16 Facts About Passover

Passover, called Pesach, is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring.

The passage goes on to state that the Passover sacrifice recalls the time when God "passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt".

Nowadays, in addition to the biblical prohibition of owning leavened foods for the duration of the holiday, the Passover Seder is one of the most widely observed rituals in Judaism.

English term "Passover" is first known to be recorded in the English language in William Tyndale's translation of the Bible, later appearing in the King James Version as well.

Passover ritual is widely thought to have its origins in an apotropaic rite, unrelated to the Exodus, to ensure the protection of a family home, a rite conducted wholly within a clan.

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Passover lambs were to be sacrificed at the door of the tabernacle and no longer in the homes of the Jews.

Passover is a spring festival, so the 15th day of Nisan typically begins on the night of a full moon after the northern vernal equinox.

However, due to leap months falling after the vernal equinox, Passover sometimes starts on the second full moon after vernal equinox, as in 2016.

In Israel, Passover is the seven-day holiday of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, with the first and last days celebrated as legal holidays and as holy days involving holiday meals, special prayer services, and abstention from work; the intervening days are known as Chol HaMoed .

House is assumed to have been thoroughly cleaned by the night before Passover, there is some concern that making a blessing over the search for chametz will be in vain if nothing is found.

Symbol of the Passover holiday is matzo, an unleavened flatbread made solely from flour and water which is continually worked from mixing through baking, so that it is not allowed to rise.

Traditionally the youngest child is prompted to ask questions about the Passover seder, beginning with the words, Mah Nishtana HaLeila HaZeh .

Saint Thomas Syrian Christians observe Maundy Thursday as Pesaha, a Malayalam word derived from the Aramaic or Hebrew word for Passover, commemorating the Korban Pesach and Last Supper of Jesus Christ during Passover in Jerusalem.

Passover is celebrated in Karaite Judaism, which rejects the Oral Torah that characterizes mainstream Rabbinic Judaism, as well as other groups claiming affiliation with Israelites.

In Christianity, the celebration of Easter and its date in the calendar finds its roots in the Jewish feast of Passover, when, according to Christian interpretation, Jesus was crucified as the Passover Lamb.

The coincidence of Jesus' crucifixion with the Jewish Passover led some early Christians to make a false etymological association between Hebrew Pesach and Greek pascho .