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Showing posts with the label tradition

Passover 2025

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With Spring comes Passover , when Jewish families gather everywhere to remember a journey of freedom. It is a major Jewish holiday and a time to remember and meditate on the story of Exodus.  Known as Pesach in Hebrew, Passover is one of the most widely observed holidays in the Jewish tradition. It marks the biblical story of the Israelites’ escape from slavery in Egypt. For many observant Jews, a central part of preparing for Passover involves clearing their homes of all leavened foods, known as chametz , and refraining from eating them for the entire holiday week. In place of bread, they eat matzo , an unleavened flatbread symbolic of the Passover story. Tradition holds that the Israelites had to leave Egypt so quickly that there wasn’t enough time for their dough to rise. Another interpretation suggests matzo was simply more practical for a long journey through the desert, being lighter and easier to transport than typical bread. In 2025, Passover begins at sundown on April 12...

Spring Forward 2024!

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Happy Spring Equinox ! Falling this year on March 19th, the Spring Equinox is more than a point in time when the earth’s axis and orbit line up to create a day with equal day and night. Throughout human history, cultures worldwide have long observed spring equinoxes as a time of renewal, rebirth, and interconnectedness with nature.  Ancient traditions, such as the Persian Nowruz , the Mayan Vernal Equinox , Ostara, the Wiccan holiday , Passover , and the Christian Easter , pay homage to this season of rebirth. Rituals and ceremonies, from planting seeds to dancing around Maypoles, symbolize the awakening of life and the promise of abundance.  Just as the earth’s ice thaws and the cold weather comes to an end, people are encouraged to reflect on what stagnant energy needs to be shaken off and what new projects we want to start. Spring Equinoxes can be celebrated by clearing out your home of clutter and all the heaviness of winter, exploring nature, and observing the seasonal s...