How are people celebrating Passover in 2009 different than 100 years ago?
Passover in 2009 will start on Thursday, the 9th of April and will continue for 7 days until Wednesday, the 15th of April. Note that in the Jewish calander, a holiday begins on the sunset of the previous day, so observing Jews will celebrate Passover on the sunset of Wednesday, the 8th of April. Sources: http://www.when-is.com/passover-2009.
The Passover celebration begins with the “seder”, the traditional Passover meal. The seder consists of many elements and can be quite long–lasting until the early morning hours for some very religious Jews. The “required” parts of the seder, however, are the retelling of the story of the exodus from Egypt, eating matza and drinking four cups of wine. In order to make it possible for all Jews to tell the story of Passover, the “haggada” was created. This book, read at the seder, contains–in addition to the story–all of the blessings over the different types of food, Passover songs and more. The matza that we eat at the seder and throughout the seven days of Passover (eight days outside of Israel) must be prepared under the strictest rabbinic supervision to be sure that the dough has no chance of rising. During Passover, we eat no leavened foods or foods made from grain other than Passover flour. The four cups of wine represent the four “redemption speeches” made by God, in which He p
