Feast of the Unleavened Bread
- proper noun
:
Fiesta de los Panes Sin Levadura
- Every year, the Feast of the Unleavened Bread begins on the 15th of Nissan and lasts for eight days.
Examples
-
Many traditional foods, such as matzo, are eaten during the Feast of the Unleavened Bread to commemorate the Jewish Exodus.
-
During the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, Jewish families gather to remember their ancestors' liberation from slavery in Egypt.
-
The mighty legions marched in the very footsteps of devout pilgrims who came from every corner of the Jewish nation to worship and celebrate the high holy days of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, the Passover.
Fiction book (1998)
Synonyms
3
9.3
A Jewish spring festival that remembers the Israelites leaving Egypt and usually lasts eight days
1
4.9
A major Jewish festival that remembers the escape from Egypt and is celebrated with a special family meal
A Jewish festival lasting eight days that remembers when the Jewish people escaped from Egypt
A Jewish festival every spring that remembers the Israelites' escape from slavery in Egypt
Surface Forms
Morphology
feast + of + the + unleavened + bread
The phrase literally composes 'feast' with 'unleavened bread', so a learner who knows those words can infer it refers to a celebration involving unleavened bread. However, the full cultural and historical meaning (that it is the Jewish festival equivalent to Passover commemorating the Exodus) is not derivable from the parts alone, and the adjective 'unleavened' may be lower-frequency for B1 learners.
Etymology
Feast of the Unleavened Bread is named for the practice of eating flat unleavened bread (matzah) because, when the Israelites left Egypt in a hurry, their dough had no time to rise. That's why the festival remembers the 'Exodus' and why people today eat matzah to recall that quick departure from Egypt.