Jewish Passover Guide: Everything You Need to Know

What Is Passover?

Passover, known in Hebrew as Pesach, is the Jewish holiday that commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The story comes from the Book of Exodus: the Israelites were enslaved for generations, Moses delivered God's demand to Pharaoh to let his people go, Pharaoh refused, ten plagues followed, and eventually the Israelites walked out of Egypt and into the desert toward a new life.

The name Passover refers to one of those plagues. The tenth and final plague was the death of the firstborn in every Egyptian household. God instructed the Israelites to mark their doorposts with lamb's blood so the plague would pass over their homes. That act of marking, and the protection that followed, is at the center of the holiday's name and meaning.

Passover is not just a historical commemoration. It is an active re-living. The Haggadah, the text read at the seder, says explicitly: in every generation, each person is obligated to see themselves as if they personally left Egypt. Passover is the holiday of liberation that does not let you observe from a distance. You are supposed to feel it.

When Is Passover?

Passover begins on the 15th of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, which typically falls in March or April on the Gregorian calendar. The holiday lasts eight days in the Diaspora and seven days in Israel. In 2026, Passover begins on the evening of April 2 and ends on April 10.

The holiday begins at sundown on the first night, which is when the first seder is held. Many families hold a second seder on the second night. The first two days and last two days are full holidays. The middle four days are chol hamoed, a semi-festive period when many people work but special observances continue.

The Seder: The Heart of Passover

The seder is the ritual meal held on the first one or two nights of Passover. The word seder means order in Hebrew, and that order is everything. The seder follows a specific sequence of fifteen steps outlined in the Haggadah. Every step has a purpose. Nothing is arbitrary.

The Haggadah tells the story of the Exodus through a combination of readings, songs, rituals, symbolic foods, and questions. The most famous moment is the Four Questions, traditionally sung by the youngest child at the table: why is this night different from all other nights? The rest of the seder is, essentially, the answer.

The seder plate sits at the center of the table and holds six symbolic foods. Maror is bitter herbs, typically horseradish, representing the bitterness of slavery. Charoset is a sweet paste of apples, nuts, and wine representing the mortar the slaves used to build Egyptian structures. Karpas is a green vegetable, usually parsley, dipped in saltwater representing tears and the hope of spring. Zeroa is a roasted shank bone representing the lamb sacrifice. Beitzah is a roasted egg representing the cycle of life and the festival offering. Chazeret is a second bitter herb, typically romaine lettuce, used in the Hillel sandwich.

Three pieces of matzah sit separately, covered. Matzah is unleavened bread, made without yeast, representing the bread the Israelites baked in haste as they fled Egypt. They did not have time to let the dough rise. Matzah is the edible reminder that freedom came fast and required sacrifice.

The Ten Plagues

The ten plagues God brought upon Egypt are recited at the seder table. As each plague is named, participants dip a finger into their wine cup and place a drop on their plate. The symbolic act reduces the fullness of joy. Even in liberation, the Haggadah teaches, we do not celebrate the suffering of others without pause.

The ten plagues: blood, frogs, lice, wild beasts, pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and the death of the firstborn. Ten acts of divine pressure before Pharaoh let the people go. Every child at the seder learns them. Many adults still recite them by memory decades later.

The Four Cups of Wine

Four cups of wine are drunk at specific points during the seder, corresponding to the four expressions of redemption God uses in Exodus: I will bring you out, I will deliver you, I will redeem you, I will take you. Each cup marks a stage of liberation. The wine is supposed to be drunk while reclining, a symbol of freedom. Slaves did not recline. Free people do.

A fifth cup is poured but not drunk. This is Elijah's cup, set out for the prophet Elijah who tradition holds will herald the coming of the Messianic age. The front door is opened during the seder to welcome Elijah in. Children watch the cup carefully to see if the level drops.

What You Cannot Eat on Passover

Passover dietary restrictions are among the most extensive in Jewish practice. Chametz, which means leavened products, is completely forbidden during Passover. This includes bread, pasta, most cereals, cookies, cakes, beer, and whiskey. Any grain that has been allowed to ferment or rise is chametz.

Before Passover begins, observant Jews conduct a search of their homes called bedikat chametz, removing every trace of leavened products. Some sell their chametz to a non-Jew for the duration of the holiday, a legal workaround that allows them to own chametz after Passover ends. Anything that cannot be sold or removed is burned the morning before Passover begins in a ritual called biur chametz.

Matzah replaces bread during the holiday. Observant households often have separate dishes, pots, and utensils designated specifically for Passover use, ensuring no cross-contamination with chametz from the rest of the year.

Passover Traditions That Vary by Community

Ashkenazi Jews, whose ancestry traces to Eastern Europe, traditionally also avoid kitniyot during Passover. Kitniyot includes legumes, rice, corn, and beans. The restriction developed because these foods were stored alongside grains and could potentially become mixed with chametz. Sephardic Jews, whose ancestry traces to Spain and the Mediterranean, do not follow this restriction and eat rice and legumes freely during Passover.

This difference matters at the seder table. An Ashkenazi family and a Sephardic family observing the same holiday follow different rules about what appears in the kitchen. In recent years, some Ashkenazi authorities have moved toward permitting kitniyot, and the practice is evolving across denominations.

The haggadah used varies by family and community. The Maxwell House Haggadah has been the standard American version for generations. Artistic illustrated haggadahs, feminist haggadahs, and haggadahs designed for children have all expanded what the seder can look like. The text is fixed. The interpretation is alive.

Passover Music

The seder ends with songs. Echad Mi Yodea, a counting song, goes through thirteen Jewish concepts from one God to thirteen attributes of the divine. Chad Gadya, which means one little goat, is a cumulative song that sounds like a children's rhyme but has been interpreted as an allegory for Jewish history. Dayenu, meaning it would have been enough, is a song of gratitude listing the gifts of the Exodus. Each line ends with the word dayenu. Any single act of liberation would have been enough. Together they are overwhelming.

These songs mark the end of the formal seder. People who are still awake and willing keep going. People who started the seder at nine and are now fighting sleep at midnight call it a night after Adir Hu and mean it.

Why Passover Still Matters

Passover is the most widely observed Jewish holiday. More Jews attend a seder than fast on Yom Kippur. More Jewish households have a seder plate than attend synagogue regularly. Something about the story and the structure of the holiday reaches across the full range of Jewish practice, from Orthodox to entirely secular.

The reason is the story. The Exodus narrative is foundational. It established Jewish peoplehood. It gave the Torah's ethics their grounding: treat the stranger fairly, because you were strangers in Egypt. It established the idea that God acts in history on behalf of the oppressed. The seder keeps that story alive by making it present tense. You are not hearing about people who were freed. You are, for one night, one of them.

Next year in Jerusalem. That is how the seder ends. Not as a plan. As a hope. As a reminder that the story of liberation is not finished. That is Passover.

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