Jews around the world celebrate the spring festival of Passover with huge fun and fervor. The holiday commemorates the exodus of Hebrews from the slavery of the ancient Egypt. Hence, this event is recounted with a special meal called Seder. Though the festival is observed for eight days outside Israel, Passover here lasts for seven days, each of which is spent in a spirit of celebration. Israel has been historically related with this festival as Jews fled from Egypt and entered Israel. Celebrations are big and vibrant, easily visible. Continue reading through the following lines to know more about Israeli celebrations and traditions of the Pesach holiday.
Passover Celebrations In Israel
Traditionally, Passover was one of the three Shalosh Rigalim or Pilgrim Festivals. It was mandatory for all Jews across Israel to travel to Jerusalem as part of the pilgrimage. Though it is not very prevalent today, various other traditions have developed now. The Passover holiday begins with vacations commencing for schools right from elementary to high school. This week is utilized by the family for traveling all across Israel and viewing its breath-taking and incredible geography. Many people even opt for visiting Eilat, the southernmost city in Israel) for a resort holiday.
The Jews restrain from eating bread for the entire Passover holiday. On the morning before the first Seder, family and friends unite to get rid of all chamtez by burning it. Watching the entire neighborhood gather and performing this special ‘mitzvah’ is a wonder to watch in Israel. Apart from removing all bread and products containing yeast, even stores keep away from selling bread or bread products during the entire week of Passover. Communities with a large non-Jewish population, such as Druze, Bedouins and Christians are exception to them as they are allowed to sell bread products.
The ‘mitzvot’ associated with Passover have two different interpretations: the Ashkenazi and the Sephardic. Each of them, over time, has developed its own set of Jewish rituals and customs for celebrating Passover. While the Sephardic Jews can eat ‘kitniyot’ (legumes), the Ashkenazi Jews do not. However, due to the melting pot society prevailing in Israel, most of the differences have merged and now, most of the families have different ways of observing the festival. To your surprise, you can notice that public transportation stops from the afternoon before the first Seder and on the night of Passover the streets get emptied.
