SYLVANIA, Ohio — This year – Easter, Passover and Ramadan are being celebrated at the same time.
In 2020, there were a reported 4.2 million people of Jewish faith in the United States, according to a Pew Research study.
"These holidays have a lot of similarities to one another just like we in greater Toledo have a lot of similarities to one another," said Daniel Pearlman of The Jewish Federation & Foundation of Greater Toledo.
Last night at sunset, they began one of the faith's major celebrations: Passover.
"It's a joyful time," said Pearlman. "The themes of the holiday include gratitude and freedom and redemptions and miracles."
Passover celebrates the story of the Exodus, when the Israelites fled Egypt and gained their freedom. It lasts for a total of eight days. The first two nights are celebrated with a meal called the seder, meaning a meal that takes place in a specific order.
During the seder, certain prayers will be said and specific foods will be eaten with symbolic meaning. Some of those foods are, for example, a shank bone. The shank bone is to remember the offering of the lambs during one of the 10 plagues in the bible. There are bitter herbs to symbolize the bitterness of slavery and the tears the Israelites shed when they were slaves. There are also eggs that symbolize spring and new beginnings.
Those of Jewish faith are not allowed to eat leavened bread during Passover to remember that during the Exodus, Jewish people didn't have time to finish baking.