Apps for Passover

Judaism's impact on the world and its culture is undeniable. But some people fail to understand the finer points of the religion and culture. No problem, anyone looking to obtain a basic understanding of Judaism need look no further. Intro to Judaism provides concise, easy-to-understand summaries of Jewish ideas from Rabbis to holiday traditions. This is an excellent way to learn about Judaism. In addition to the wide variety of Judaic education included in the app, the app can answer almost any question that any newcomers to a Seder may have. Why are we eating Matzah? Why do we dip our fingers in wine 10 times? This, as advertised, is the ultimate, simple introduction to Judaism.

Because the Jewish calendar is different than the one we use today, sometimes tracking when Jewish holidays occur is challenging. This handy reference calendar not only lists all Jewish holidays, but also gives a brief history and explains the significance behind each. It has links to Wikipedia for more research and has the option of choosing which events to show: Israeli Holidays, Jewish Holidays, and Minor Jewish Holidays.

The most important tradition of the Passover celebration is the telling of the story of Jewish exodus from Egyptian slavery. The holy text, the Haggadah, outlines this story. Haggadah for Passover conveniently gives you access to the whole story. This app is key for having your Seder run smoothly. Prompts are included on when to drink the cups of wine. Also included are the Ma Nishtana (The Four Questions), The Four Sons, and The Ten Plagues.

When you want a little extra for your Seder, look no further than A Cantor's Seder. The professional quality service comes complete with prayer chanting recorded by Cantor Emanuel Perlman. This adds not only an element of professionalism to your home Seder, but a bit of ease with many features including custom bookmarks, service lengths, and easy translations from English to Hebrew and back.

This simple universal app for children aged 5-8 entertains as it teaches about Bedikat Chametz (the ritual search for leavened bread.) Play a hidden object game to "clean the house" of leavened food, learn the steps to performing Bedikat Chametz, and cook a favorite Passover dish, Matzah Brie.

One of the most important Passover traditions is the refraining of consumption of Chametz, or leavened bread. This app gives you what you need to know about getting rid of Chametz. The two main features of this app are: a) The section that highlights some FAQs about everything from the "origin of Chametz" to "what qualifies as Chametz?" and b) A link to sell your Chametz, a Passover tradition.

Now that you've gotten rid of your Chametz, it's time to make your shopping list for Passover food. This app makes it super-simple with a section dedicated to Passover and lists Kosher food for year-round meals as well. The app rounds out its features with a list of over 80 Kosher agencies worldwide.

This universal app features over 300 Kosher recipes created by Gloria Kobrin, an authority on Kosher cooking. Though it's not exclusively for Passover, there are some excellent Passover recipes to get you through the seder and beyond. It is illustrated with over 150 images and allows the creation of shopping list by recipe. Menu plans are built in by holiday, so Passover can be less hectic.

When hosting the Passover Seder, you must keep the guests entertained while the food is cooking. Set the mood of the Seder dinner by listening to Jewish Internet radio anywhere. Designed to work on both 3G and Wi-Fi, there are dozens of stations to choose from with formats ranging from talk radio to music. All of the listed channels are free and allow for the easy creation of a Passover setting.

The counting of the Omer, a period of 49 days in between Passover and Shavuot, has never been easier than with this app. Ultimate Omer will provide badge icons and reminders to make sure you remember each day. This app is quite handy given that it's universal, plus it looks great with support for the iPad's retina screen.