All about the ancient tribes
Is Passover the most important day in the Jewish tradition? No. Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, is typically considered the holiest day of the year in Judaism.
They celebrate the seven-day festival by enjoying the first and last days as legal holidays and many take the week off to travel around the country. During Passover, Jews refrain from eating leavened food (made with yeast) such as bread and stores stop selling bread and bread products for the entire week.
Passover began on Wednesday 8 April this year and lasts for seven or eight days.
Passover commemorates the Biblical story of Exodus — where God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The celebration of Passover is prescribed in the book of Exodus in the Old Testament (in Judaism, the first five books of Moses are called the Torah).
Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of Passover.
You can also say “chag sameach,” which translates to “happy festival” and is the Hebrew equivalent of “happy holidays.” To make this Passover greeting specific, you can throw the word “Pesach” in the middle of that phrase — “chag Pesach samech.” To wish somebody a “ kosher and joyous Passover” in Hebrew, it would be “
The actual Seder meal is also quite variable. Traditions among Ashkenazi Jews generally include gefilte fish (poached fish dumplings), matzo ball soup, brisket or roast chicken, potato kugel (somewhat like a casserole) and tzimmes, a stew of carrots and prunes, sometimes including potatoes or sweet potatoes.
What happens on the first day of Passover? On the first two nights of the holiday, a ceremonial meal called Seder is observed. The 15-step tradition includes eating matzah and maror, drinking wine or grape juice, and reading from a Haggadah, according to the Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center.
The main event of the Passover holiday is the seder (literally, “order”), a festive meal in which the haggadah (the book of exodus and related writings) is recited in a set order. During the entire duration of the holiday, it is forbidden to eat leavened food products (such as bread, pasta, etc.).
All four Gospels agree to within about a day that the crucifixion was at the time of Passover, and all four Gospels agree that Jesus died a few hours before the commencement of the Jewish Sabbath, i.e. he died before nightfall on a Friday (Matt 27:62; 28:1; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:31, 42).
Passover Dates
Year | Passover Begins (at sundown) | Passover Ends (at nightfall, when 3 medium stars become visible) |
---|---|---|
2021 | Saturday, March 27 | Sunday, April 4 |
2022 | Friday, April 15 | Friday, April 22 |
2022 | Wednesday, April 5 | Wednesday, April 12 |
Passover 2021 starts at sundown on March 27 and is ends on Saturday night, April 3 or Sunday, April 4 depending on family tradition. The first Passover seder occurs on the evening of March 27, and the second Passover seder occurs on the evening of March 28.
Celebrations. Most Christians don’t celebrate the Passover, since it is seen to belong rather to a Jewish or Old Testament tradition which they believe to be no longer necessary. Among those Christians who do observe the Passover, there are some differences in how this is done.
Passover is a springtime Jewish festival celebrating the early Israelites’ exodus from Egypt and freedom from slavery. Easter is a springtime Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and freedom from sin and death. It is preceded by a series of holidays commemorating Jesus’s path to the cross.
During a Seder, each adult diner drinks four cups of wine, representing the redemption of the Israelites from slavery under the Egyptians.