Traditionally, Passover (‘Pesach’ in Hebrew) represents the holiday of freedom. According to the legend (perceived as history by many), it was the time the ancient Hebrews escaped slavery. In Passover many Jews read the ‘Haggadah’, which tells all these ancient stories.
Yet, Passover is identified by one distinct famous tradition: The avoidance of bread. Actually, not just bread but every leavened food that may contain yeast etc. added to dough to make it ferment and rise. Not only it should not be eaten, but according to Orthodox Judaism it should not even be seen.
Hence the holiday of freedom has turned into the holiday of slavery. Families work day in and day out to detect any remains of bread and leaven, some even celebrate the ritual of burning it. All this is on top of preparing the holiday feast for large number of family members. Typically, houses and apartments are thoroughly scrubbed, dishes are put into boiling water, and places are thoroughly searched.
Things have become so weird, to the point that organizations such as hospitals and even the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) actually search private people’s property, in order to look for remains of certain foods and confiscate them.
Much like the Haggadah says: “Slaves we were, in Egypt…”