'Passover pilgrimage' brings rabbis through South

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Jackson-based rabbi is on the road for a Passover pilgrimage across the South.

Over a nine-day period that started Thursday, Rabbi Marshal Klaven and a rabbinical student plan to visit small Jewish communities in six states to lead Seders, the traditional Passover meal, and other services.

Klaven (KLAY-ven) is director of rabbinic services for the Goldring-Woldenberg Institute for Jewish life in Jackson. The institute provides educational programming and religious leadership to small Jewish communities across the South.

The holiday recalls the Jewish exodus from slavery in Egypt. Klaven says he hopes to help worshippers think about contemporary lessons from the holiday. Some of the congregations along his six-state route have as many as 100 families, while others have fewer than five.