03/27/2026
By the way Iran, this is how we partially adopted the Iranian Passover Seder
By Nati Gabbay - National Library of Israel
The table is set. The door is open. Anyone who wants can come in and join. Everyone is dressed in new and festive clothes, ready to start the New Year's festive meal. All evil has already been consumed in the flames, and now the heart, body and home are clean. Ready for the blessings that the spring season will bring with it. On the table there is a large plate with the symbols of the holiday. Children are entertained with gifts and games to stay awake...
Does it sound familiar to you? It seems like we are talking about the traditional Passover Seder, however in reality, we are talking about something completely different: Nowruz.
Nowruz is the New Year of the ancient Zoroastrian religion. It takes place on the day of the equinox, the day on which the length of the day is equal to the length of the night: March 21st. Nowruz marks the victory of light, sun and fire over darkness, as part of the Zoroastrian concept of duality and the constant struggle between good and evil. This holiday was so deeply rooted in Persian culture that it did not disappear even in modern Islamic Iran. Not everyone sees it favorably; certainly not the ayatollahs!! But the holiday is engraved in the people and took hold in many parts of what was once the territory of the ancient Persian Empire, thus transmitting itself to other countries and territories that received its influence. Even today, in Iran and other countries, Nowruz is celebrated as the national New Year and the popular spring holiday, with holidays, celebrations and much joy.
As is known, for approximately 1,200 years, the Jewish diaspora lived under the Persian Empire. And this culture, as expected, did not go unnoticed. The Jewish sages, not only in Persia but also in Babylon, knew Nowruz well; In fact, the holiday is mentioned in both the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud. It is unclear to what extent Jews celebrated Nowruz over the years, but they were certainly very familiar with this holiday. Nowruz ended up being established as a national holiday among the Jews because it was a NON-RELIGIOUS holiday, so that Jews could also go out to celebrate it without any fear. We do not know exactly how the ancient Persians celebrated Nowruz, but we do know with certainty how it is celebrated under Islamic rule today. The customs bear a rather striking and suspicious similarity to our own Passover customs. It is very logical and even predictable that the Jews were influenced by the customs of the cultures in which they lived. Once these customs took root in Persian culture, the path to the rest of the Jewish communities—both in the Diaspora and in the Land of Israel—also became... very short.
In her book “What Has Really Changed?”, Dr. Esther Shekalim lists, one by one, the Jewish customs of Passover and compares them to those of Nowruz. Only a few examples that are especially interesting will be mentioned:
Cleaning the house and purifying the body.
In Persian, this act is called khana-takhani, an expression that literally means “shaking and cleaning the house”. This is the spring cleaning that Iranians do in preparation for the New Year and the holiday. According to Zoroastrian beliefs, evil also resides in dirt; cleaning represents the victory of good over evil and, consequently, it is necessary to clean even the most hidden corners and recesses.
Biur Jametz – the burning of the Chametz
The Persian custom that precedes the festival begins by lighting a large bonfire, then jumping over it and singing the following song: “My yellowness will pass to you, and your redness will pass to me”. In other words: warmth and energy, that is, health and good fortune, will be carried over to the coming year, while illness and paleness, that is, the misfortunes of the previous year, will be left behind, in the past. It should be noted that even among the Jewish communities of the Caucasus, it is a common practice to jump over a bonfire while chanting protection against the “evil eye”. Honestly, the Chametz on the morning of the 14th of Nisan could be disposed of in many other ways. The practice of eliminating this yeast through fire is considered, within Judaism, as something that transcends the mere physical elimination of said element. There is a perception here that eliminating yeast is equivalent to eliminating the evil of the past year and promising a better new year.
The Shulchan Aruch and the Seder Plate
At the beginning of Nowruz, the extended family sits around a large table, dressed in new, clean clothes, in a brightly lit, decorated room. According to Persian legend, the entire world rests on one of the two horns of a legendary bull that, in turn, rests on a fish in the sea. The bull transfers the world from one horn to the other just at that moment of the equinox and, as a result, the earth moves. And how is this change in the movement of the bull recognized? It is done by carefully observing a hard-boiled egg placed on a mirror, or a green leaf in a jar of water; and thus the change will be more noticeable. Hard-boiled egg, vegetables in water...does it sound familiar? Iranians also have a special plate for the “Iranian Seder” table, with various elements such as eggs, flowers, vegetables, legume sprouts, sweets and fruits.
The Charoset!
There is also "charoset" in Nowruz. Zoroastrians prepare it with crushed wheat, corn and a little meat, and call it "harisa"; today's Iranians make it with crushed wheat to which they add walnuts and almonds, and call it “Samano”. They believe that this dish will ensure fertility, prosperity and sweetness in the new year. Even the words “harisa” and “charoset” are very similar.
Open the door of the house
During Nowruz you have to open the door of the house so that "everyone can enter and join the celebration" much like Kol Dijfin (Ha lachma ania) during the Pesach Seder. Thus, during Nowruz—throughout the holiday—it is customary to receive visitors and be welcomed by others without prior invitation, thus eliminating social and class barriers; this occurs in neighbors' homes or in any house you wish to visit, leaving the door open to emphasize that everyone is welcome. In most Eastern countries (unlike Ashkenazi communities, where bloodshed during Passover was especially feared), the door of the house remained open from the beginning of the Seder to its end, as was the case in the Talmudic period.
The Afikoman
There are several indications of ancient traditions associated with Nowruz, in which it was customary to sn**ch sweets or bread from each other; this was done both to prevent the guests and the youngsters from falling asleep and thus, to share the customs of the festival with the children. These customs have almost completely disappeared from the Zoroastrian table; however, what has survived is very peculiar: in the Middle Ages, it was common for people to whip each other with leather strips; thus, students beat their teachers and the poor sn**ched from the rich. Today it is possible to observe the repetition of this custom at almost every Seder table of Jewish families of Iranian origin, who make sure to “spank or lightly hit” all members of the family—using chives while singing "Dayenu" from the Haggadah.
May we celebrate Passover together in Jerusalem next year and, if possible, in Tehran with a Jewish community! Chag HeAviv Sameach - Happy Spring Festival!
This information is based on the book by Dr. Esther Shekalim, with her consent and collaboration: "What has really changed? The influences of the ancient Persian New Year (Nowruz) on Jewish Passover customs".
