For Ari Hart, rabbi at Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob Synagogue, Passover represents freedom, family and faith. 

Known as Pesach in Hebrew, Passover celebrates the freedom of Jewish people from slavery in Egypt.

During Passover, observers cannot eat leaven, a type of yeast, in any form. Instead, they can only eat matzo, an unleavened bread. Matzo represents the suffering Hebrews experienced and the haste in which they left Egypt.

This year, Passover took place from April 22 to April 30.

Hart said seders, comprised of a meal and storytelling, are a time for families to share stories of their history and the history of Jewish people. These are told through the reading of the Haggadah, a text that tells the story about Israelis gaining freedom from slavery in Egypt with the help of God.

Seders occur at the beginning of Passover and are celebrated on the first day in Israel and on the second day in the diaspora.

The foods on a seder plate carry symbolic meanings. The vegetables dipped in salt water represent the tears of Jewish people when they were slaves in Egypt, said Yochanan Posner, rabbi at Lubavitch Chabad of Skokie. He said hard boiled eggs symbolize the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. 

Skokie Valley hosted “open seders,” free of charge and open for anyone who wants somewhere to go to experience the holiday, Hart said. 

“We want people to feel safe in being together with their Jewish family,” Posner said. “Just to say, come and celebrate your Jewish identity, celebrate your religion, celebrate your faith and be together with other people, that was an important message.”

Chabad of Evanston and Chabad of Skokie also held communal seders. Chabad of Evanston distributed “holiday packages” to Evanston families who wanted to hold their own seders at home, Rabbi Meir Hecht said.

Posner said he wanted people to leave the seder feeling “motivated” that they can make a difference in the world. 

“We have to know that every individual matters and every individual counts,” he said. “It’s motivating to try to help and do your part to make the world a kinder and more worthy place.”

At Skokie Valley, Hart said several prayer services held during Passover were for a congregation member’s relative who was kidnapped by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and is still being held hostage. 

“We prayed for the safety of the hostages,” Hart said. “We prayed for peace for everybody. We want to see peace for all who seek peace.” 

Posner said Passover is a time to look at who Jewish people are and how they got to the present day. He said understanding that journey makes it easier to know where they have to go in the future. 

Hecht said the message of Passover resonates more strongly this year than it has in previous years due to the ongoing war in Gaza and its impact on the rest of the world. 

“The need to feel that sense of freedom and resilience and to overcome all obstacles that stand in the way of our living as a Jew is something we have the opportunity to experience in a very unique way,” he said. “Passover this year sheds a light in our life that is bringing an incredible amount of hope. It’s extremely necessary at this very time.”

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the relation of the hostage to Skokie Valley. The Daily regrets this error.

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