Biur Hametz: Why the Preparation of a Mitzvah Is the Point
Passover can be a stressful holiday. Whether you are meticulously cleaning the house of hametz, crafting the best menu for seder, picking out a new
David Magazine Malamud
Passover can be a stressful holiday. Whether you are meticulously cleaning the house of hametz, crafting the best menu for seder, picking out a new
The haggadah reminds us that Jewish history is an ongoing cycle of oppression and freedom. “B’khol dor vador—in every generation one must see oneself as
If the Pesaḥ seder invites participants to relive the experience of being freed from Egypt, the seder plate (ke‘arah) offers a visual representation of the essential symbols
Every year, the Rabbinical Assembly publishes a Pesah Kashrut Guide to help us with the many steps for preparing for Passover. You can find 5786’s
One of the most powerful moments of Passover comes on the seventh day. That is when we read Shirat HaYam, the Song at the Sea
Spring is in the air and Nisan is here. Nisan is called Chodesh HaAviv, or the “month of spring.” As we enter this season, many
Tired of Gefilte Fish? Try these Sephardic Passover fish recipes as an alternative to the Ashkenazic custom of gefilte fish.
Growing up, Passover was about two things for me—the seder, and not being able to eat sandwiches on bread! I have such strong memories of
It’s always daunting to kasher your own kitchen for Passover. You’re trying to live your life and cook food, you’re preparing for the holiday, and
In the first part of our series on the insertions to pray for rain, take a look at inserting “Mashiv HaRuach” or “Ten Tal” into the Amidah.
This Passover, and beyond, may we have the blessing of adding a few more verses of Dayenu for the miracles in our lives, and our era, too.
Dayenu reminds us to appreciate the steps toward redemption, and we must continue taking small but meaningful steps too.
Pessah commémore l’exode d’Égypte, le voyage vers la rédemption, et nos chemins personnels vers la liberté.
Pésaj conmemora el éxodo de Egipto, el viaje hacia la redención y nuestros caminos personales en la búsqueda de la libertad.
Check out these Passover printable resources for this year! From preparation, to the seder, to even counting the Omer!
When Passover begins on Saturday night, the schedule of preparation shifts and there are additional adjustments made on Saturday night too.
If medicine is not food, why should there be any restrictions on taking it during Pesah? The question arises because although medicine is not food,
Juneteenth celebrates delayed liberation. What does a delayed celebration of liberation, Pesach Sheni, teach us about celebrating Juneteenth?
There is a powerful meaning in continuing traditions that I inherited directly from my family. Kitniyot is only a part of that story.
For many of us, freedom is choosing four cups of grape juice: Look at the four cups on Passover through the lens of addiction recovery.
This year, as we prepare the seder, we encourage an extra setting at your table—an empty chair for our family still in captivity in Gaza.
This essay advocates for Ashkenazi Jews to embrace kitniyot on Passover, to enhance dietary diversity and align with modern interpretations.
Hay servicios vespertinos y matutinos en Pesaj, como en todos los festivales, con algunos cambios litúrgicos.
Il y a des offices du soir et du matin à Pessah, comme pour toutes les fêtes, avec quelques changements liturgiques.
El Séder de Pesaj es, para muchos judíos, la fiesta ritual más importante del año.
Le seder de Pessah est pour de nombreux juifs, le repas rituel le plus important de l’année.
Toutes les règles habituelles de cacherout s’appliquent à Pessah, auxquelles s’ajoutent une exigence supplémentaire : l’interdiction de hamets dans une maison juive.
Todas las leyes normales de kashrut se aplican en Pesaj con un requisito adicional: la prohibición de jametz en un hogar judío.
La sustancia prohibida, jametz, se define como la mezcla del grano de cualquiera de las cinco especies de cereales (trigo, cebada, avena, espelta y centeno) que se ha mojado con agua y se ha dejado sin hornear durante más de dieciocho minutos.
Le hamets est toute nourriture faite à partir des 5 espèces de céréales (blé, orge, avoine, épeautre, seigle) humidifiées, et cuites après 18 minutes.
Ces trois concepts : liberté – rédemption – printemps interviennent ensemble dans les différents aspects de l’observance de Pessah.
Estos tres conceptos (libertad, redención y primavera) se combinan en diferentes aspectos de la observancia de Pesaj.
Look at reparations and the difficulty and bravery of asking, through the lens of slavery in Egypt, slavery in America, and the Holocaust.
Wrapping and dipping maror in charoset at Seder can be part of a family tradition. Explore this one to add more to your own Seder this year.
Welcome to the Exploring Judaism Four Questions Hotline, with Passover Cleaning Support! We are here to answer your questions.
There are so many secrets hidden away within Matzah that ask to be uncovered, offering us spiritual wisdom.
Every year at Passover, we must see ourselves as If we were there in Egypt and take on what that means for ourselves.
What does “b’khol dor vador—in every generation” mean in light of the events of October 7? How does this connect us to Passover?
Current events help us understand why Moses couldn’t enter the Promised Land and remind us the importance of innocent lives.
How can a show like “Succession” illuminate the Seder? Compare the Four Children of our haggadah with the four Roy children.
Learn about the Wicked Child of the Four Children by going back to our roots and looking at the meaning of the Hebrew word itself.
Hosting a living room Seder can allow us to experience a Seder closer to the way that the rabbis thought of it.
Dipping Karpas into salt water at the Passover Seder has a mysterious history that invites us to create new dipping and meaning opportunities!
On Passover, we are all Jews-by-Choice when we choose to remember what it is that brings us together for the holiday.
