Pesach – Why, How and What!
by Arliene Botnick, March 31, 2025
Perhaps the most ‘invasive’, ‘demanding’, intrusive of our holidays, Pesach is almost here, and I love it!
It doesn’t just start on 15 of Nissan. It necessitates a huge amount of preparation. We have to clean our homes thoroughly so that not even a crumb of chametz can be found – hence the cleaning every corner of our homes with a feather duster, a wooden spoon, and a candle. Many of us change all our regular dishes and kitchen items and use another set or sets of dishes, cutlery, pots and pans completely designated as Passover dishes. And then there is the shopping – buying only products completely free of yeast or leaven, usually marked with the words “Kosher for Passover”. And for one entire week (and 8 days for the more traditional) we live Passover, we celebrate Passover, we rejoice in Passover.
It’s always best, when a holiday, a “Yom Tov” is upon us, to know why we celebrate it. And we need to go right back to our source, the Torah, to find the answer. From Exodus 12:14 – 16,
“This day shall be to you one of remembrance: you shall celebrate it as a festival to Adonai throughout the ages; you shall celebrate it as an institution for all time. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread: on the very first day, you shall remove leaven from your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first to the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel”
And one further commandment from Exodus13:8
“And you shall explain to your child that day, “It is because of what Adonai did for me when I went free from Egypt.”
Thus we have a 7 day unleavened bread celebration, beginning with the seder , using the Hagaddah – the Telling – so the all our children know that it is’ We’ that were slaves, that it is ‘We’ who fled from Egypt” and that it is ‘We’ who were set free .
And it is important to help our children understand not only how we fled from Egypt, but how we got there.
– How does Joseph end up in Egypt?
– Why does his family (Jacob and sons) end up in Egypt as well?
– What happens when a new Pharoah ascends the throne?
– What compels Moses’ mother, Yachoved, to place him in a tevah (ark) and send him off on the Nile?
Don’t leave out the burning bush, the confrontations with the Pharoah, the Ten Plagues, the first Passover, the flight from Egypt, the crossing of the Reed Sea, the manna in the desert and our standing at Sinai to receive the commandments.
What an amazing story on so many levels, and that is the backdrop to our wonderful 7 – day holiday.
I have so many memories of my Passovers as a child. My mother would spend hours getting out and cleaning the once-a-year Passover dishes and utensils. There would be the special white, starched tablecloth for the seders, and the ‘enticing’ aroma of gefilte fish boiling in the pot, and of course the much – awaited afikomen prizes, opening the door for Elijah the prophet, and the mysterious diminishing of the volume of wine in Elijah’s cup! And today, my family is creating new memories – creating our own family hagaddah , singing Passover songs to tunes like ‘supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’, having a myriad of grandchildren and their partners search the house to find the afikomen and receive their prize (usually a Timmie card). For 7 intense days, I celebrate, we celebrate being Jewish. What a great holiday! Enjoy……
Filed under: Educator's Message
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