Passover is celebrated with great splendor and grandeur across the globe by the entire Jewish community. Marked on the 15th of the first Hebrew month of Nisan, the festival is celebrated across seven or eight days. It commemorates the freedom of the enslaved Israelites from the cruel Egyptians. Hence, the Passover festival, also known as Pesah or Pesach, is regarded as one of the most important occasions in the Jewish calendar. The Spanish also celebrate Passover with the same interest and enthusiasm as marked by the rest of the Jews worldwide. Jews coming from either Spain or the Arab world are known as Sephardim. Follow the lines below to know more about Spanish celebrations and traditions of Passover.
Passover Celebrations In Spain
The word ‘sephardi’ is derived from the Hebrew word ‘Sefarad’ which means Spain. Hence, all Jews belonging to the Sephardic race can trace their roots to the Jews of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, turkey, Morocco and other parts of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The Spanish Jews first prepared Pan de Semita, or semitic bread, on Passover which is now adopted by Mexicans and Mexican Americans along the Texas border as well. Pan de Samita is unleavened bread made from flour, water and olive oil. This same bread is prepared in the deep south of Italy, Calabria, known as ‘pane azimo’.
The Spanish people dress themselves in white clothes for the Seder though the leader wears a white caftan or robe. The Seder table is decorated with the traditional Passover elements, such as karpas (spring vegetable) like celery or parsley dipped in vinegar, and maror (bitter herbs) are usually romaine, chicory, or a tart green like arugula. Haroset, a fruit-nut paste is made from exotic pantries of the Mediterranean, such as dates, apricots, oranges, pistachios, pine nuts and coconuts. Another special dish that is included in the Seder meal is huevos haminados, that is, eggs slow-roasted in onion skins till they turn creamy, pale brown and faintly oniony.
The main course talks of roast lamb, minas, baked dishes of matzoh, meat and vegetables. For the desserts, the matzoh meal is replaced with ground almonds or walnuts in Spain. They are flavored with orange depicting the scent of Spain. Every person at the table is handed over a spring onion. While singing the Dayenu, every person picks up the onion and whips the wrist of the person sitting next to him/her. The sound of the onion stems so generated represents the sounds of the whips that the Israeli slaves had gone through. A person from the gathering is selected as a ‘Pharaoh’ who wears a crown and moves from person to person witnessing the whipping of the onions.
