Passover — Pesach — begins Saturday night, with the festive Seder meal… Heartfelt wishes from JHE for a meaningful Pesach (with Seders full of delicious food, crunchy matzo, and lively stories and conversation).
Freedom — and the striving for freedom — is the theme of the holiday.
We wish you freedom — freedom of thought, freedom of ideas, freedom of spirit, freedom of fellowship, freedom from want, freedom from fear…. the hostages in Gaza still waiting for their freedom will surely be in our thoughts… as will the continuing fight for freedom ongoing in Ukraine …
With its matzo and its symbolic foods arranged on a special plate, the Seder meal is guided by the Haggadah, whose wealth of ancient texts and songs retell the story of the Biblical Exodus from Egypt.
Here below is our little video (which we also posted on our Instagram and YouTube channels…) of a Passover installation at the Jewish museum in the complex of the synagogue in the small Tuscan town of Pitigliano, Italy — long known as the “Little Jerusalem.”
It includes modern seder plates and several haggadot.
Seder plates are often beautifully elaborate, and there are many Haggadot to choose from, many of them beautifully illustrated — at our Seder table we often use a variety to emphasize the choice.
Eating matzo — unleavened bread — is at the heart of Passover observance.
Some historic synagogues preserve the special ovens (or machinery) used in the baking of matzo.
