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ARMONK, N.Y. Passover starts Friday, and most families will celebrate with seders, but there are no holiday activities planned at Bnai Yisrael synagogue in Armonk.
Theres no outward marking of Passover because ceremonies are home-based, said Hayley Kobilinsky, the cantor. For people in the building, there will matzo instead of bread.
She said conservative synagogues hold services on the last day of the seven- or eight-day holiday, but Bnai Yisrael is a liberal congregation and wont hold them.
She also said Jews from different backgrounds celebrate the holiday differently, with different foods based on their family heritage and different melodies to chant during the seder services.
But the basic story is the same, she said. It retells the story of the exodus from Egypt. As you go through the seder step by step you recount the experience of what it was like to be a slave, be free and go to the promised land.
She said the holiday tells a universal story that unites Jews and non-Jews and that some Christians hold seders because Jesus was a Jew and they share the message of hope for the future.
Beth Kramer, a New City resident who was visiting Bnai Yisrael, said her family plans to celebrate the holiday with a traditional seder on Friday and a second seder on Saturday with friends. Well go through the seder, there are so many steps to perform. It commemorates our departure from slavery in Egypt and the beginning of an era of freedom for Jews."
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