This is the Forward’s coverage of the Jewish holiday of Passover, also called Pesach.
Passover
The Latest
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Life Passover In Jamaica — Where The Legacies Of Slavery Linger
There is a crescent stretch of beach and the turquoise waters of the Caribbean. There is a two-hour wait at customs to get in, and swarms of mosquitos that move into the house you’ve rented at dusk. God help you if you tarry too long on that beach, admiring that sunset, if you’ve forgotten the…
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The Schmooze If Donald Trump Were To Lead A Passover Seder
“I’d only ever been to one Passover. Back in 1984, when my best Jew lawyer, Roy Cohn, finally convinced me to accept one of his invitations to a Seder at his penthouse in Manhattan. Frankly, there’s only one word to describe that night. Boring. Even with Madonna as my date, and I’m talking still-hot, pre-pregnant,…
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Life How To Host A Truly Inclusive Passover Seder
At its best, the Passover Seder can model the values it celebrates—freedom from slavery and oppression—by disrupting habitual hierarchies and bolstering inclusivity. Unfortunately, sometimes our attempts to honor this sacred mission fall short. At its worst, the festive meal celebrating freedom can deepen the very divisions it seeks to heal. For those who wish to…
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Culture Every Haggadah You Need For Passover This Year (And Some You Might Not)
Passover reflects America. Over the last two decades, two trends have defined American religious life: disaffiliation and spiritual searching. More Americans than ever are leaving the religious denominations of their childhood: Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish communities alike. Each tradition, in turn, is becoming smaller, more traditional, and more conservative (except Catholics, due to the influx…
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Food How Much Is Too Much? The Crippling Cost Of Shmura Matza
According to Chabad.org, more than 1 million pounds of shmurah matzo, or handmade matzo, will be created and sold this year. In fact, when Barack Obama hosted the first White House seder in 2009, shmurah matzo was present. Demand for this tasteless, complicated-to-digest artisanal cracker continues to rise. This matzo is considered extra-special (and a…
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Community The Benefits of Going Bread-Free — During Passover and Beyond
You know that giving up bread is a Passover tradition, but you may not know that passing the bread basket can also make significant improvement to your health. While only a small percentage of the population suffers from celiac disease, research suggests that many more may suffer from symptoms caused by a gluten intolerance or…
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Community If Cleaning For Passover Is Easy, You’re Doing It Wrong
Passover preparation has always been a heavy-duty task. For thousands of years, Jews throughout the world, in every Sephardic and Ashkenazic community, invested serious amounts of time and effort cleaning their homes, kashering their kitchens and sealing away utensils used for chametz (leavened grain products). The Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) devotes approximately 40…
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Life 4 Questions Every Feminist Should Ask Herself At The Passover Seder
Passover is a time for learning, storytelling, and appreciating our freedom in relation to years’ past. Yet, for the most part, the texts we read in the traditional Haggadah are dominated by men — we discuss the leadership of Moses, we compare the four sons, and retell the conversations between ancient Talmudic male rabbis. So…
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