Happy Passover Grand Rapids

The eight-day celebration of the Jewish holiday of Passover starts at sundown today throughout the world. The first two nights of the holiday are observed with a traditional meal called a seder [[ SAY-dur ]]. The holiday commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. In the story of Exodus, the Bible explains that God helped the Children of Israel escape slavery in Egypt by inflicting ten plagues on Egyptians to pressure the Pharaoh to release the slaves. The tenth and worst of the plagues was the slaying of the first-born. Israelites were told to mark the front doors of their homes with lamb's blood. Upon seeing the markings, God "passed over" those homes.

When Pharaoh released the slaves from bondage, it is written they left so quickly they couldn't wait for bread to rise. In commemoration of that, for the duration of the holiday, no leavened bread is consumed and Matzoh is served.