Passover: Between the Seder and the Sirens
The table is laid out in careful order: a stack of matzo wrapped in cloth, a plate with a hard-boiled egg and green sprigs, a small dish of salt water. As passover begins, a family prepares to read, sing and ask the age-old questions that gather history and daily life around a single meal.
When does Passover start? What to know about the Jewish holiday
This year, Passover starts at sunset on April 1 and runs through nightfall on April 9. Observance varies: many Jews in Israel mark seven days, while many Jews outside the country observe eight days. During the holiday most people refrain from eating leaven in bread or other foods, turning instead to unleavened bread, or matzo.
What happens at a Seder?
Families come together for a Passover Seder, a meal built around reading from a Haggadah that guides prayers, retells the history and explains each ritual step. The Haggadah includes the famous four questions, the best-known of which asks, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” The youngest person at the table traditionally recites or sings those questions.
The Seder plate is a visual map of memory: a roasted or hard-boiled egg, parsley or celery, salt water and a bitter herb and vegetable are commonly arranged with other symbolic items. Practices around the timing of Seders differ: many Reform communities and Jews in Israel hold a Seder on the first night, while other Jewish groups observe Seders on both the first and second nights.
What the story means for households today
The ritual steps at the Seder are tied to the narrative in the Torah’s Book of Exodus. That text tells of enslavement in Egypt, of Moses asking Pharaoh to free the people and of ten plagues that preceded liberation. In the final plague, the firstborn in Egyptian households died; the Israelites were instructed to sacrifice a lamb and mark their doors with its blood so that the calamity would pass over their homes. With the command to leave at once, people fled before their bread dough had time to rise — the origin of eating unleavened bread during the holiday.
For modern families the Seder is both ceremony and conversation: it is a time to recount ancient trials and to connect those stories to present realities. The meal’s order encourages questions, especially from younger guests, turning the Seder into an intergenerational classroom where memory and identity are reinforced over food and song.
Staff writer Isabella Volmert contributed to this report.
Back at the table where the meal began, the matzo is nearly gone, the Haggadah closed and the youngest voice has already asked the four questions. As the household moves from ritual to rest, the customs of the Seder — and the reasons behind them — continue to travel from one generation to the next, carrying the meaning of passover with them.
