By: Nomi Kaltmann as seen in The Age

April 20, 2024

I’ll tell you a little secret that will perhaps surprise you: I find Passover exhausting.

There is so much preparation! My husband and I re-kosher our kitchen, clean it of all leavened products, and there is lots of cooking, cleaning, hosting and time at Synagogue.

Passover celebrates the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt that took place more than 3000 years ago. As the Jewish people left Egypt, they did not have time to properly bake their bread, so they ate unleavened bread. To commemorate Passover, Jewish people spend 8 days eating Matzah (unleavened bread) and remember the slavery and oppression of the Jewish people in Egypt.

Out of all the Jewish festivals (and there are many!), Passover is the one that is most celebrated by Jewish people around the world. Kosher grocery stores do their best trade in the lead up to the festival, as thousands of extra people, many of whom do not usually keep kosher come to buy products that their families will use over the festival.

On the first two nights of Passover, most families will host a Seder. With four cups of wine, three Matzahs, a 15-step meal including the Maror (bitter herbs) and opportunities for children to ask questions through the Ma Nishtana, Passover is a full family affair.

The weeks before Passover are a buzz of frenetic energy, as I plan all the shopping, cooking, guest lists, clearing and hosting schedules. Because Passover is so much preparation, I dread it a little.

But when the table is set and the food is cooked, I’m always ready to enjoy the festival that celebrates the birth of the Jews are a nation. I mean, there is a certain joy to celebrating nationhood, 3500 years on! A few years ago, I did a DNA test and found out that my family history is 99.9% Ashkenazic Jews. We’ve always been Jewish. And I love that my children will be the next ones in our long chain of tradition.

So, despite the exhaustion of all the preparation I remind myself of the joy I find in sitting down as a family, observing our Jewish traditions. When we sit together and remember the Exodus, it’s our way of saying: We are here! We exist! And we are remembering our history!