The most important Passover tradition is the Passover feast known as
Seder. The removal of chametz or leavened food on the first nigh of the
holiday is known as 'Bedikat chametz'. Only Matzoh and other special
foods made from matzoh are allowed during this happy family holiday.
This is the occasion for the Jewish families to go through their origin
and history by reading the story of the Israelite exodus from Egypt as
told in the Book of Exodus, the Haggadah. The custom of Afikomen or the
dessert matzoh has slight variations to it.
In some families, a child 'steals' the afikomen and hide it for the
parents to find and earns a reward to return it if parents can't find it
while in others, parents hide the afikomen and the children look for it
at the end of the meal. The child, who finds it, gets the reward. The
Seder Plate is an important part of the Seder table containing 'Z'roa'
or the shank bone of the Paschal lamb, 'Beitzah' or the roasted egg,
'Karpas' or the green, leafy vegetable dipped in salt water, 'Charoset'
or a coarse-textured dish of chopped fruits, nuts, and wine and 'Maror'
or bitter herbs.
One of the most interesting Passover traditions is the story of the
Four Sons, who were Wise, Wicked, Simple and Young respectively. These
sons are symbolic of the four types of Jews and their attitude towards
their religion. The Wise son refer to the Jews who are observant, the
Wicked son represents the Jews who are not respectful to their heritage
and religion and reject them altogether, the Simple son is the one who
is indifferent to all the religious activities and do not even try to
understand them while the Young one represents the Jews who are ignorant
of their culture and traditions.
