Passover Calendar

The celebration of freedom, the saga of a unique tryst with the God and the historic turn of events to create a 'Land of Hope' - yes, it is Passover! It is indeed a commemoration of the escape of Hebrews from the enslavement of the pharaohs of Egypt. The festival is celebrated by Jews especially Israelites all over the globe, with much pomp and glory. Houses are decorated, fun and interesting games are played and sumptuous meals are prepared for this miraculous occasion. Merry-making and fun are the essential elements of Passover festival and people make sure that they have ample of these two key elements during the festival. Apart from fun celebration, following the rituals and customs is also very important and this is particularly seen during Passover Seder meal. Prayers are recited in Hebrew, songs or Psalms are sung and stories are narrated to make the masses aware of their own inherent tradition. Such a massive celebration witnesses participation by people of all age groups from young toddlers to adults and diverse mindsets. Read this write-up to know more about the festival, as to when it is held.

When Is Passover
The festival of Pesach is witnessed on the 14th day of Nissan, in accordance with the Hebrew calendar. This calendar is specially used by the Jewish community and is lunar-solar in nature. Primarily, this was the only form of calendar used by the people, but owing to globalization, people today use it only for religious rituals. To an extent, the Jewish farmers in Israel also make use of the calendar to highlight their agricultural framework. And sometimes, it is also used by official institutions in the State of Israel. The principle behind the source of the calendar can be traced back to the sayings in the Holy script of Torah. There, several calendar related commandments are discovered, along with the verdict of the Lord to fix Nissan as the first month of the year.

Passover Calendar 2018
Passover commences from the 14th day of Nissan, on a full moon night, after the vernal equinox. It is imperative that the festival does not start before the start of spring and hence, it is a tradition that Nissan month would not start until the barley is ripe. In the unlikely occasion that the barley is not ripe, an intercalary month called AdarII is complemented. Passover is a celebrated for seven days, with the first and the last day marked as public holidays. These two days are often spent in special prayer services, holiday meals and complete asceticism from work, the intervening five days is known as Chol HaMoed or festive days. According to the Gregorian calendar, this year Passover 2018 begins in the evening of Friday, March 30 and ends in the evening of Saturday, April 7. The days that are not major holidays in the Passover celebrations are deemed festival weekdays. And these days are set aside for family activities like picnics which will include the traditional matzo with a variety of fruits and vegetables.

Passover Seder Steps
Below are the fifteen step by step order in Passover Seder:

• Kadeish-The reciting of the Kiddush blessing.
• Urchatz-Washing hands.
• Karpas-Eating vegetables dipped in salt water.
• Yachatz-Breaking of the middle matzah.
• Maggid-Telling Passover story by reciting from the Passover Haggadah.
• Rochtza-Washing hands for the Passover meal.
• Motzee-Making Bracha of Hamotzi over the matzah.
• Matzah-Making Bracha of Als Achilias Matzah over the Matzah and the eating the Matzah.
• Marror or Maror-Eating bitter herbs.
• Koreich-Eating matzah sandwich and bitter herbs, known as "Hillel's Sandwich".
• Shulchal Orech-Eating Yom Tov meal.
• Tzafun-Eating of the Afikoman.
• Bareich-Grace after meals. (saying the Benching)
• Hallel-Reciting hallels, which are the songs or Psalms of Praise.
• Nirtzah- everyone praying to God for both accepting prayers and to accept that the Passover Seder was completed in the proper order.

Passover is all about food, fun and remembering the exodus - it focuses on redemption and highlights that Moshiach heralds the future of divine goodness and perfection. Enjoy the festive dinner, spirited discussion, singing and friendship.