Passover 2026 पासओवर (पेसाख)

Why Passover is celebrated

Passover is a festival of freedom. Jewish families retell how their ancestors left slavery in Egypt and became a free people. The retelling is meant to feel personal, as if each generation had walked out of Egypt itself. Questions from children are encouraged, so the story passes naturally from grandparents to grandchildren.

History and story of Passover

The Book of Exodus tells that Moses asked Pharaoh to free the Israelites, and Egypt suffered ten plagues when he refused. Before the last plague, the Israelites marked their doors with lamb's blood so that the plague would pass over their homes, which gave the festival its name. They left in such a hurry that their dough had no time to rise, which is why unleavened bread called matzah is eaten.

The Hebrew calendar is lunar with an extra month added in some years, so Passover moves on the solar calendar but always falls in spring. It lasts seven days in Israel and eight days in most other countries.

How Passover is celebrated

Before the festival, homes are cleaned of all leavened food. On the first night families hold the Seder, a ritual meal read from a book called the Haggadah. The table holds bitter herbs for the pain of slavery, a sweet paste of fruit and nuts, salt water, a roasted bone and an egg. The youngest child asks four questions, four cups of wine are drunk, and songs close the evening.

Passover across India

India has an old Jewish population, including the Bene Israel of Maharashtra, the Baghdadi Jews of Mumbai and Kolkata and the Cochin Jews of Kerala. These communities hold Seders at home and in synagogues. Israeli travellers in Himachal Pradesh and other hill towns often join large community Seders.