Seems like a waste of food unless it was given to the poor.
It’s in memory of when the Jews were hounded out of their homes and they had to flee and didn’t have time to let the bread rise (hence unleavened bread). We use unleavened bread in our ceremonies too (hosts). And many references to “the lamb”. They marked their door posts with the blood of the lamb and the marked houses were “passed over” and lived for another day. Our Easter is called Pasch, or Paschal, which is a derivitive of the Hebrew word for Passover. They get rid of the flour, cake mixes, etc. because they use only potato flour during Passover — not wheat.
I am a Catholic trying to describe the meaning of the Jewish traditions, so please forgive any inaccuracies. This is what I was told and how I remember it from my co-worker’s explanation.
I did not know about stripping the kitchen of all leavening and flour and starting over until I knew Fern. I haven’t seen her for years, but I’ve been thinking about her a lot because I’m currently doing the same to my pantry so that I can paint. Not as extreme a strip, but when I look at the age of some of the packages in the back of the cupboards, I’m thinking that it is not such a bad idea. :)