As Christians around the world mourned the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and prepared to celebrate his resurrection on Easter Sunday, Jews gathered to recall their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. This year, the first night of Passover coincided with Good Friday on April 10.

At area churches April 5, palm fronds were handed out to commemorate Christ’s entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Most denominations’ Holy Week schedules were filled with extra services to accommodate the devoutly faithful, as well as the occasional worshiper. Meanwhile, Jews were ridding their homes of chometz, all food and drink made from wheat, rye, barley, oats or leavening agents, and unpacking dishes used only during Passover.

At Congregation Beth El on April 5, 7-year-old Miriam Milder held up the Passover plate she had made in Hebrew school. On it, she and her classmates had glued replicas of the foods they could expect to find on the Seder plates in their own homes during the Seder.

Each of the special foods eaten at the first meal that marks the beginning of the eight-day celebration is symbolic. The bitter herbs represent the pain of bondage; a shank bone recalls the offering the Israelites made to God; the charosest (a mixture of honey, apples, nuts and wine) symbolizes the mortar Jews were forced to make to build Egyptian temples; and the matzo, which is eaten all eight days, is unleavened because the Israelites fled so quickly they did not have time to let the bread rise.

Miriam, whose father, Larry Milder, is the rabbi at Beth El, Bangor’s Reform temple, said that Jews celebrate Passover “because it helps us remember that Jewish people were slaves in Egypt.” She added that she enjoys the Seder, which means order, and most of the food traditionally served.

“I don’t like the shank bone,” she said, pointing to the paper bone on her paper Passover plate, “because you can’t eat it. The marror [bitter herbs] are really bitter tasting. I like the egg best.”

Leslie Staples of Liberty helped Miriam and other first-graders prepare a Passover meal and Hagada book, which contains the Exodus narrative and Seder ritual. Staples’ class is sometimes a child’s first introduction to the holiday because one parent is not Jewish and the family has not observed Passover before, she said.

Although Passover is a home-based holiday rather than a synagogue-centered celebration, the congregation in Bangor’s Conservative temple, Beth Israel, faced another holiday without a rabbi. Joseph Schonberger, who served as Beth Israel’s rabbi for 15 years, moved to Youngstown, Ohio, last July when he and the synagogue’s board could not agree on terms of a new contract.

However, Beth Israel has continued to hold morning and evening services and is conducting interviews, according to Bill Miller, a member of the board and a gobbai, or lay leader. He predicted that a rabbi would be hired by summer.

“When you are a little child and go to Hebrew school, you learn how to lead a service,” said Miller. “In the old days, the goal was that every male would be able to lead the service, and we have 10 or 15 who can and do do that. But you absolutely need a rabbi.”

During the past nine months, Beth Israel has employed others temporarily, a visiting rabbi from Israel for Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah and Milder for a funeral. The synagogue has been using the services of a cantor, Deborah Marlowe of Liberty, on a regular basis. Beth Israel has never had a cantor to sing the prayers and liturgy, except for High Holidays. In the past, that duty had been performed by the rabbi.

“When I heard her sing, I was amazed and stunned by her beautiful voice,” said Rachel Weinstein, 16, of Bangor. “It really moved me. … But services aren’t the same without the rabbi [Schonberger] and Susan [Schonberger].”

Weinstein grew very close to Schonberger, his wife Susan and their three children. During February vacation, the Bangor High School junior visited the family in Ohio, and she chats on-line with them often. Weinstein admitted that she is not as active in the synagogue as she was last year, but emphasized that it had more to do with her busy personal schedule than the Schonbergers’ absence.

Marlowe has been helping prepare 12- and 13-year-olds for their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, a ceremony which welcomes them into the religious community as adults. The native Philadelphian began studying to be a cantor in 1984 after a career as an opera singer. She and her husband moved to Maine last year.

“When I applied to be a teacher, I did not know that they were without a rabbi,” she said in between students. “I am grateful they asked me to chant, because I love to chant. After the holiday, I am starting an adult cantilation class so people can learn to chant the Torah, and possibly a children’s choir.”

While being without a rabbi for such a long period has been difficult, board member William Small of Orono said: “People have risen to the occasion. … It has been an interesting experience because the congregation has had to rely on itself, but we’ve managed to survive. We do miss the consistency of having a rabbi, especially in life-cycle events.”

The task of enticing clergy to northern Maine is difficult for many denominations, but is especially difficult for Conservative and Orthodox Jewish congregations, because the Bangor area has no kosher butcher shop or day — or parochial — school that children can attend, according to Miller.

“The congregation is bigger than one person, and deserves a pat on the back,” he said. “The ship is still sailing, even though it’s been a little shaky sometimes.”

As Christians gathered Friday night to observe the crucifixion of their Messiah, young Jews at the Seder asked their elders, “Why is this night different from all other nights?”

“Passover is a freedom festival,” said Staples, “a family mitzvah when we join together to tell the story of our ancestors.”