When is the Start of Passover 2014?

When is the start of Passover 2014? See the Passover dates as well as history about this important Jewish day.

Passover History

Pesach (Passover) is an annual weeklong festival commemorating the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt and slavery. The holiday, which begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, derives its name from the passing over of the homes of the Israelite slaves during the tenth plague.

First Full Day of Passover 2014

(Passover begins at sundown the day before.)

Celebrating

In many Reform Jewish communities, Passover is celebrated for seven days, not eight. In more traditional Jewish communities—including both Orthodox and Conservative communities—Passover is celebrated for eight days.

Family and friends gather together on the first and second nights of the holiday for the high point of the festival observance, the Seder. During the Seder, which means "order" in Hebrew, the experience of the Exodus is told in story, song, prayer, and the tasting of symbolic foods. Perhaps the most well-known of these foods is the matzoh (flat, crackerlike unleavened bread), which is a reminder of the haste with which the slaves left Egypt because they did not even have time for the bread to rise.

Do you or your friends observe Passover? Send this free Passover e-card [1] to family and friends.

If you do celebrate Passover, please share your traditions below!