I discussed the modern day Passover with my friend who is Jewish, and the first thing he brought up to me was the fact that one of the main concerns of Passover is getting drunk. The actual drinking of lots of wine on the seder is now a common tradition for all Jews during Passover. This stems from the 5 blessings of the wine, where each blessing means each person must drink a whole glass of wine. There is lots of singing during Passover, especially during the seder, when the poems of the Haggadah (the Jewish text which sets forth the order of the seder) are sung. One of the songs is the Dayenu, which means "that will be enough." It is about being thankful to God for all of the gifts he gave to the Jewish people, such as taking them out of slavery. Here are some traditions of the Passover seder:
Recognition of the 7 plagues: a drop of wine is spilled for each plague that was brought upon Egypt.
Dipping bitter herbs (moror) into salt water: the bitter herbs are representative of the bitterness of the lifestyle for Jews in Egypt, and the salt water represents the tears of those who suffered.
Eating charoset: Its color and texture are meant to recall the mortar with which the Israelites bonded bricks when they were enslaved in Egypt as mentioned in the Talmud.
Presence of the lamb shank: recognized the lamb that was sacrificed for Jews to avoid the final plague. The put blood on their doors so that their first born would not be killed.
Other than that, the main dietary traditions of passover include not eating leavened bread, gluten, or corn. Most Jews to not follow the latter two, but still avoid yeast. Common dishes include brisket, matzah ball soup, and kuggel. They also like to eat macaroons and chocolate strawberries as a dessert.
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