Celebrating Passover in Long Beach

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Passover, or Pe-sach as pronounced in Hebrew, is the weeklong Jewish holiday that memorializes the event of the Jewish people’s national origin, their redemption from enslavement to the ancient Egyptians by God, may his name be blessed.

Every year, Jewish families coalesce in order to reenact the events of the exodus by following a highly choreographed night called the Seder. It is an evening replete with exotic commandments, symbols and stories; suffuse in an ambience of majesty, mystery and fun; and just enough wine to make it all the more symbiotic! Just as in ancient times, the Jews were transformed from a family into a single nation so do they do so every year at the Seder table.

However, just as it’s necessary for newborns to emerge into a hygienic space, so are Jewish homes cleansed from all leven product known as Chameitz — the most conspicuous of which of course is bread! As we must remember through the telling of the Hagadda, in actuality, God redeemed the Jewish people 190 years earlier than he originally promised Abraham.

After 210 years of bitter enslavement the Jewish people cried out together in their sorrow and suffering, and Hashem, motivated by a compassion ancillary to promise decides to enter history prematurely and save the Jewish people. This is why instead of fancy, fluffy bread Jews on Pesach eat the harder and more humble Matzah to quiet our inner indulgence and self-satisfaction, just enough to remember the pangs of others. Experiencing it as God’s command imbues one with the confidence to identify with their Jewish heritage as beautiful, bold, eternal and beyond, ultimately perpetuating the ideal of compassion as a basic motivation for living and acting, as well as to experience that through Divinely inspired compassion the Jewish people become reborn.

Temple Zion’s Passover services begin at 9:30 a.m. on the following Tuesday, 4/15, Wednesday, 4/16, Saturday 4/19, Monday, 4/21, and Tuesday, 4/22. Temple Zion is located at 62 Maryland Ave.