Editing Jewish holidays (section)

====Passover====
{{Main article|Passover}}
Passover (פּסח) ''(Pesach''), also known liturgically as חג המצות ''("Ḥag haMatzot"'', the "Festival of Unleavened Bread"), is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals (''shalosh regalim'') mentioned in the Torah. Passover commemorates [[the Exodus]], the liberation of the Israelite slaves from Egypt.<ref>See, for example, {{bibleverse||Exodus|12:14|HE}} and following verses.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yqClWOhqso0C&q=%22collective+memory%22&pg=PA45|title=The Bible After Babel: Historical Criticism in a Postmodern Age|last=Collins|first=John J.|date=2005-11-15|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=9780802828927|language=en}}</ref> No ''[[chametz]]'' ([[Leavening agent|leavened]] food) is eaten, or even owned, during the week of Passover, in commemoration of the biblical narrative in which the Israelites left Egypt so quickly that their bread did not have enough time to rise.<ref>See, for example, {{bibleverse||Ex.|12:39|HE}}.</ref> Observant Jews go to great lengths to remove all ''chametz'' from their homes and offices in the run-up to Passover.<ref>See [[Chametz#Stringency|Chametz (Stringency)]] and [[Chametz#Removal of chametz|Chametz (Removal of Chametz)]].</ref>

Along with the avoidance of ''chametz'', the principal ritual unique to this holiday is the [[seder]]. The ''seder'', meaning "order", is an ordered ritual meal eaten on the first night of Passover, and outside Israel also on the [[#2days|second night]]. This meal is known for its distinctive ritual foods—[[Matzah|matzo]] (unleavened bread), [[maror]] (bitter herbs), and four cups of [[kosher wine|wine]]—as well as its prayer text/handbook/study guide, the [[Haggadah]]. Participation in a Passover seder is one of the most widely observed Jewish rituals, even among less affiliated or less observant Jews.<ref>{{Citation
 |year=2003 
 |title=National Jewish Population Survey 2000-1 
 |publisher=Berman Jewish DataBank 
 |url=http://jewishdatabank.org/studies/details.cfm?StudyID=307
 |access-date=January 11, 2013 
}}(survey from the United States).</ref>

Passover lasts seven days in Israel,<ref>as per {{bibleverse||Ex.|12:15|HE}}</ref> and eight days outside Israel. The holiday of the last day of Passover (outside Israel, last [[#2days|two days]]) commemorates the [[Splitting of the Red Sea]]; according to tradition this occurred on the [[Passover#Seventh day of Passover|seventh day of Passover]].<ref>See {{cite web
|url=http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9875/showrashi/true
|title=Rashi on Exodus 14:5
|website=chabad.org
|access-date=January 10, 2013
}}</ref>