Pesach, the Festival of Freedom, is one of the most widely observed Jewish holidays in the world. Beginning on the fifteenth of Nisan and lasting seven or eight days, Passover commemorates the Exodus from Egypt, when God freed the Israelites from slavery under Pharaoh. It is a time of storytelling, ritual, family, and the eternal affirmation that freedom matters.
Once we were slaves; now we are free, and every spring we taste both, so the story stays ours.
The Exodus from Egypt is the foundational narrative of Jewish identity. The Torah commands Jews to see themselves as if they personally went out from Egypt, not just as ancestors but as participants in the liberation. The Passover Seder is one of the most elaborate and meaning-laden ritual meals in world religion: every element on the Seder plate carries symbolic weight, every action encodes historical memory. Passover teaches that the obligation to pursue freedom does not end with one's own liberation. The commandment to remember the experience of slavery grounds Jewish ethics in the imperative to protect the vulnerable. The Haggadah, 'the telling' has been retold and reinterpreted by every generation of Jews, making it a living document of Jewish identity.
The Passover Seder is the central observance, a ritual meal following the Haggadah that includes the recounting of the Exodus, four cups of wine, the Seder plate (containing bitter herbs, charoset, shank bone, egg, karpas, and chazeret), and the afikomen (hidden matzah the children find). Chametz (leavened grain) is removed from the home before Passover. Matzah, unleavened bread, is eaten throughout the holiday, commemorating the bread that did not have time to rise when the Israelites fled Egypt. Prayers, songs, and discussion accompany the meal, with the goal of transmitting the story to each new generation.
Chag Pesach Sameach, Happy Passover
"Chag Pesach Sameach" ("happy Passover festival") or "Chag Sameach" is standard. Among Ashkenazi Jews, "Gut Yontif" is also common.
“So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.”Exodus 12:14
Passover 2027 begins at sundown on Wednesday, April 21 and ends at nightfall on Thursday, April 29 (eight days in the Diaspora).
A guided ritual dinner on the first night(s) of Passover that retells the Exodus using the Haggadah, four cups of wine, and symbolic foods.
When the Israelites fled Egypt there was no time for their dough to rise, so Jews eat flat, unleavened matzah and avoid all leaven (chametz) for the week.
Sung by the youngest at the table, 'Ma Nishtana' asks why this night is different from all others, the prompt that begins the storytelling.
Eight in the Diaspora, seven in Israel. The difference traces to how the new moon was confirmed in ancient times.
Sundown, Wed Apr 21 – nightfall, Thu Apr 29, 2027
In the Diaspora, Passover runs eight days, opening with a Seder on the first two nights. In Israel it is seven days with one Seder.
Chag Pesach Sameach, Happy Passover