Before turning my attention to our Jewish festival of Passover, which will begin this year at sunset on Wednesday, April 1, I want to acknowledge the wonderful experience I recently had as a guest speaker at the motherhouse of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis. In conjunction with the Lenten season and in anticipation of Holy Week, the sisters are currently observing days of fasting, prayer and advocacy, and I was invited to speak about what role these played in Judaism. The sisters, almost all of them retired from service at HSHS St. John’s Hospital and from other hospitals administered by the Franciscans, were engaged and eager to learn about a faith tradition other than their own. I was deeply touched at the end of the evening when all of the sisters rose to bless me, lifted their arms, and chanted in unison the words of the Priestly Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26 – “The Lord bless and keep you”), words well-known to me from their use in Jewish worship.
Passover is a weeklong holiday that begins with the observance of the Seder, a home ritual that combines prayer, the re-telling of the story of the Israelites’ liberation from slavery and Exodus from Egypt, and a festive multi-course meal. The home Seder often involves extended family as well as friends and guests, who would otherwise not have a place to celebrate. Many congregations also provide communal Seders.
The Exodus, along with the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, is regarded as the formative event that forged the Israelites into a cohesive people. Features of the Seder are meant to engage and keep the attention of the children who are present, for whom this is intended to be an educational experience. The Seder is also a symbolic re-enactment of our ancestors’ enslavement and liberation. At the beginning of the meal, we recite the grace over matzo, unleavened bread, recalling that because of the haste with which the Israelites departed Egypt, the dough in their kneading troughs did not have ample time to rise, and we take a taste of bitter herbs to recall the bitterness of slavery. Most likely the herbs were originally some bitter variety of lettuce or other leafy green; many, if not most Jews of European background today use horseradish.
In current Jewish practice, the Seder meal is served in the middle of the evening’s ritual, preceded by the telling of the Passover story and followed by prayers and songs. Participants drink four cups of wine during the course of the evening to celebrate the sanctity of the festival and the joy of having been freed. Discussion about the prayers, the story and the meaning of the rituals is encouraged, and many families have Seders that last well into the night.
The text which is used at the Seder is called the Haggadah (the word means “telling”). The Haggadah is probably the most extensively published book in Jewish history. The earliest editions go back to the Middle Ages. The Hebrew text has been accompanied by translations into almost every language that was spoken by Jews. The Haggadah is also the one Jewish religious text that has been produced with illustrations, and many contemporary Haggadot feature the work of noted artists.
For traditionally observant Jews, Passover features a rigorous spring cleaning, particularly of areas where food has been stored, prepared or served. Leaven – food made from grain that has been allowed to rise – is banished from the house, and care is taken in purchasing canned goods and other processed foods that they contain no leaven. Supermarkets in neighborhoods where Jews reside will have displays of matzot and of food produced under rabbinical supervision and certified to be permissible during Passover.
Passover looks back on the past, celebrating the miraculous deliverance in ancient times of a rabble of slaves from servitude and oppression at the hands of a powerful empire. Our tradition recognizes, however, that the freedom that was attained then was incomplete. The Exodus is worthy of celebration because it has inspired men and women with the hope that oppression is not the final chapter of human history. Passover directs our gaze not only to the past but also toward the future, toward the ultimate redemption and deliverance of humankind. Elijah the prophet, herald of redemption is invited to be a guest at our Seders. In these bleak times, the realization of that goal seems so remote, and yet we have no choice but to hope. We dare not despair.
Rabbi Barry Marks is rabbi emeritus of Temple Israel in Springfield.
This article appears in March 12-18, 2026.
