Passover celebrates the events of jews in Egypt in the time of Moses. The
Passover Seder (seder means "order") has an order of events.
Kaddesh (קדש) bless the 1st cup of wine.
Urchatz (ורחץ) wash hands.
Karpas (כרפס) appetizer.
Yachatz (יחץ) breaking of the middle matzah.
Maggid (מגיד) relating the Exodus.
Rochtzah (רחצה) ritual washing of hands.
Motzi Matzah (מוציא מצה) blessings over the Matzah
Maror (מרור) bless bitter herbs
Korech (כורך) eat matzah bitter herb sandwich
Shulchan Orech (שלחן עורך) eat festival meal
Tzafun (צפון) eating of the afikoman
Barech (ברך) after meal 3rd, 4th cup of wine (5th?)
Hallel (הלל) songs of praise.
Nirtzah (נרצה) final prayer "L'shanah haba'ah b'Yerushalayim hab'nuyah! – Next year in the rebuilt Jerusalem!"
The story of Exodus includes the Ten Plagues:
- Dam (blood) – All the water was changed to blood
- Tz'fardea (frogs) – An infestation of frogs sprang up in Egypt
- Kinim (lice) – The Egyptians were afflicted by lice
- Arov (wild animals) – An infestation of wild animals (some say flies) sprang up in Egypt
- Dever (pestilence) – A plague killed off the Egyptian livestock
- Sh'chin (boils) – An epidemic of boils afflicted the Egyptians
- Barad (hail) – Hail rained from the sky
- Arbeh (locusts) – Locusts swarmed over Egypt
- Ḥoshech (darkness) – Egypt was covered in darkness
- Makkat Bechorot (killing of the first-born) – All the first-born sons of the Egyptians were slain by God
Traditional passover foods include:
Matzah bread and cups of wine.
Matzah can be dry, so maybe add some preserves
An old-fashioned preserve is Eingemacht
I'm not Jewish, so will find something else to do. I've decided to read a book on the topic of Passover by Italian-Israeli academic
Ariel Toaff.
Wikipedia says:
The book analyses a notorious medieval trial regarding the ritual murder of a child by Jews for the purposes of Passover. Because the book lent credence to one of the ritual murders, it sparked intense controversy including calls for him to resign from or be fired from his professorship; the questioning of his research, historical method(s), and motives as they relate to his writing of the book; threats to his life; and demands that he be prosecuted.
It is about Saint Simon of Trent (1472–1475), a young boy from the city of Trent (now Trento in northern Italy), whose disappearance and death were attributed to the city's Jewish community.
Kind of a dark topic. Maybe a Ghibli AI version of “The Martyrdom of St. Simon of Trento for Jewish ritual murde.” by Giovanni Gasparro will lighten the mood.
Give this post a sticker (any kind of sticker) to recognize Passover, like Trump did.
