Preparations are underway across the world among Jewish communities to celebrate the holiday and festival of Passover, commemorating the story of Exodus or the departure of the Israelites from ancient Egypt as described in the Hebrew Bible.
As the story goes, God helped the Israelites escape slavery in Egypt by inflicting ten plagues or ten calamities upon the Egyptians. When the Egyptian Pharaoh finally released the Children of Israel, they left the land in such a hurry that they couldn't wait for the bread dough to rise or leaven. This, supposedly, is the reason why the Matzo or the flat unleavened bread is symbolic of the holiday known as the The festival of the Unleavened Bread.
Matzo is prepared using flour and water, which is never allowed to rest, with the baker continually working on the dough right from mixing until baking.
The flat bread serves as a symbol to remind Jews of the impoverished conditions of a slave and to promote humility, appreciate freedom, and avoid the inflated ego symbolized by more luxurious leavened bread.
Click on 'Start' to view the slideshow of images of Israelis preparing Matzo for the festival set to begin April 6.
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men harvest wheat in a field near the Jewish settlement of Mevo Horon May 12, 2011. The harvested wheat will later be used to make the traditional unleavened bread eaten during the Jewish holiday of Passover. REUTERS/Baz RatnerAn ultra-Orthodox Jewish man fills a container with spring water as he takes part in the ritual of "Mayim Shelanu", near the West Bank Jewish settlement of Beit Horon March 28, 2012. The water is used to prepare matza, the traditional unleavened bread eaten during the upcoming Jewish holiday of Passover.REUTERS/Nir EliasAn ultra-Orthodox Jewish man pours flour into a mixing bowl to prepare matza, a traditional unleavened bread, to be eaten during the upcoming Jewish holiday of Passover, in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighbourhood April 2, 2012. The flour is kept in a separate room from the water to ensure it does not not touch the water before the mazta is prepared.REUTERS/Ronen ZvulunUltra-Orthodox Jewish men prepare matza, a traditional unleavened bread, to be eaten during the upcoming Jewish holiday of Passover, in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighbourhood April 2, 2012. REUTERS/Ronen ZvulunAn ultra-Orthodox Jewish man holds freshly baked matza, a traditional unleavened bread, to be eaten during the upcoming Jewish holiday of Passover, in Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv April 2, 2012. Passover commemorates the flight of Jews from Ancient Egypt as described in Exodus from the Bible. According to the account, the Jews did not have time to prepare leavened bread before fleeing to the Promised Land. REUTERS/Nir EliasWestern Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitz removes notes from the cracks of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City March 28, 2012. Workers on Wednesday cleaned out the cracks and made room for more paper notes that Jews believe are notes to God, ahead of the Jewish holiday of Passover which begins on April 6. REUTERS/Ammar AwadDolphin sculptures are displayed at Hiriya recycling park, built on the site of a former garbage dump near Tel Aviv April 1, 2012. The Coca-Cola Recycled Safari featuring animals made of recycled Coca Cola packages will be open to the public during the Passover holiday. REUTERS/Nir Elias
