Burning of chametz marks beginning of Passover
CLEANSING FIRE-Oak Park resident Mendy Bistritzky throws bread into flames as Chabad of the Conejo Rabbi Chaim Bryski recites a prayer during a public burning of chametz, or leavened bread. The event, held at Fire Station No. 31 on Duesenberg Drive in Thousand Oaks, is a pre-Passover tradition meant to remind participants of the hasty exile out of Egypt.