Passover 2010

March 2010 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Daylight Saving Start Sunday March 14 -14 years, -9 months, -8 days or -5397 days 15 16 17 St Patricks Day Wednesday March 17 -14 years, -9 months, -5 days or -5394 days 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Palm Sunday Sunday March 28 -14 years, -8 months, -25 days or -5383 days 29 30 Passover Tuesday March 30 -14 years, -8 months, -23 days or -5381 days 31

Passover for the year 2010 starts on Tuesday, March 30th and ends the 7 day holiday on Monday, April 5th. For the Jewish calendar night begins before day, thus the holiday begins on the sunset of the previous day on the evening of Monday, March 29th. For Reform and Reconstructionist Jews who follow the Biblical text they celebrate the holiday over 7 days, however, Orthodox, Hasidic, and other Jews in the Diaspora will celebrate the holiday as 8 days ending on Tuesday, April 6th.

Passover is a spring festival that begins in the months of March or April on the Gregorian calendar. Passover starts on the 15th day of the month of Nisan which is on the first night of a full moon after the northern vernal equinox (except leap months can make the festival start after the second full moon after the northern vernal equinox as in the year 2016).

The 7 or 8 day festival is one of the most important celebrations on the Hebrew calendar commemorating the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. It begins with families gathering together the first night (first 2 nights for many communities outside Israel) for dinner called seder (meaning “order” of “arrangement” in Hebrew) and ends 7 to 8 days later.

Why do Jewish holidays start at nighttime?

According to the Torah, the story of creation in Genesis says “And it was evening, and it was morning day one”, “And it was evening, and it was morning; the second day”, thus night comes before day. So for the Jewish calendar all days begin at nightfall and end the next day at nightfall including holidays.

Days to Passover 2010

Tuesday, March 30th is day number 89 of the 2010 calendar year with -14 years, -8 months, -23 days until the start of the celebration of Passover 2010.