Passover
About
Passover, or Pesach, is a holiday that commemorates the story of Exodus, in which the Israelites were freed from slavery. Passover specifically comes from the time when the Israelites where told to mark the doorposts of their homes with slaughtered spring lamb blood so that the lord would know to pass over the first-born in their houses. Passover is held on the 15th of the Jewish month of Nisan and lasts for eight days. Because the Israelites had almost no time to flea they could not wait for the bread to to rise so for commemoration no leavened bread is eaten. Instead Matzo, flat unleavened bread, is eaten during the holiday of Passover.
The Sedar Plate
Marking the doorposts with lamb blood
The Sedar plate
The Sedar plate is very symbolic to the jewish society and is food for thought as every food is symbolic of some aspect of Jewish culture. Three matzot are placed on top of each other on a plate and they are symbolic of the three castes of jews: Priests, Levites, and Israelites. The roasted meat symbolizes the lamb that was sacrificed on the eve of Exodus. The hard-boiled egg represents the holiday offering brought in the days of the Holy Temple. The Bitter herbs the jews of the bitterness of the slavery of their forefathers in Egypt. The mixture of apples, nuts and wine symbolizes the mortar and brick made by the Jews when they toiled for Pharaoh. The non-bitter root vegetable symbolizes to the backbreaking work of the Jews as slaves. The lettuce symbolizes the bitter enslavement of the jews fathers in Egypt.