The White House didn't always celebrate Passover. How did the tradition start?

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The Biden administration marked the start of its second Passover in office with a virtual celebration and a number of messages from the White House.

The "People's Seder," the White House's take on the ritual feast that marks the start of the holiday, took place Thursday and included messages from President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Jewish-Americans across the country. 

On Friday, Biden in a statement acknowledged that this year's Passover may mark the first in-person celebration since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, three years ago. He also honored the Ukrainian people, writing that their "heroic stand against tyranny inspires us all" this Passover. 

"The enduring spirit of this holiday continues to teach us that with faith, the driest desert can be crossed, the mightiest sea can be split, and hope never stops marching towards the promised land," Biden said in the statement. 

But the White House didn't always officially celebrate the Jewish holiday. Its place as a presidential tradition only began in recent years. Here's what you need to know about the White House's Passover traditions. 

Learn more: Is Passover the same as Good Friday? No, here's a guide to the Jewish holiday

What is Passover?

Passover, also called Pesach, celebrates the Israelites' liberation from slavery in Egypt. The holiday takes place every year during the Hebrew calendar month of Nisan, which typically lands in March or April. 

Its name is literal to Jewish religious text. The Passover story, found in the Hebrew bible's Book of Exodus, details a series of plagues sent by God — from lice infestation to an outbreak of boils — after the Egyptian pharaoh refused to free the Jewish people from enslavement.

The Israelites were instructed to sacrifice a lamb and use its blood to mark their doors, so that God would pass over their homes and spare them from the next plague, the deaths of Egypt's firstborn children. 

In Israel, Passover lasts seven days, but everywhere else, the holiday lasts eight days.

More: Why are Easter and Passover so late in 2022? Blame the moon and a cacophony of calendars

The White House and Passover

The White House's annual celebration of Passover didn't start until fairly recently. 

While campaigning for president in 2008, Barack Obama joined three campaign staffers in a Seder, a traditional Passover meal that includes six symbolic foods following chametz guidelines and a ritual retelling of the Exodus, the Huffington Post reported. In the room were the staffers, Obama, the now-White House press secretary Jen Psaki and other individuals

Once the Seder finished, the group raised their glasses and, in keeping with tradition, said "Next year in Jerusalem." Obama quipped: "Next year in the White House."

The would-be president kept his word. 

In 2009, a few months into his presidency, Obama set into motion what is known as the first official White House Passover Seder.

"The president just poked his head in one day and said 'Hey, Lesser, we're doing the Seder again right? I promised 'next year in the White House' and here we are!'" Eric Lesser, one of the staffers, told the Huffington Post.

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The dinner was held in the Old Family Dining Room at the White House with a number of aides and their families, the New York Times reported at the time. Traditional Passover dishes including matzo ball soup, brisket and kugel, prepared by consulting family recipes from the Seder participants, were served at the dinner, according to the Times.

Obama held a Passover Seder every other year of his presidency, according to the Washington Post. When former President Donald Trump took office in 2017, he stopped the presidential tradition, but some aides held their own celebrations in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the Post reported. 

The Biden administration picked up the torch in 2021, when Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish, held the White House's first virtual Passover Seder, Insider reported. Emhoff is also the first Jewish spouse in a presidential administration. The Bidens also released a Passover message. 

Contributing: Saleen Martin