Chaptzem Blog!      

Jews observed the the Biur Chametz (burning of the bread) across the city Monday in a ritual marking the arrival of Passover.

All leavened products must be destroyed to make households ready for Passover, which begins at sundown Monday with the first seder.

The eight-day holiday celebrates the deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt.

The Bible tells of the Israelites leaving Egypt in such haste they could not wait for their bread dough
to rise. Matzo, or unleavened bread, also symbolizes redemption and freedom.

Religious Jews braved the rain and gathered outside the Sara Schenirer Teachers Seminary, 4622 14th Ave., in Borough Park, Brooklyn, to feed a fire enclosed by metal barricades.

Fire Department officials stress the importance of metal barricades or metal cans to prevent stray embers.

The blessing recited as the bread is burned is:

"All leaven or anything leavened which is in my possession, whether I have seen it or not, whether I have observed it or not, whether I have removed it or not, shall be considered nullified and ownerless as the dust of the earth."

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/03/29/2010-03-29_passover_in_brooklyn_orthodox_jews_kick_off_holiday_by_burning_bread.html