The time has finally come for family dinners and Matzah induced indigestion. As the big week approaches, here is your fail safe refresher on everything Passover. Polish up your Seder Plates people and start taking notes!

Traditional Seder Plate used at most Passover Seders to hold traditional symbolic foods. (Rebecca Siegel/Flickr)

This year the first night of passover is this Monday, Apr. 14. Passover continues until the following Monday, Apr. 21. 

What is Passover about?

Jewish Slaves in Egypt were said to have worked to building stones for the Pharaoh's Pyramids. (Wilhelm Joys Anderson/Flickr)

Passover marks the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. In short, the Hebrews were enslaved in Egypt until Moses’ mother and sister sent their baby in a basket down the Nile hoping to save him from a life of Slavery. Moses is found by Pharaoh's daughter who raises him as a prince of Egypt. 

Moses ends up discovering his Israelite roots and leaving Egypt to live with the Midians as a shepherd. One day he is approached by God in the form of a burning bush and is told to go back to Egypt to free the Israelites.

In order to get Pharaoh to free the Israelites, God sends forth 10 plagues to the Egyptians. Eventually Pharoah lets them go and Moses, with some help from God, splits the sea for the Israelites to go to freedom. 

For a more in depth story you can check out the book of Exodus...or rewatch “The Prince of Egypt” on Netflix. It's not exactly historically accurate...but it gives a general outline of the story. 

So what’s the deal with Matzah? What can and can’t you eat on Passover?

Traditional Matzah. (Avital Pinnick/Flickr)

It is told that when the Israelites were rushing out of Egypt they didn’t have time for bread to rise so they ate unleavened bread...aka Matzah. Its crunchy and delightful and tastes a bit like saltine crackers. 

On Passover we are not supposed to eat anything that rises. This includes wheat, barley, oats, rye and spelt products and anything that has yeast or something fermented that could cause it to rise. The specifics of how to observe the dietary restrictions vary between different observance levels and ethnicities.

 It is also the custom of most Ashkenazic Jews to stay away from rice and corn products, as well. 

ALSO SEE: A Gluten Free Guide to Passover

What is a Seder?

A Passover Seder is a family gathering that happens on the first and second nights of Passover. A series of blessings are told over different foods that symbolize different parts of the Passover story. At the seder we tell the Passover story so that the struggle of the Israelites is never forgotten. At the end we eat...a lot. 

 ALSO SEE: Modernized Passover Plates

Speaking of eating, what are some special Passover foods?

Matzah Pizza, made with cheese and tomato sauce baked onto a matzah crust. (Jason Perlow/Flickr)

First and foremost there is the essential Chocolate Covered Matzah. You can find it any any major grocery this time of year and it is crunchy, chocolatey perfection. 

Matzah Pizza is just what it sounds like. You spread pizza sauce and cheese on a piece of matzah and bake until the cheese melts and voila! Perfect crunchy thin crust pizza.

Another Passover favorite is Matzah Brei which is matzah that has been softened with water, dunked in eggs, and fried into perfection. 

With the power of potato starch and Matzah meal you can make a passover kosherized anything. Inspiration below:

ALSO SEE: 9 Unique Ways to Eat Matzah 

What are some tips for getting into the passover spirit?

Check out Martha Stewart’s Virtual Matzah Factory tour here:

Check out some intense Matzah Rapping:

Watch the Moses Instant Message the big guy and Update his facebook status: 

And of course “Chozen” the Frozen cover of the year:

Hope you got some helpful background info, now get out there and have a great Passover! 

Reach Shannon Delijani here. Follow on Twitter here.