1.  The holiday carries with it elaborate food requirements, chief among them that all traces of leavened foods be removed from the house.

2.  While Jews of European descent do not eat any leavened foods during Passover, Syrian and some other Sephardic Jews consider rice kosher for Passover.

3.  Jewish law forbids the eating of leavened food products, such as bread, during Passover, which begins Friday night.

4.  Jewish law forbids the eating of leavened food products, such as bread, during the weeklong holiday that begins Friday night.

5.  Observant Jews shun leavened foods during the weeklong holiday in commemoration of the Israelites who had no time to let their bread dough rise when they fled Egypt.

6.  That is in line with the traditional ban on leavened food items during the weeklong holiday.

7.  Traditional Jewish law forbids any trace of leavened food during the weeklong holiday, which starts Friday evening.