The eight-day holiday of Passover begins this year with First Night Seder on Saturday, April 12 and continues through sundown on April 20. Many people observe the holiday by including favorite family recipes and traditions into their Seders. Others introduce current events or historical significance to embellish the evening.
For generations young and old, Passover offers an opportunity to revisit Jewish history, build a Hillel sandwich, and create memories with those around the Seder table.
Here, nine locals share what they enjoy most about Passover.
Rachel Crum
A memorable year
I remember this year vividly as the kosher butcher forgot to make my Passover delivery and we had no turkey. Thank goodness I was well stocked with chicken breasts, and we were able to get by with individual foil wrapped chicken with mint and parsley gremolata.
Robert was studying for his bar mitzvah that year and sang the entire hallel flawlessly. Collin sang a perfect kiddush. My breast swelled with pride as I saw my sons help take the lead at the Seder next to my father!
Every Passover, my father finds a new Jewish historical fact to discuss, breaking the monotony and emphasizing the important message of Passover and revolution. That year, my father chose to review ancient maps the Jews traveled during the exodus.
Levi Cohen
Time to act
I really love Passover because all my family comes together to celebrate a very fun holiday. At our Seder we have the tradition of acting out a Passover play. While the adults tell us the story of Passover, my cousins and I get to act out the parts.
Cantor Elihu Flax
Focus on freedom
My favorite part of Passover is the Seder, a time to warmly celebrate with family and friends our becoming a free people with a divine mission.
Ingeresa Friedman
Family Judaica and the festival meal
My favorite part of Passover is bringing our families together to carry on traditions in our home and sharing memories. Each family has a favorite Haggadah or a collection of them. Although I like to add commentary that relates to current times, I still have a fondness for my old stained and ragged Union Haggadahs (published in 1923) that my grandfather and father used to lead the Seder when I was a child – with its black and white decorative illustrations and my father’s handwritten notes in the margins.
When I set the table using my mother-in-law’s Seder plate, matzah cover, and kiddush cup, I am reminded of my in-laws and the wonderful, engaging family Seders shared at their house years ago. Our sons enjoy watching their father and uncles attempt to sing their favorite Passover songs in Hebrew and listen to them recount funny childhood stories from their grandfather’s Seders.
Of course, it makes me happy when my family tells me that their favorite part of Passover is the festive meal, which always features my holiday brisket (my mother-in-law’s recipe which I have mastered and claim as my own) and my homemade chicken matzah ball soup with light and fluffy matzah balls.
Mike Goretsky
Friends, food, and traditions
Like most Jewish holidays, Passover is meaningful to me because of the food and traditions that define it. The first night Seder, shared with friends and family, is always a special occasion. I have numerous fond memories of Seders throughout my life – first as a child and later as a parent watching my own children grow up and celebrate alongside me.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of Passover is experiencing it with different friends, with each gathering bringing new traditions. One especially memorable Passover was spent with friends who, coincidentally, were also vacationing in Disney World for spring break. Learning new tunes for Seder songs and discovering creative hiding spots for the afikomen are memories that will be shared in my family for decades.
As with all Jewish holidays, food is central to the celebration. I always look forward to my wife’s specialties – matzah brei, matzah balls and chicken soup, and matzah farfel stuffing. While eight days of matzah can become a bit much, I do love peanut butter and jelly on matzah for lunch, especially at the beginning of Passover.
Michael Salasky
Intimate, independent, and a feeling of responsibility
I like that Passover takes place in the intimate setting of our home at our dinner table surrounded by family. Since no ordained member of the clergy is personally present to lead or supervise us, and since we find ourselves away from the synagogue, it all comes down to “just us.” So that means there is a responsibility that falls on all of us, a certain self-sufficiency (that might also come in handy in other situations), and a degree of freedom to pick and choose how we want to present the story.
These are all great ingredients for a tradition that has continued for thousands of years. And not to mention – there’s also lots of food!
Jared Mercadante
Nostalgia with family and friends
My favorite part of Passover is the familiarity and nostalgia of the traditions, as well as the time spent with family and friends I don’t get to see too often.
Charlotte Zito
Family time – a favorite film, a creative seder plate, sharing the cooking
One of our favorite parts of Passover is our family tradition of watching the classic Charleton Heston film, The Ten Commandments, and quoting favorite lines. When Isaac and Louisa were little, we would put out toys to represent the plagues. We still have a plastic frog that does back flips! Louisa cuts out a paper bone to put on the Seder plate each year.
When Ari and I first got married, I bought Joan Nathan’s Jewish Holiday Kitchen cookbook and learned how to make matzo ball soup, a favorite for all of us. Ari’s favorite bite of the Passover meal is the Hillel sandwich. He normally makes the charoset. It’s one of our favorite family holidays!
Chloe Zuckerman
A family tradition: singing Chad Gadya
My favorite part of Passover is when the whole family gathers around the table to sing Chad Gadya. My Nana has collected art that my cousins and I have drawn over the years to represent a different part of the song. It is a favorite family Passover tradition of mine because each year, we all reprise the same role, even if we usually end up laughing because no one can remember their part – except for my uncle with his fabulous goat impression.
With Passover just around the corner, I can’t wait to see who remembers their part and bond with my family over our favorite Passover song.