Use this guide to bring the magic of bedikat hametz to your children. It can be a fun ritual with your kids, of any age.
Reflecting on a “Pilgrimage to the South” on a Movement social justice trip as a Black Jew and how it has changed who I am.
Through the seder, we learn the importance of hospitality and inviting all who are hungry and in need, to come celebrate Pesach.
We use the Seder as a lived experience by reenacting the exodus, not just recounting it. Therefore, we can all connect to Passover.
How and why can you create a plant-based seder plate? We embrace change during Passover, especially in rethinking the seder plate.
Learn about fury and fermentation, the concept that our anger could be spiritual hametz during Pesach and all year-round.
Engaging kids of all ages in the Passover seder can feel daunting. Here are my top five tips for engaging everyone at the seder.
A conceptual reflection of Pesah and Kashrut can bring more meaning to how we follow the halakhah of food on Pesah.
Though the Conservative Movement has allowed eating kitniyot on Passover, many still do not. How can we incorporate kitniyot this year?
Answering key and specific questions about kashrut, kashering utensils, and food in the context of Passover.
We know that preparing for Passover can feel like a daunting task. With this handy checklist, you will be ready for Passover in no time!
Exploring Judaism’s 2024 (5784) Passover Reader, Not A Haggadah, includes essays to inspire a meaningful Passover.
We can learn about leadership from Moses, as well as from Charlton Heston speaking, as he plays Moses in the Ten Commandments movie.
The weird and wacky world of keeping Kosher for Passover is confusing and overwhelming, especially when you’re new to it. Start here!
This is the bread of affliction: Matzah adorns our Seder plates and nourishes our souls, as well—this food is fulfilling.
When our loved ones die, who remembers those they remembered? Here’s a way to remember all of those that came before us.
Let’s do more than remember our refugee origin story and include how climate change and disruption are leading to new refugees.
How my family created and passed down cultural traditions, and how the Conservative Teshuvah on Kitniyot impacts our life outside the academy.
This is why I think my family’s tradition of inviting a non-Jew each year to the Passover seder is important.
When is the earliest time that we can begin observing Jewish festivals, on first or second day of Yom Tov, in particular, the Passover seder?
It can be daunting to prepare for your first seder. We’ve put together a collection of great posts that will help you get started.
A series of special Shabbatot with special Torah readings precede Purim and Passover.
The most important thing to teach the next generation is how to make a seder, including what comes before the festival candles are even lit.
What do we do in synagogue on Passover? What Torah readings and haftarot do we read? We outline that for you here.
Though Pesach is thought of as the quintessential home-based holiday, the Torah is read on each of the mornings of Pesach in the synagogue.
What do we do in synagogue on Passover? What Torah readings and haftarot do we read? We outline that for you here.
Here are 10 tips on how to make Pesah meaningful and kosher (enough) even when the plague of COVID continues to threaten our celebrations.
We approach the Haggadah at a time of profound racial reckoning in our country. How might the four children help us relate to racial justice?
There is lots to do to get ready for Passover. We may ask, where am I going to have Seder? How long or short will
Mah Nishtanah: How is This Moment Different by Rabbi Rachel Ain is a reflection on her recent trip to Ukraine in 2022.
The Sunflower on Our Seder Table by Rabbi Ilana Garber on behalf of the people in Ukraine in 2022.
All Who Are Hungry: A Prayer for Action, A Prayer for Ukraine by Rabbi Mark Greenspan on behalf of the people in Ukraine in 2022.
The key to hosting a successful seder for everyone is to articulate a bold purpose in gathering and map the journey.
Dedication for the First Cup of Wine at the Passover Seder by Rabbi Martin S. Cohen on behalf of the people in Ukraine in 2022.
While anger and frustration can lead to stress and dissatisfaction, mindful approaches to our anger can move our lives out of complacency.
Spiritually preparing for Passover not an intellectual exercise. It’s a spiritual invitation to ask ourselves: am I willing to get free?
Hosting a Zoom seder is not just putting a webcam on your seder plate. These tips will ensure your guests won’t succumb to Zoom fatigue.
The Seder is a potpourri of powerful rituals, wise rabbinic aphorisms, and opportunities to elevate the mundanities of eating into holiness.
Combining lessons from the Mishnah and Human Resources, we realize that asking questions is the path to greater understanding.
In the early medieval period, it became customary for Ashkenazi Jews to not eat a category of foods called kitniyot. What are they?
We have the opportunity to help teens create long-lasting positive connections to the very traditions they are appropriately questioning.
With all of this physically taxing work, it can be easy to miss the spiritual preparation for this celebration of our collective redemption.
After all of the preparation, all that’s left to do is celebrate the holiday. How do you do that with your young children?
If this is your first-time hosting a Passover Seder, here are seven tips to make it a memorable and meaningful experience!
How is one with food allergies supposed to feel free when they can’t partake in the matzo balls, charoset, cake, or anything else?
We have the opportunity to help teens create long-lasting positive connections to the very traditions they are appropriately questioning.
Reflecting on the universal nature of the Exodus, as “eternally contemporary; it’s the story of too many peoples.”
Hametz, is defined as any food made of wheat, barley, oats, spelt, and rye—that has been made wet and left unbaked for more than 18 minutes.
Passover, commemorates the exodus from Egypt. On a spiritual level, the festival confronts us with the notion of redemption.
The Passover seder is the cumulative result of untold generations of Jews telling the same story, the Exodus from Egypt.
One is only permitted to cook on festivals to make food for the holiday itself, not for other days. There is an exception: eiruv tavshilin.
This is a simplified guide on how to kasher (make kosher) various items in your kitchen, especially for Passover.