There are more than the ceremonial four questions when it comes to the Passover Seder: What kinds of traditional dishes should I make? What goes on the Seder plate? What is the Seder plate? Do I have to drink all four cups of wine? Author Zell Schulman puts your mind at ease with Let My People Eat!the first Passover Seder cookbook that not only takes you step-by-step through the Seder, but also features six Seder menus to suit your religious background, your diet, your budget, and your time
Passover always occurs on the fifteenth day of Nisan, (KNEE-son) the first month in the Hebrew calendar, which coincides with late March or early April of the secular calendar. It's the oldest festival of the Hebrew liturgical calendar, and has been observed by the Jewish people for more than three thousand years.
Passover is called by two names in the Bible: Chag Ha-Matzot (HA-gah MA-sewt), the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Chag Ha-Pesach (HA-gah PAY-sahk), referring to the Pesach or "paschal" offering of a lamb or calf.
The term Passover comes from the story of the Exodus and the ten plagues suffered by the Egyptians. When Pharaoh refused to free the Israelites, the angel of death was sent to slay the first born during the tenth plague, but "passed over" or "skipped" the homes of the Israelites.
Seder (SAY-der) means order. Held in the home, the Seder begins after sundown the evening before the first day of the Passover holiday. For generations, the arrangement of the Seder table, Seder plate, Seder meal, the readings, the songs, and the symbolic foods have followed a certain "order."
The Seder is divided into three parts: Retelling the story of the Exodus, and partaking of the ceremonial foods; eating the Seder festive meal; and finally, reciting prayers of thankfulness, welcoming Elijah the prophet, and singing Passover songs.
A special book called a Haggadah (Ha-GOD-ah), meaning "to tell" or "relate," is used at the Passover Seder. Dated from the first century of the Common era, it provides the order in which the story of the Exodus is told. The Haggadah also explains the Passover symbols, and contains liturgical text, prayers and songs.
The number four appears often in the Haggadah: the four cups of wine, the four questions, and the four sons. In ancient times the number four was thought to have some magical or mystical significance. Others say it relates to God's four promises made to the Israelites when they were freed from Egypt (Exodus 6:6-7):
