http://ozarkspub.vo.llnwd.net/o37/KSMU/audio/mp3/area-jews-observe-passover-remembering-deliverance-bondage_12052.mp3
This week is known in America as “Holy Week,” and many Christians are reflecting on their faith as they approach Easter Sunday. But also celebrating a holiday this week is the Jewish community: Passover began Monday night at sunset.
It was then that one Springfield family sat down for the ritual dinner known as “seder”—the family of Richard Schur, an associate professor at Drury University.
“The significance of Passover is really all Jews getting redeemed, from both the hisotircal slavery in Egypt, but also the sort of metaphorical slavery that we just live in our daily lives when we’re not paying attention,” he said.
Passover, or “Pesach” in Hebrew, is a recounting of the Jews’ deliverance from slavery in Egypt.
Schur says one highlight of Passover is the food known as “matza,” because during Passover, Jews to not eat leavened foods.
“Matza is a very, very thin cracker. And the story is, when the Jews left Egypt, they didn’t have enough time to bake bread before they went. So they cooked it for a little bit of time…so that is what matza is,” Schur said.
Schur said the holiday is also about family tradition.
“One of my jobs when I was a kid was making charoset with my mom,” he says.
That’s a sweet with apples, walnuts, cinnamon and wine—it becomes part of the sader ritual. This past weekend, Schur’s children made the same dish with his mother, he said.
“And so, it’s this tradition that goes on from parent to child, parent to child,” he said.
The Jewish community of Temple Israel held a community seder Monday evening at the synagogue near Rogersville.
For KSMU News, I’m Jennifer Moore.