Passover 2013

March 2013 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Daylight Saving Start Sunday March 10 -11 years, -9 months, -15 days or -4308 days 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 St Patricks Day Sunday March 17 -11 years, -9 months, -8 days or -4301 days 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Palm Sunday Sunday March 24 -11 years, -9 months, -1 days or -4294 days 25 26 Passover Tuesday March 26 -11 years, -8 months, -30 days or -4292 days 27 28 29 Good Friday Friday March 29 -11 years, -8 months, -27 days or -4289 days 30 31 Easter Sunday March 31 -11 years, -8 months, -25 days or -4287 days

Passover for the year 2013 starts on Tuesday, March 26th and ends the 7 day holiday on Monday, April 1st. 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 25th. 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 2nd.

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 2013

Tuesday, March 26th is day number 85 of the 2013 calendar year with -11 years, -8 months, -30 days until the start of the celebration of Passover 2013.