Things to Know About Passover and How St. Louis is Observing It This Year
by Grayling Holmes
While chatting with Debbie Kaminer on Saturday at a society gala, I mentioned that I had done a couple stories on Passover season back in March when Easter was approaching, but wanted to do something now. She said, “Yeah, Grayling. Passover is later this year.” I then asked her if she knew of any public observances of Passover, which starts at sundown on Monday, April 22nd. She said that she knew of a big observance at City Winery and that she would get back to me with details on Monday. And that she did. Details on the event are below.
We went into it a bit more detail and she reminded me that I should do my research. “You know that the publisher is Jewish and you should make sure to have your facts straight before you do an article,” she said playfully, and nodded toward her hubby Craig, who was chatting with others at the heavily peopled THREADS gala. I told her that I knew enough on the subject to know that, like Easter, Passover always occurred in the spring, but I did not know why. I assured her that BEFORE I published that I would make sure that I had all my “i’s” dotted and “t’s” crossed.
What Debbie didn’t know was that I had a more than cursory knowledge about the holiday by attending elementary school at Concord Lutheran, then graduating from Lutheran High School North, and continued my education at Valparaiso, a Lutheran university for my freshman year of college. During that time, and even watching the Charlton Heston movie “The Ten Commandments” every Easter season, that learning about Passover was a central part of my Christian education. After all, Christians had to study both Old and New Testaments.
That being said, much time has passed since I was in school, and I AM NOT JEWISH, so I did my homework. Following are some things that I knew and DID NOT KNOW about Passover.
What I Already Knew About Passover
In school and in the movies, I had learned that Passover was the night God commanded that Moses tell the Israelites to mark lamb’s blood above their doors in order that the Angel of Death would pass over them. When I watched the Cecil B. DeMille 1956 classic, “The Ten Commandments,” one of the most dramatic parts was when the 10th and most horrific plague occurred, that of non-believers who didn’t put lamb’s blood on their transoms. Every viewer, especially me as an impressionable child couldn’t help but feel the horror and torment in the voices of the parents who wailed while holding their dead babies. What impressed me even more was how the faith of the believers went up exponentially as they looked up to blood-soaked doorways, then up to the skies while they hugged and rocked their unharmed first-born infants in their arms. That’s as much as I knew about Passover as a child and teenager.
Since then, I have had many, many Jewish friends. I have learned a bit more about the rituals surrounding the holiday, such as observing Passover with a seder meal. I vaguely remember reading about a special meal in the Bible when I was in school, but I definitely remember my friends like Carol Sacks telling me about how she and her family ate special things like unleavened bread for the seder meal. But I didn’t know why. I wish that I could remember more, but it’s been about 30 years since Carol and I had the convo at Weber Shandwick PR. But this gap in my memory gave me the opportunity for things to come full circle and learn more, since Debbie and I happened upon the subject.
What I Did Not Know About Passover
First of all, I did not know that Passover is also called Pesach and is the Pilgrimage of the Passing Over. It one of three pilgrimage festivals that celebrates the biblical story of the Israelites’ escape from slavery in Egypt, where they had been held captive for 430 years.
Secondly, I did not know that Passover (Pesach) starts on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, which is considered the first month of the Hebrew year. My research further taught me that the Hebrew calendar is adjusted to align with the solar calendar in such a way that Nisan always coincides with Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday. The Hebrew day starts and ends at sunset, so the holiday starts at sunset the day before. For example, in 2023, 15 Nisan coincides with Thursday April 6. In 2024, 15 Nisan coincided with Sunday, April 21st, so Passover starts at sundown on Monday, April 22nd,
Something that I had forgotten in the movie (forgive me for continuing to refer to the movie), but I remember a distraught Yul Brenner, who played Pharoah, after the death of his firstborn and those of all other Egyptians, ordering the Israelites to immediately leave, taking whatever they could hurriedly pack.
This story is recounted at the Passover meal during the first two evenings of Passover by reading the Haggadah. The Haggadah is a standardized ritual account of the Exodus story.
