Rabbi Alan Learner of Ahavath Achim Synagogue, a conservative Jewish congregation located in Tyler, Texas, places a pan that was just koshered onto a tray for congregation member Shannon Hammel of Beaumont to take home Sunday March 22, 2015 in preparation for Passover. Pots and pans and utensils are koshered by immersing them in boiling water for 20-30 seconds to remove any leavening agent which may be on the surface of the item. (AP Photo/Tyler Morning Telegraph, Sarah A. Miller)

For the first time in her life, Shannon Hammel and her family will participate in a Passover Seder with a Jewish congregation.

The Hammels will join with Tyler’s Congregation Ahavath Achim this week to participate in the Seder, a traditional meal that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday.

“For me, it’s always about remembering and redemption,” said Mrs. Hammel, 42, a stay-at-home mother who lives in Beaumont, but commutes several times a month to worship with the conservative Jewish congregation here because she has family in East Texas.

The Hammels will be among a few hundred East Texans who come together this week to commemorate the freedom of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, a story that is told in the book of Exodus in the Bible.

The holiday starts at sunset Friday and runs for seven or eight days depending upon the type of Jew (Orthodox, Conservative or Reform) and the location (in Israel or outside of it).

Rabbi Alan Learner, of Congregation Ahavath Achim, said Passover provides a time for Jews to remember the Egyptian slavery of their people and God’s deliverance from that.

“(It’s) designed to kind of give you a wakeup call every year and remind you that you must be thankful for the freedom you have,” Learner said. “It’s the festival that celebrates freedom.”

In observing the holiday, Jews follow the Biblical commandment to not eat leavened bread. They also rid their houses of all leavened foods. And they participate in the Passover Seder.

The effort taken by some Jews to remove leaven from their house is extensive. Learner said the Jews in his congregation will immerse pots and pans into boiling water. If the kitchen countertops can stand boiling water, they will wash them with it as well.

The reason for this is to obey the Biblical commandment found in Exodus 12:19 that reads, “For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And anyone, whether foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel.”

By following these commandments Jews are in a small way learning what it’s like to be a servant and to do some hard labor, Learner said.

Rabbi Neal Katz, of Congregation Beth El, a Reform Jewish congregation in Tyler, said Passover is one of Judaism’s top two most important holidays, behind Yom Kippur. Traditionally the Seder takes place in people’s homes. During the meal, Jewish families will read through the Haggadah, a book that takes them through the story of the Exodus from Egypt.

Each of the foods consumed during the Seder is symbolic, with most being associated with some aspect of the Jewish slavery and God’s subsequent deliverance.

Katz said Passover is a melding of Biblical texts and themes. It was about 2,000 years ago that rabbis united the different aspects of the celebration into one holiday.

Although people today do not know exactly what Passover looked like in the time of Jesus, there certainly were elements of today’s holiday celebration such as the eating of unleavened bread and wine, he said.

The connective thread throughout history is that it was a special and holy time of year for the Jewish people.

Katz said the celebration really enables the Jewish community to have an annual recollection of its collective history.

Beyond commemorating the past, though, the holiday provides a time for Jews to consider how their experience can make them empathetic toward others.

“That underlying message, not just God’s redemptive power, but what to do with that information as a redeemed people,” Katz said. “We owe it then to those who are currently victimized and oppressed and suffering … us having been there, our job is to lessen it as well.”

Twitter: @TMTEmily