Passover

This is an exerpt from http://jcsm.org/Education/Passover.htm. It talks about the celebration of Passover. It is a time to remember how God saved his people. They were saved from death by being covered from the blood of the lamb.
The Passover Seder
Taking place the first 2 nights of the 8 day holiday, the Seder is the most important event in the Passover celebration. Usually gathering the whole family and friends together, the Seder is steeped in long held traditions and customs.
Leading up to the first night of Passover, the home is cleaned and cleared of all yeast foods, called hametz. All hametz is either eaten before Passover begins or "sold" to non-Jewish neighbors and friends. The rules surrounding Passover are strict and many, with only special foods, utensils, and dishware allowed. Kitchen utensils and dishware normally used in the home are not be used during Passover. Special dishes and utensils for the Passover holiday are taken out of storage, cleaned and used.
Only foods that are "Kosher for Passover" are allowed. No leavened (containing yeast) foods or grains are eaten. In their place matzoh and foods containing matzoh are eaten. This is to commemorate the Israelites who fled quickly into the desert with no time for their breads to rise and were forced to bake the dough into hard crackers in the desert sun. All foods prohibited during Passover must be disposed of the morning of the first night of Passover.
With its Passover dishware and silverware, the Seder table is different than the regular dinner table. The centerpiece of which is the Seder plate, a special plate containing the 5 foods that remind us of the struggle of the Israelites in their quest and journey to freedom.
Three pieces of matzoh are placed in a Matzoh Cover (a cloth sleeve or envelope) and placed in the center of the Seder table. Before the meal begins the middle matzoh is removed and broken in half.
One half is returned to the Matzoh Cover, the other - the Afikomen - is hidden, to be hunted by the children at the end of the Seder meal. The child who finds the Afikomen wins a special prize. Some homes break the Afikomen in to many pieces assuring that each child present can find a piece and receive a prize.
The Seder plate contains foods that have special meaning for this holiday. They include:
1. Haroseth
2. Parsley (dipped in salt water)
3. Roasted egg
4. Shank Bone
5. Bitter herbs
Haroseth is a mixture of chopped walnuts, wine, cinnamon and apples that represents the mortar the Jewish slaves used to assemble the Pharaoh's bricks. Parsley, symbolizing Springtime, is dipped in salt water to remind us of for the tears of the Jewish slaves.
Another Symbol of Spring
Shank is the symbolic of the sacrificial lamb offering, the bone can come from whatever the family is eating, such as the leg bone of a roasted turkey. Bitterness is reflected by the freshly grated horseradish. This reflects the bitter affliction of slavery.
During the Seder 4 glasses of wine are poured to represent the 4 stages of the exodus:
1. Freedom
2. Deliverance
3. Redemption
4. Release
A fifth cup of wine is poured and placed on the Seder table. This is the Cup of Elijah, an offering for the Prophet Elijah. During the Seder the door to the home is opened to invite the prophet Elijah inside.
After the meal is eaten, the children search for the Afikomen. The Seder is finished when the children have found the Afikomen and everyone has eaten a piece.
Why is this night different from all other nights?
The Four Questions
It is said that the Seder is celebrated especially for the children. It is important for Jewish children to be and feel involved in the celebration of Passover. Much of the ceremony is based on the commandment in the Bible that says, "And thou shalt tell thy son." Exodus 10:2 reads, "And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the LORD" (KJV).
At the Seder the Haggadah, the Book of Exodus, is read and the history celebrated with its stories, songs and prayers.
Why? Why? Why? Why is this night different? Why do they eat such unusual foods as Matzoh, the unleavened bread, and Maror, the bitter herbs? Why do they dip green herbs in salt water? Why do they open doors? Why do they hide and then eat the Afikomen?
At the Seder it is the youngest child at the table that answers the 4 questions asked at Passover.
On all other nights they eat all kinds of breads and crackers. Why do they eat only matzoh on Pesach? Matzoh reminds them that when the Jews left the slavery of Egypt they had no time to bake their bread. They took the raw dough on their journey and baked it in the hot desert sun into hard crackers called matzoh.
On all other nights they eat many kinds of vegetables and herbs. Why do they eat bitter herbs, maror, at our Seder? Maror reminds them of the bitter and cruel way the Pharaoh treated the Jewish people when they were slaves in Egypt.
On all other nights they don't usually dip one food into another. At our Seder the Jews dip the parsley in salt water and the bitter herbs in Charoset. Why do they dip their foods twice tonight? The Jews dip bitter herbs into Charoset to remind them how hard the Jewish slaves worked in Egypt. The chopped apples and nuts look like the clay used to make the bricks used in building the Pharaoh's buildings.
They dip parsley into salt water. The parsley reminds them that spring is here and new life will grow. The salt water reminds them of the tears of the Jewish slaves.
On all other nights they eat sitting up straight. Why do they lean on a pillow tonight? They Jews lean on a pillow to be comfortable and to remind us that once we were slaves, but now we are free.
The Haggadah itself stresses the importance of the Seder as "a spectacle meant to excite the interest and the curiosity of the children." Everything in the Seder is meant to make the children curious and to ask questions.