Most of all, I did not know that Passover is the story of LIBERATION. The video below explains EVERYTHING a non-Jewish person would ever want to know about Passover. Whether Jew or non Jew, I urge you to watch this video.
The former slaves left in such a hurry that there was no time for the bread they prepared for their journey to rise. 600,000 adult males left Egypt (Ex. 12:37) and including women and children, it is estimated that three million Jews were liberated. Moses told the people, “Remember this day, when you went out of Egypt, for with a mighty hand, the Lord took you out of here, and [therefore] no leaven shall be eaten.”
God commanded us to commemorate the exodus by eating only unleavened (flat) bread, just like we did on the way out of Egypt. For eight days we cannot consume or even own the slightest trace of “chametz” (leavened grain). This requires extensive preparation to rid our homes of every last crumb! The deep-cleaning process usually starts at least two weeks before the holiday begins, as Jews frantically deep-clean their homes to remove any food or drink that contains even a tiny amount of leavened wheat, barley, oats, rye or spelt.
from the Accidental Talmudist
The Seder Plate
The Seder plate contains the following items:
1. Zeroa: The shankbone to represent the sacrificial lamb of the Passover sacrifice of yore. Nowadays, any piece of roast meat with a bone can be used, such as a chicken neck. This is typically not eaten.
2. Beitzah: A hard-boiled egg, to represent an offering that was brought to the temple in the days leading up to Passover. Again, this is typically not eaten.
3. Maror: Bitter herbs to symbolize the bitterness of a life of slavery. Typically, romaine lettuce or some other bitter green is used.
4. Chazeret: Another bitter vegetable, typically fresh horseradish or endives, though some people use green onions or celery leaves. Anything with a bit of a bitter kick will do.
5. Charoset: A spreadable paste that represents the mortar the Israelites had to make to cement their bricks together during their forced labor building the Pharaoh’s pyramids. Recipes vary greatly from community to community, depending on culinary styles and availability of ingredients. Some of the commonly encountered ingredients are apples, dates, raisins, pears, nuts, and wine.
6. Karpas: A vegetable, typically green, to represent Spring. Commonly used are parsley or celery, though some people use boiled potatoes, most likely because that is what their ancestors had access to in April, which can still be quite frigid in many places where Jews have traditionally lived.
7. Matzah: Though the matzah is placed alongside rather than on the Seder plate itself, typically in a special three-sleeve napkin, obviously no Seder table would be complete without it.
8. Additional Items: In recent years, some seder plates have included non-traditional items such as an orange (symbolizing LGBTQ and women’s inclusion), an acorn (for Indigenous land acknowledgement), and most recently sunflower seeds (to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine).
How Jews Celebrate passover at home
Passover is a single meal, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is a week. We eat the Passover meal in the evening, and as the sun sets, the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins. As these two biblical feasts take place on top of one another, they are often referred to collectively as “Passover”.
What do we do? This is simple, and yes, I can give you a checklist (but in all things, I suggest you read the Bible firsthand and take personal responsibility for studying and knowing it).
We remove the leaven from our homes.
We have a special Passover meal.
We eat bitter herbs at our Passover meal.
We tell the story of the Exodus in whole or in part.
We eat unleavened bread each day of the week.
On the first and seventh days of Unleavened Bread, we have a Bible study together with families and/or our fellowship if possible.
Our Passover meal meets this requirement for the first day, as that begins at sunset on the day we have our meal.
from Seeking Scripture: Passover In Our Home
City Winery St. Louis presents The Passover Project: A Musical Seder benefitting the STL Jewish Light live on April 18th @ 7:30pm!
In early 2024, St. Louis Jewish Light Editor-in-Chief Ellen Futterman enlisted Brothers Lazaroff and Rabbi James Stone Goodman to help produce a music-filled alternative seder. Rooted in a few examples from other creative communities around the country, Ellen wanted to create an experiential Passover seder that both brought the community together and highlighted some of St. Louis' abundant talent. Attendees will enjoy a family-friendly, but decidedly grown-up seder, with music, poetry, grooves, and some hidden mystical teachings connected throughout.
For more information about the City Winery Passover Celebration.