Passover

Jewish festival of liberation recalling the Exodus from Egypt through Seder readings, symbolic foods and unleavened matzah.

Passover, or Pesach, is a Jewish festival remembering the Exodus from slavery in Egypt. In the Torah account, the Israelites suffer forced labour until Moses demands their freedom from Pharaoh. A sequence of plagues culminates in the final night, when Israelite households mark their doorways and share a prescribed meal. The people depart in haste, and the story continues through the crossing of the sea and the journey toward covenant and responsibility. Jewish tradition treats this sacred narrative as a living memory of liberation, rather than simply a story about distant ancestors.

The Seder is a carefully ordered meal centred on the Haggadah, questions asked by children, matzah, bitter herbs and symbolic foods that help participants retell the Exodus. Before the holiday, households remove or set aside chametz, leavened grain products, according to Jewish law and community custom. The meal also invites discussion of freedom, gratitude and duties toward people who experience oppression today.

Passover begins on 15 Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, at sunset as the Jewish day starts. The biblical Passover sacrifice associated with 14 Nisan and the seven-day Festival of Unleavened Bread must be distinguished when describing the chronology. Contemporary Jewish communities commonly observe seven days in Israel and eight in much of the diaspora; dietary customs differ among Ashkenazi, Sephardi and Mizrahi traditions. A Gregorian date should be generated from the Hebrew calendar, not guessed from Easter or a fixed spring day.

Connects the Exodus narrative to freedom, collective memory, ethical responsibility and gratitude.

Seder with Haggadah, matzah and bitter herbs; remove chametz according to Jewish law. Practices vary among communities.

Begins 15 Nisan at sunset; generally seven days in Israel and eight in much of diaspora. Dietary traditions differ.