Dates
Passover 2025
Begins at sundown on April 12, 2025 and ends at nightfall on April 20, 2025.
Starts
April 12, 2025
at sundown
Ends
April 20, 2025
at nightfall
Length
8 days
work restricted on the first two and last two days
Candles, Jerusalem
19:42
after nightfall, April 12, 2025
Passover 2025 ended on April 20, 2025. The dates, times and customs below are kept as a record.
Next: Passover 2027, sundown April 21, 2027 →Israel or the diaspora?
Passover is seven days in Israel with one seder, and eight days in the diaspora with two seders on the first two nights. It is the most practically significant difference in the Jewish calendar.
Passover marks the Exodus from Egypt. It opens with the seder, a structured meal built around the Haggadah, four cups of wine and the retelling of the story, and continues with a week free of chametz, anything leavened.
Candle lighting for Passover 2025
Times for the evening it begins, April 12, 2025. Passover 2025 starts on a Saturday night, so Shabbat is still in: candles are lit after nightfall, from an existing flame, not at the usual time before sunset.
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On the ground
What happens in Israel
The whole country changes over: supermarket shelves are covered, bakeries switch to matzah, and the first and last days are full public holidays with everything closed. The middle days are a national travel week.
Work is restricted on the first and last day in Israel and the first two and last two days in the diaspora. The days in between are chol hamoed, when most work is permitted.
Practice
How it is observed
- The seder on the first night (first two nights in the diaspora): the Haggadah, four cups of wine, and the afikoman
- Eating matzah and removing all chametz (leavened food) from the home
- Bedikat chametz: the candlelight search for leaven the night before
- Counting the Omer begins on the second night
"Chag Pesach sameach" or "Chag kasher v'sameach" (a kosher and happy holiday)
Matzah, charoset, maror (bitter herbs), matzah ball soup, and a week of chametz-free cooking.
Every year on file
Passover in other years
The Hebrew calendar is lunisolar, so the Gregorian date moves by up to a month from year to year but stays in the same season.
The rest of 2025
Other Jewish holidays in 2025
8 of the 14 other dates on the 2025 calendar, in the order they fall. Each has its own page for 2025.
February 13, 2025
Tu BiShvat 2025
The new year of the trees. Tree planting in Israel and eating the fruits of the land.
March 14, 2025
Purim 2025
Celebrates the rescue of the Jews of Persia as told in the Book of Esther. Megillah readings, costumes, mishloach manot and festive meals.
April 24, 2025
Yom HaShoah 2025
Holocaust Remembrance Day. In Israel a two-minute siren brings the country to a standstill.
April 30, 2025
Yom HaZikaron 2025
Israel's Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror, the day before Independence Day.
May 1, 2025
Yom HaAtzmaut 2025
Israel's Independence Day, marking the declaration of the state in 1948.
May 16, 2025
Lag BaOmer 2025
The 33rd day of the Omer count. Bonfires, weddings and celebrations at Mount Meron.
June 2, 2025
Shavuot 2025
The festival of receiving the Torah at Sinai. All-night learning and dairy foods. Two days in the diaspora, one in Israel.
August 3, 2025
Tisha B'Av 2025
Fast day mourning the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem. If the 9th of Av falls on Shabbat, the fast is observed on Sunday.
Frequently asked questions
When is Passover 2025?+
Passover 2025 begins at sundown on April 12, 2025 and ends at nightfall on April 20, 2025. Jewish days start in the evening, so the first full day is April 13, 2025.
How long is Passover?+
8 days. Passover is seven days in Israel with one seder, and eight days in the diaspora with two seders on the first two nights. It is the most practically significant difference in the Jewish calendar.
Is Passover different in Israel?+
Passover is seven days in Israel with one seder, and eight days in the diaspora with two seders on the first two nights. It is the most practically significant difference in the Jewish calendar.
What happens in Israel on Passover?+
The whole country changes over: supermarket shelves are covered, bakeries switch to matzah, and the first and last days are full public holidays with everything closed. The middle days are a national travel week.
What do you say on Passover?+
The standard greeting is "Chag Pesach sameach" or "Chag kasher v'sameach" (a kosher and happy holiday).