Pesach or Passover is an eight-day long celebration that begins on the
night of the fifteenth day of the month of Nissan of the Hebrew
calendar. The highlight of the Passover celebration is the ceremony of
Seder performed on the first two evenings of Passover. In 2009, Pesach
will begin at the sunset on April 8th and will ends at the nightfall on
April 15th. In Israel, Pesach is celebrated for seven days only, where
the first and last days are observed as holidays and no work can be done
on these days. However, at other places, the first two and the last two
days are observed as holidays. Work can be done on the intermediary days
that known as 'Chol Ha-Mo'ed'.
In 2001, Pesach began on Saturday night after the Sabbath has
concluded, which happens occasionally. It posed complications as many of
the rituals that are usually performed on the day before Pesach could
not be performed on Shabbat such as the 'Fast of the Firstborn'. Thus,
people had to observe this fast on Thursday instead. Similarly, the
search for chametz also had to be performed on Thursday night.
Similarly, most of the preparations for Seder had to be done before
Shabbat began. Another complication that people had to face was that one
is prohibited to eat Matzah before Seder and chametz should be removed
no later than mid-morning on Saturday on Pesach, while Shabbat requires
eating three meals with bread!
