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Tonight begins the Jewish festival of Pesach (Passover) which commemorates the ancient story of the Israelite ‘Exodus’ from Egypt. It’s a fab 7-8 day festival the highlight being a festive meal where the themes of slavery and freedom are explored (a ‘seder’) 
The Seder is full of ancient symbolism and is designed with children in mind, the focus being on questions and discussions about the themes. It’s usually a mix of unruly, emotional and invigorating, partly depending on how young the kids are! We have 11 under 10 at ours so... ☺️
The other important custom during the week of passover is many Jewish households stop eating bread and any food that rises when it’s prepared. Many Jewish people change their crockery/cutlery which is a bit mad but helps to distinguish the festival from other parts of the year
Passover is closely connected to Easter - it’s unusual for them to fall on the exact same dates (Judaism follows the Lunar calendar) but this year they do. The Last Supper was a Passover meal according to the New Testament wsj.com/articles/the-p…
As I have said before I am an atheist so you may find it odd that I also engage with religion - but I find the culture, traditions and values to be a hugely positive part of my and my family’s life.
Festivals like Passover are a marker in our year, a chance to take stock, think back - to relatives long gone who used to celebrate with us - and forward to teaching our children how to celebrate their culture. As a human rights lawyer I find the freedom theme to be quite moving
This week I had a difficult hearing where I acted for two siblings claiming asylum because of their religious beliefs, and I was fortunate to host a discussion where I heard of the difficulties Muslims have facing Islamophobia. Those are the two themes I will take into our seder
Anyway, after a year of focusing on negative aspects of being Jewish (antisemitism) I wanted to give an insight into something positive. I hope that we can all learn to live in peace and freedom. Happy Passover and Easter! Or Eastover as Seth Cohen might have said
