Passover Begins at Sundown Monday

The Jewish holiday of Passover, a celebration of the time the Israelites left Egypt more than 3,000 years ago, begins at sundown Monday and extends eight days. During Passover, Jews celebrate their transition from slavery in Egypt to freedom.

The focal point is a communal meal, called the Seder, which means order, because of the fixed order of service. It is a time for rejoicing and celebration for their deliverance during the exodus.

Where to celebrate:

• The Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto are celebrating by bringing people together, particularly singles: Passover Seder Singles Potluck on Tuesday, March 26 at 7 p.m.
• The Chabad of the Mid-Peninsula is also hosting a Passover Seder. Call 650-232-0995 or email info@jewishredwoodcity.com for more information.
• The Congregation Adath Israel in San Francisco is hosting a Community Passover Seder with Rabbi Alex Shandrovsky on Monday at 6:45 p.m.

Passover’s first night seder features special foods that complement a retelling of the story of their ancestors' slavery and release from Egypt, in a sequence of 15 steps.

The traditional seder plate contains a roasted bone as a Passover offering; bitter herbs such as lettuce, endive and horseradish; a hard-boiled egg that is the festival offering; grated horseradish and romaine lettuce; a sweet paste of apples, pears, nuts and wine called charoset, which symbolizes the mortar Jews used in Egypt; some root vegetable, such as an onion or boiled potato; wine; and a dish of salt water, which represents the tears of slavery as well as the waters of the Red Sea, which parted to let the Jews escape Egypt.

There’s also unleavened bread called matzah, which they didn’t have time bake because they had to leave Egypt so quickly after the Angel of Death killed the Egyptians’ first born, the last of 10 plagues God sent to punish the Pharaoh and Egyptians.

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