AKIPRESS.COM - These days, the Jews are celebrating their main holiday of the year Passover, standing for a way in which God passed over, or protected, the homes of the Israelites during the night they prepared to begin their journey into freedom.

Passover 2014 begins at sundown on Monday, April 14th. That is the date, this year, which corresponds to the 15th of Nissan, the day according to the Bible, on which the first Passover occurred and on which all subsequent Passovers always begin.

The holiday lasts for 7 days in Israel and 8 days everywhere else, reflecting a long-held custom honouring the fact that maintaining an accurate liturgical calendar far from Israel, where Jewish religious authority was centered in ancient times, was not so simple. It’s a “belt and suspenders approach”, designed to make sure nobody fails to observe the holiday on the appropriate day.

The Seder, literally Hebrew word ‘order’, is the central ritual of Passover. It refers to the carefully ordered Passover dinner party/symposium, typically held at home, which invites all those in attendance to personally experience the move described in the Book of Exodus – the move from slavery to freedom - in story, song, and conversation.The evening is anchored by the drinking, over the course of the evening, of four cups of wine recalling the four times when the Israelites are described as being redeemed, eating Matzah, and bitter herbs, and other symbolic foods including vegetable dipped in salt water and hard boiled eggs.

Drinking wine, especially over a leisurely meal, expresses the freedom of those gathered together, and demonstrating that freedom is a central feature of the Seder. Also, wine is the paradigmatic celebratory drink – think all things from Communion in Christian tradition to New Year’s Eve champagne toasts. Wine, in the words of Psalms, “gladdens people’s hearts”, and the ability to feel and celebrate joy is clearly an important part of being free. To be sure, for those who do not enjoy, or otherwise should not drink wine, grape juice is great alternative, FOX News said in the article "Fourteen things to know for Passover 2014."