My Matzah Week: What Celebrating Unleavened Bread Looks Like

A unique element to the Feast of Unleavened Bread (and Sukkot) is the duration of it: one whole week. That's something Western culture is not familiar with. Holidays, from birthdays to weddings to Christmas are one and done. There is anticipation building up to one special day and then it's over. This can create a lot of pressure to make that day spectacular. One of the great things about these Feasts is that since they are so long there is less pressure to have a big blowout day. But this can also seem a little underwhelming. A few times I have come out of Matzah Week thinking that it wasn't terribly different from any other week.

I decided to intentionally make this week a little bit different. I didn't take off work entirely but I did take a few days off. I also spontaneously decided to limit my internet consumption, and didn't read the handful of blogs I check regularly. I put zero thought into this decision but it worked out super well, as when I caught up with them the following week I realized many of the posts centered around easter preparation. I'm happy to have missed that, particularly during a set  apart time of YHWH. Spiritually, I focused on the final days and statements of Yahusha.  A couple of things I did weren't really feast themed but they were things that I enjoy that make the week a little more special, like picking fresh flowers and reading a new book.  Another thing I'm glad I did was to jot down a few of the Feast centered things that I did each day. It's cool to see that not only was I taking steps to celebrate a Feast of YHWH but that this week really was different for me.

I'm sharing with you what my week was like not because I think everyone should copy my schedule, but because the first few times I celebrated Unleavened Bread I kept wondering, but what should we do? So here is what Matzah Week was like for me this year. I think we don't have more instructions on this holy day because YHWH doesn't want us to be carbon copies of each other. We have a few guidelines, the no-work days, not consuming anything leavened, and celebrating but we also have a little creative wiggle room in how we choose to honor him this week.

Monday was a no-work day. My husband and myself took the day off from our professional jobs and also set aside the perpetual to do list for the day so that we could rest and enjoy YHWH's feast.
-We read the Exodus story together.
-The house had some decorations up already but we set out the decorations I brought back from our Pesach celebration. Including my matzah pinata, chocolate Seder plate, coasters, and lots of printables.
-We ate leftovers from the Passover meal, including matzah.
-We watched The Prince of Egypt.

Tuesday:
-Made a fresh batch of homemade matzah.

-Read the Prince of Egypt story.

-Watched the Joshua episode of Stories from the Bible (since it happened right after Passover).

-I got my flair omer counter set up and ready to go.

-Made spaghetti squash with marinara for dinner.

Wednesdays I run errands with my grandmother. Our tradition is visiting a coffee shop at the end of our outing. This time we had to be mindful of not consuming leavened treats.

-Wore my matzah socks!

-Read a new cookbook from the library.

-Matzah for lunch and dinner. Homemade matzah can be soft like a pita or tortilla, so I used mine to make 'tacos' of roasted root vegetables from the Passover meal. Great with cream cheese and a sprinkle of tabbouleh.

Thursday I worked most of the day. I made it a point to still be mindful of this being a special time.

-Read a verse related to Unleavened Bread every few hours.

-Listened to some Passover music throughout the day.

-Wore my clay matzah ring.

-I baked unleavened coconut cookies.

-Watched Torah to the Tribes' Passover.

Friday:

-Made plenty of fresh matzah to prepare for the back to back Shabbats this week.

-Listened to Torah to the Tribes' Unleavened Bread teaching while cooking and getting ready for Shabbat.

-Finally assembled my clay matzah picture frame for an extra decoration.

Shabbat:

-Attended congregation.

-Had a family lunch of black bean soup with matzah.

-Read the Last Supper accounts in the Besorah.

-Got a card around to send to friends also celebrating Matzah Week.

-More Passover music.

Sunday was the other no-work day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

-We slept in.

-Began our omer counting. (There are many different theories on when to start this, so don't feel bad if you started another day.)

-Went for a walk in beautiful weather.

-Picked a few flowers. The first of the year for me.

-Read the remaining Scriptures from this list.

How do you like to spend your Matzah Week? Again, please don't feel like your week needs to be just like mine. Hopefully this gave you some visual inspiration for keeping this feast. More ideas for Unleavened Bread can be found here.
How do celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread?