Passover is here

Tonight, Jewish people around the world are celebrating the second night of Passover.

The holiday commemorates the Jews’ exodus from slavery in Egypt thousands of years ago.

It lasts eight days during which Jewish people stop eating bread. Instead they eat matzah, a cracker-like flat bread. The first two nights of the holiday are usually observed with a Seder, a festive meal to remember the story of the Jews’ exodus.

“It’s actually the most popular Jewish holiday of all of them because of the family connection, and because of that universal theme of freedom,” said Rabbi Harley Karz-Wagman of Wilmington’s Temple Israel. “All of us have things in our life that restrict us from being who we should be, and Passover encourages us and gives us the tools to become the person we should become.”

Rabbi Karz-Wagman says part of that challenge is avoiding bread. He compared eating matzah to the Christian tradition of Lent — giving up something you’re used to, to help build character.