How To Prepare For The Passover Holiday

Preparing for Passover takes a little time, a lot of planning, and sometimes a little hard work. This is an important holiday and the regulations concerning what needs to be done to keep this holiday holy are strict.

Do not worry or fret. You can do this and you are going to have a beautiful seder and fabulous holiday.

Start Early

You cannot wait until the day before Passover begins to start your preparations. Most Jewish people start preparing for choosing their Passover program at least 3 months prior to the beginning of the holiday. Those who prefer to stay at home will normally start preparing 4 to 6 weeks, so they have enough time to clean, shop, cook and make everything right in their homes.

Passover 2022 will begin on the evening of Friday, April 15, and will end on the evening of Saturday, April 23^rd.

To give yourself the time you should begin your planning and preparations between April 5^th and April 10^th.

Make Your Home Chametz Free

It is time to do a real spring cleaning in your home. You want to make sure the house is clean and ready for the family to come and enjoy the traditions with you, and you have to make sure all chametz is removed from the home.

The main reason for making sure all chametz is removed is so that you do not inadvertently consume any during the Pesach week. Your biggest priority is removing the actual chametz and preparing surfaces that may have come into contact with chametz.

You do not have to go crazy dusting every surface or vacuuming under all of the furniture, but if you want to go ahead and just do a thorough spring cleaning this is a good time to do so.

If you have Passover-specific items such as dishes that have never had chametz foods on them or in them then it is time to get those dishes out and put away the ones you use the rest of the year.

Clean the dining room table and chairs

You have to be pretty thorough during this job. Get every nook and cranny wiped down and clean those chair surfaces.

Clean the countertops and surfaces

You cannot do this until the chametz has been totally removed or you will just have to do it again.

Sweep and Mop

The day before Passover begins you need to sweep and mop the kitchen to make sure you have covered all of the areas that need cleaning.

Wipe down the lightswitches

On the day before the holiday, when the chametz has been removed and you are not going to be eating any more that day take the time to wipe down the light switches to remove the residue from the surfaces.

Clean surfaces like doorknobs, control panels to the air conditioner, drawer pulls, and all of the places you touch without even thinking about it.

Cabinet Purging

You need to open those cabinets and clear away all of the chametzes they contain. You should remove the items from your house completely because Jewish law commands you to have no chametz in your possession. You can throw it out. You can donate it. You can even sell it if you want to.

While you are purging check your diaper bag and see if there are any forgotten animal crackers, or check your children’s rooms for treats in a desk and other things like that.

The best way to purge completely is to get everyone in the family involved in the activity. Then you do not have to do everything by yourself.

Shop

Once you have your dinner planned, and the house has been stripped of chametz you are going to need to shop. If you are like most of us you will discover you have very little food.

There are specialty products cakes, cookies, cereals and other items that are created just for Passover so Jewish people do not have to go hungry or feel deprived. The problem is that these special items cost a lot more than traditional products and they often are high-calorie foods that will really put weight on you.

You should plan to buy extra fruits and vegetables and avoid as many of those high-calorie, high-cost items as you can.

Sit down and plan your seder meal, then your weekly meals. Use those meal plans to create a shopping list. This will help you to avoid having to shop during Passover when you will be tempted by so many things.

Do not forget the wine that you need during the seder meal when you are shopping.

Seder Cooking

There is a good chance that you are going to be cooking dishes that you rarely cook. Many of those dishes take several hours to prepare. Go ahead and start a couple of days before the beginning of the Passover so you have time to properly prepare each dish.

The Seder Plate

The seder plate contains foods that are symbolic. You need a fresh, raw vegetable, a shank bone, a hard-boiled egg, Charoset, bitter herbs, bitter vegetables, an orange. All items must be present on the seder plate.

Setting the Table

You need the following items to set a proper seder table.

• Enough wine or grape juice so that each person can have four cups
• A wine cup that is reserved for Elijah
• A plate that has three pieces of matzah on it and a cover over the entire plate
• The seder plate
• Haggadot
• Flatware, water glasses and dishes that have not had chametz served on them or prepared in them
• A festive tablecloth and napkins because this is a celebration

Bottom line

Rely on the advice and suggestions of the elders of your family. They will help you to create a perfect Passover and the quality time you spend with them will be treasured memories.