout the holiday with all our meals,” he continued.
Where in Massachusetts is Passover being celebrated?
In Massachusetts, several organizations are hosting Passover celebrations.
The Temple Israel of Boston hosts several events dedicated to the Passover holiday. Some of the events include a Matzah Brei Cook-Off and a Passover Seder for families with young children, according to its website.
The Torah Center in Worcester will be hosting its community Passover Seder on April 22, according to the organization’s Facebook page.
“From the bitter Herbs to the traditional Hand-Made Shmurah Matzah, Passover Wines, Buffet Holiday Dinner, and children’s program, we’ve got you covered! We look forward to sharing this special and inspiring Passover Seder with you,” the Torah Center wrote on its Facebook page.
The Sinai Temple in Springfield will be holding a Passover service that will include Yizko – a Jewish memorial service – followed by a luncheon on April 29, according to the temple’s website.