Passover Festival

Celebrate from 8th April to 16th April, 2009

Passover is a spring festival. The name of the festival (Heb. pesah, "passing over" or "protection") is derived from the instructions given to Moses by God. It is the seven-day holiday of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, with the first and last days observed as legal holidays and as holy days involving abstention from work, special prayer services, and holiday meals; the intervening days are known as Chol HaMoed.

The celebration of the holiday begins after sundown on the 14th day of Nisan, the first month of the Jewish ecclesiastical year, about the time of the vernal equinox. In accordance with rabbinic law, Jews living outside the limits of ancient Palestine celebrate the holiday for eight days and partake of a ceremonial meal, known as the Seder, on the first two nights.

The Jewish people still hold this day dear to their hearts and they still thank the Lord for saving their ancestors the way he did. In the days before Passover, the house is prepared. The house is searched for any trace of yeast products (chametz), and the whole family is involved in the search. All products made from yeast are eaten or removed from the house, or given away to Non-Jewish people. All the dishes, silverware, pots and pans are changed for a set that is used only for Passover. In remembrance of the hardships their ancestors faced in slavery, the Jewish people hold a feast called the 'Seder' on the first night of Passover.

It is also referred to as "Chag he-Aviv" (the Spring Festival), "Chag ha-Matzoth" (the Festival of Matzahs), and "Zeman Herutenu" (the Time of Our Freedom). It is the first of the three major Jewish festivals (the other two are Shavu’ot and Sukkot) with both historical and agricultural implication