Five Fun Facts About Passover

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We all know about Passover, that holiday when we Jews whip out our flat, cracker-like matzah, talk about the massive exodus from Egypt, and drink a whole lot of Manischewitz wine. As it happens, though, there are a few other things you might want to know about Passover! Here are some facts about the holiday that you probably never knew:

Passover is an oldie. Judaism celebrates a lot of holidays. Some are fairly recent, such as Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day, founded only 66 years ago when Israel was declared a state. But the oldest of them all? Passover! The very first Passover was celebrated in Egypt itself more than 3,300 years ago and marked the first holiday the Jews ever celebrated.

The world’s biggest matzah ball was really big.You thought your mother made them well? Well she’s up against some competition. The world largest matzah ball was made in the heart of New York City in 2009. Chef Anthony Sylvestry managed to make a matzah ball measuring 22.9” wide and weighing a whopping 267 lbs!  

Sometimes there are seven foods on the seder plate. The traditional seder plate is a circular plate with six spots on it, each to hold a different symbolic food to be eaten during the Passover meal. In recent years, a new tradition has begun to form – a seder plate with seven spots instead of six. The new seventh food? An orange. The orange is said to signify fruitfulness, and the action of spitting out the seeds represents “spitting out” hate and discrimination in our communities. 

Passover is a day of commemoration.On Passover 2,000 years ago, a nation of Jews escaped Egypt through the splitting of the Red Sea. On Passover 149 years ago, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. Many Jewish Americans were in synagogue at the time of the assassination, both to observe Passover and to celebrate the end of the Civil War, and the American Jewish Historical Society notes that synagogue bimahs "were quickly draped in black and, instead of Passover melodies, the congregations chanted Yom Kippur hymns." 

Nepal is home to the world’s largest Passover seder.The world’s largest Passover seder, boasting more than 1,000 participants, is held yearly in Kathmandu, Nepal. Why Nepal? The country is overflowing with young Israeli travelers who have recently finished their army service, and when it comes time for Passover, some want to be reminded of their mom’s chicken soup or experience the familiar crunch of matzah. Other attendees simply hear of this massive event and feel compelled to travel to Nepal to experience the holiday in such a unique way. Rabbis fly in to lead the seder, and tens of participants show up in advance to help prepare for the guests. Now that’s a lot of company!

Source:  
http://www.reformjudaism.org/blog/2014/04/09/five-fun-facts-about-passover
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Table of contents
    Introduction
  • Pesach
  • Opening Song
  • Ice Breaker
  • Matzah Show - Muppets Parody
  • The Passover Seder - A How-To Guide
  • No Seder Like Our Seder
  • Two Minute Haggadah
  • The Sorting Hat of Passover
  • Jokes
  • What is Hametz?
  • What is Kitniyot?
  • A Half-Baked Passover History Mystery
  • Quick Seder Plate Guide
  • Matzah
    • Five Fun Facts About Passover
    • Four Parents
    • Passover according to Lego
      • Kadesh
    • Kiddush
    • Take Us Out of Egypt
      • Urchatz
    • Hand Washing
      • Karpas
    • Karpas Drawing Activity
    • Ha'Adamah
      • Yachatz
    • Bread of Affliction
    • The Middle Matzah Horcrux
    • Visual Yachatz
      • Maggid - Beginning
    • Passover Play - a ten minute script for all ages
    • Maggid in Egypt (sephardi)
    • No Seder Like Our Seder - A Passover Song
      • -- Exodus Story
    • Star Wars / Sci-fi Seder Intro
    • Exodus Story - Drawing Activity
    • macabeats story
    • DAYENU: An Exercise in Gratitude
    • Let Us Go
    • Three Second Flip Book Haggadah
    • Moses Parts the Sea
    • Seda' Club
      • -- Four Questions
    • Four Funny Questions
    • Dr. Seuss' Four Questions
    • Ma Nishtana (The Four Questions) - Learn what they mean and how to sing them
      • -- Four Children
    • Four Children
    • Four Children - Drawing Activity (2)
    • Four Sons Song - to the tune of Clementine
    • Four sons
    • The Child Who Doesn't Know how to Ask a Question
    • The Simple Child
    • The Wicked Child
    • The Wise Child
    • Four Children
    • GBM Four Children Art Contest
      • -- Ten Plagues
    • Ten Plagues - Frog
    • Science explanation of the Plagues
    • Bible Raps Presents: Oregon Hillel Raps the Plagues
    • The Ten Plagues
      • -- Cup #2 & Dayenu
    • We are grateful ~ Dayenu
    • Dayenu (English - song)
    • Dayenu: Learn the words to the Passover Seder song
      • Rachtzah
    • Rachtzah
    • Step-By-Step Seder: Step 6, Rachtza
      • Songs
    • The Enchanted Matza
    • Eliana Light, “BaShanah HaZeh”
    • Chag Gad Ya Emoji Style
    • I'll Be There for You
      • Motzi-Matzah
    • Shmurah Matzah
      • Maror
    • Horseradish
    • Maror
    • Maror (Bitter Herbs) by Hanan Harchol
    • maror
      • Koreich
    • who invented the sandwhich
    • Visual Koreich
      • Shulchan Oreich
    • Let's Eat!
    • Matzah Ball Soup
    • Stump the Adults! (courtesy of Nancy Becker)
    • Just Joking: Shulchan Orech
      • Tzafun
    • Find the Afikomen!
    • Uncle Eli Afikoman
      • Bareich
    • Pouring Elijah's and Miriam's Cup (simplified for children)
    • Miriam's Cup
    • Opening the Door for Elijah
    • Barech
    • Uncle Eli - Opening the Door
    • Bareich
      • Hallel
    • Haggadah Haiku
    • Heschel on Kindness
    • Direct Contact
    • Hinei Ma Tov
    • Welcoming Others
      • Nirtzah
    • Nirtzah
    • Nirtzah
    • Chad Gadya
      • Commentary / Readings
    • Seder Table
    • Family Passover Scavanger Hunt
    • Jokes for Kids: The best clean Pesach jokes I've found
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