Pesach (Passover)

This holiday begins on the fourteenth day of Nissan, usually in April, and lasts for eight days. It celebrates the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, which occurred in such haste that their bread dough did not have time to rise. To commemorate the event, no leavened foods (hametz) may be eaten on the holiday. The main bread product served is matzoh, which is made with a special wheat flour ground just before baking, so that it will not have time to ferment. In earlier days, matzohs were round, but in 1875, a square press was invented in England, and it has been in use ever since. Orthodox Jews eat handmade “guarded” matzoh called shemura matzoh, baked quickly under rabbinical supervision to make sure that no fermentation takes place.