Passover · Day 1

Passover, or Pesach, recalls the Exodus from Egypt and the movement from slavery to freedom at the heart of the Hebrew Bible. In Israel the festival lasts seven days, rather than the eight commonly observed in much of the diaspora. Its opening evening is the Seder, a highly structured meal in which families retell the story through questions, readings, symbolic food and song.

The first day is one of Israel’s legal days of rest, and its scale reaches well beyond synagogue life. Homes prepare for the removal of chametz, public institutions adjust opening hours and relatives often travel for the Seder. The festival’s language of liberation resonates in many settings, yet the actual menu, religious observance and family customs differ across Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi, secular and other communities. The Hebrew calendar is lunisolar, so this Gregorian date is for planning. Israel’s official annual calendar and any employer, school or municipal notice should be checked before fixed travel or work arrangements.

The legal rest day begins at sunset on 14 Nisan; the calendar cell records 15 Nisan, which falls on Thursday, April 2 in 2026. Passover Eve is not itself the full statutory festival day, although many workplaces finish early and transport winds down before the Seder. The intermediate days, Chol HaMoed, are likewise not national rest days, despite extensive school vacations and widespread use of annual leave. Israel’s seven-day structure also differs from the eight-day festival kept by many diaspora communities, so imported calendars can incorrectly create an extra Israeli closure after the statutory seventh day.