Passover is an eight-day Jewish festival commemorating the liberation of the Israelites in ancient Egypt. It is celebrated by millions of Jews around the world each year.
Known in Hebrew as Pesach, Passover is one of three Jewish Pilgrimage Festivals, which also include Shavuot and Sukkot.
When is Passover 2026?
This year, Passover begins on the evening of Wednesday, April 1 and ends after nightfall on Thursday, April 9.
The Exodus Story
Illustrating themes of freedom, deliverance, and redemption, Passover celebrations include retellings of the account of the Israelites’ deliverance from slavery.
This biblical story tells of the Israelites’ freedom and departure from Egypt after decades of captivity. God sent the prophet Moses to command their release from slavery, and when Pharoah refused, God sent a series of plagues over Egypt.
Pesach is in reference to the final plague, which took the lives of all firstborn sons in Egypt, excluding the Israelites who heeded Moses’ command to mark their doors so the plague would spare, or “pass over,” their families.
“This Passover I am thinking about the cost of justice. We are taught to celebrate our freedom from bondage, and also to remember and have empathy for the Egyptians who suffered so that we may be free,” said IA Program Manager, Jake Shapiro, citing Proverbs 24:17:
Do not rejoice when your enemy falls;
do not let your heart be glad when they stumble.
Celebrating Passover
During Passover, the Torah instructs abstention from all leavened foods, known as chametz. Jews prepare for Passover by ridding their homes of all chametz, which represents the “swelling of the ego.”
Unleavened bread, called matzah, is eaten during Passover. Representing the haste of the Israelites fleeing Egypt when there was not even time for bread to rise, matzah symbolizes humility and the hope of freedom.
Passover is celebrated with a feast, called a Seder, which means “order” in Hebrew. Seders occur during the first two evenings of Passover and follow the order of the Haggadah, which outlines the 15-step set of prayers and rituals in commemoration of the Exodus.
Among these steps are a recitation of a sanctifying blessing over wine, known as Kadesh, and the telling of the Exodus narrative, or the Maggid, which is initiated with four questions from the youngest participant or the children at the Seder, prompting reflection on what sets this night apart from others.
In Telling and Retelling at the Seder Table, Interfaith America Vice President of Higher Education, Rebecca Russo, writes about the Passover practice of remembering the stories of past generations, reflecting on how these narratives fit into the story of the Jewish people and of humanity.
“The power of Passover, and of interfaith work,” she writes, “is that we can weave these different stories together in pursuit of our collective redemption.”
Interfaith Stories to Discover This Passover
Muslim and Sephardic Jewish college students are connecting over shared heritage
Interfaith America BRAID fellow, Joseph Pool, is organizing a second annual interfaith event at Rollins College in honor of Mimouna, a “centuries-old Moroccan tradition in which Jewish and Muslim neighbors came together to share food and festivities following the holiday of Passover.”
Interfaith leaders gather for unity Seder at Adat Shalom in Farmington Hills
Less than two weeks after an antisemitic attack on Temple Israel, interfaith leaders in the Detroit area gathered for an annual gathering and issued a collective call for peace.
Americans shouldn’t have to observe our holy days in fear
IA’s Jenan Mohajir and Rebecca Russo report on how recent acts of Islamophobia and antisemitism can tempt Muslims and Jews to view each other with fear or suspicion, or to blame entire populations for the actions of a few. But when we give in to fear, they write, we miss a greater chance.
Leaders pray for united peace during LA’s Interfaith Passover Seder
“If there is a way to even build [those] bridges and connections further when we celebrate our Passover seder – to talk about the liberation of all people – I think that matters immensely,” said Rabbi Sarah Hronsky at Los Angeles’ annual interfaith Seder.
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