Passover Traditions

Passover traditions mark the eight days which annually commemorate the Jews liberation and exodus from Egypt to Israel. Christians also observe the day in remembrance of the tenth plague that God sent unto Egypt. A traditional Passover includes two nights of Seders which include special meals and reciting of certain blessings from the Torah and a reading of the Haggadah, or story of the Exodus. Each of the items on a Seder are symbolic. Beginning on the first night of Passover, leavened bread is forbidden, this is called "Bedikat chametz." http://www.happypassover.net/passover-customs/index.html

This page provides information on Passover traditions around the world as well as classic Passover traditions carried out by those in the United States.

• Afghanistan: One tradition includes "gently whipping themselves with scallions as a symbol of the Egyptian slavedrivers' whips used against the Israelites". Queens, New York has the largest population of Afghan JewsHuffington Post: Top 5 Passover Traditions (April 8, 2009)
• Poland: On the seventh day of Passover, Hasidic Jews reenact the crossing of the Red Sea by pouring water on their living room floor. As they walk through the water, they speak the names of the towns they would pass in the crossingHuffington Post: Top 5 Passover Traditions (April 8, 2009)
• India: Some members of the Cochin community believe that if a Jewish woman must be perfect in her Passover preparation during the 100 days before the actual seder, otherwise, the lives of her family would be in danger.Huffington Post: Top 5 Passover Traditions (April 8, 2009)
• Gibraltar: A tradition of this British colony is for Jews to "mix the dust of bricks into their charoset dish, a symbol of the mortar used to hold together the brick walls the Jews built in Egypt, according to Hillel"Huffington Post: Top 5 Passover Traditions (April 8, 2009)