Passover

Bsisa takes place at home on Rosh Hodesh Nisan, the first day of the month in which Passover falls. Tradition holds that the Mishkan, the Tabernacle the Israelites built in the desert, was completed on that day, and the ceremony recalls that celebration in every household.

The family gathers around a deep bowl filled with cooked wheat and barley, date honey, almonds, dried fruit, and spices such as fennel and coriander. Wheat, barley, and oil were the ingredients of offerings in the Mishkan and the Temple. Each person rests a finger on the bowl while the head of the household, traditionally the mother, turns the house key in the mixture and pours in olive oil. A blessing is recited in Judeo Arabic; its opening line has been translated as “You, who opens without a key.” Then everyone takes a turn with the key, the mother blesses each person, and all taste the Bsisa.

Customs varied. Some women added gold jewelry to the bowl, recalling the gold women gave for the Mishkan. Some families read the Torah passage about its completion (Exodus 38 to 40), and the evening often ended with a couscous meal, the last before Passover.

A women's tradition, revived

In Tunisian and Libyan homes, Bsisa was traditionally led by women, with mothers blessing each family member in turn. The Jewish Women's Archive suggests the custom may echo an ancient Land of Israel tradition that counted the new year from the first of Nisan.

In 2014, Jerusalem's First Station hosted Israel's first public Bsisa.

The Haggadah teaches that in every generation, people should see themselves as if they had left Egypt. Writer Rahel Musleah notes that many Sephardic Haggadot read l'harot, “to show,” where Ashkenazi texts read lir'ot, “to see.” Many Sephardic and Mizrahi customs do exactly that:

• The plate over our heads. Moroccan families lift the seder plate and pass it over the heads of everyone at the table, declaring that they have left Egypt. Tunisian families hold a reed basket, recalling baby Moses's basket, over each guest's head.
• A traveler at the door. In Libyan and Tunisian homes, a man with a stick and a bundle on his shoulder knocks. Those at the table ask, “Where are you from?” “From Egypt.” “And where are you going?” “To the Land of Israel.”
• Scallions at Dayenu. Persian and Afghan Jews playfully tap one another with green onions or leeks during the song Dayenu, recalling the taskmasters' whips.
• Breaking the matzah. Tunisian Jews break the middle matzah and say, “This is how God split the Red Sea.” Baghdadi Jews rest their hands on the matzah as they declare, “This is the bread of affliction.”

Rice on the table

For about 700 years, many Ashkenazi Jews have avoided kitniyot, a category that includes rice, millet, and legumes, during Passover. Many Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews never adopted this custom, so rice and beans often appear on their Passover tables. Customs still vary by family and community.

Before Passover, Kurdish Jews washed their rice, lentils, and other legumes several times so that no grain or insect remained.

Morocco

The seder plate travels over every guest's head. As in other North African homes, the middle matzah is broken into the shape of the Hebrew letter hey. Haroset is often rolled into small balls of dried fruit and nuts. Passover ends with Mimouna, explored in JIMENA's explainer on Mimouna and Seharane.

Tunisia and Libya

Bsisa opens the season on Rosh Hodesh Nisan. At the seder, a Libyan woven tray called the sabadj holds the ritual foods, and a costumed “traveler from Egypt” knocks at the door with the afikoman wrapped in a cloth on his shoulder.

Iraq

Haroset is halek, dates cooked down into a dark syrup and mixed with chopped walnuts or almonds; in Baghdad it was also called silan. Families made enough to last the year. Almond macaroons called hajji badam, scented with rosewater and cardamom, are a Passover favorite.

Iran and Afghanistan

Green onions come out during Dayenu. In Tehran, haroset was called halegh, and some Persian families make it with 40 ingredients for the 40 years in the desert. A National Library of Israel article notes echoes between Passover and Nowruz, the Persian new year, such as a thorough spring cleaning of the home.

Yemen

Instead of one plate, the whole table becomes the seder plate, decorated with vegetables. Yemenite haroset, called dukkih in Sana'a, is a richly spiced paste of dates, raisins, nuts, and sesame with pepper, cardamom, cloves, and ginger.

Syria

Some Syrian Jews break the middle matzah into the shapes of the letters dalet and vav, whose values add up to 10, for the ten plagues. Families also share a playful, theatrical exchange called mish'arotam.

Ottoman Sephardic (Turkey, Greece, the Balkans)

In Turkey, the head of the family tosses grass, for the reeds of the sea, along with coins or candy for children to gather. Haroset is rich in raisins and citrus. Families in Greece and Turkey bake mina de cordero, a lamb filled matzah pie, and sing Passover songs in Ladino.

Kurdistan and India

Before Passover, Kurdish Jews painted the walls of their homes; after it, they celebrate Seharane. In India, Bene Israel families lift the seder plate and say, “In haste we left Egypt,” and in Calcutta, Baghdadi Jewish families also make date halek.

In the public school classroom

• Teach the Exodus as a story of freedom that many peoples have drawn on, and explore how communities adapt shared traditions.
• Use primary sources: the handwritten Baghdadi Haggadah at the National Archives and the Haggadot gallery of the Jewish Language Project.
• Compare haroset recipes and names on a map, following allergy rules (many use nuts and sesame).
• Describe customs such as the plate over the heads or the scallions; do not hold a model seder, Bsisa, or reenactment with blessings or prayers.

In Jewish schools and communities

• Hold a Bsisa celebration on Rosh Hodesh Nisan and invite Tunisian and Libyan families to lead it.
• Add a Sephardic or Mizrahi custom to your model seder, or learn “Who Knows One?” in Ladino.
• Use the Jewish Language Project's Haggadah supplement to explore Passover phrases and songs in many Jewish languages.
• Explore the Sephardi & Mizrahi Education Toolkit for year round ideas.

At home and with family

• Ask relatives: What was on our seder table? Which language did your grandparents use for the Haggadah?
• Make halek or a haroset from a community other than your own.
• Try a new custom at your seder, and explain where it comes from.
• Record an elder's Passover memories for JIMENA's oral history project.

Watch and listen

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