When is Passover? What to know about 2023 dates, meaning of the Four Questions, more.

Passover, the Jewish festival of freedom, is a holiday marked by ceremony. Starting with a traditional seder meal, so choreographed it has a script, the celebration provides a moment to reflect on history, and to have a few bowls of matzoh ball soup. Pesach, as it is called in Hebrew, demands that Jews engage with their ancient story, reveling in both the bitter and the sweet.

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Meant to honor the Jewish people's Exodus from Egypt and their journey to freedom, Passover for many is a time to gather around the seder table and read off the 'Haggadah' a guide to the dinner which comes in different forms. Some families even make their own.

Here's everything you need to know about Passover 2023.

When is Passover 2023?

Passover this year begins sundown Wednesday, Apr. 5 and ends sundown Thursday, Apr. 13.

What night is the seder in 2023?

Traditionally, the seder is held on the first two nights of Passover, this year on Apr. 5 and 6.

A seder refers to the traditional Passover meal Jews share to mark the holiday. It includes dishes like the 'Hillel sandwich' (charoset spread between two pieces of matzoh) and parsley dipped in salt water to commemorate the tears of the ancestors.

What day is the Passover meal eaten?

The Passover meal, or the seder, is eaten on the first two nights of the holiday, though you are certainly not precluded from enjoying some Matzoh ball soup throughout the week.

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A seder, however, requires a formal structure, with the reading of the Haggadah, and the presence of the 'seder plate', a display which includes traditional foods like a shank bone, charoset, and horseradish.

What time is Passover 2023?

Like many Jewish holidays, the beginning of Passover is marked at sundown. With the setting of the sun on Apr. 5, many jews refrain from eating 'hametz' for the duration of the holiday.

'Hametz' refers to any leavened food, though different sects and individuals have different rules around what qualifies as kosher for Passover.

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Some Jewish people will participate in spring cleaning style ritual to rid their homes of 'Hametz,' clearing pantries and wiping down counters to remove any traces.

When is Shavuout 2023?

This year Shavuot begins sundown Thursday May 25 and lasts until sundown Saturday May 27.

At the close of Passover, the period of Omer begins. It lasts 49 days, ending with the holiday of Shavuot which marks the anniversary of the Torah at arriving at Sinai.

How many days is Passover 2023?

Passover lasts for eight days beginning sundown on Apr. 5 and lasting through nightfall Apr. 13.

What is Passover?

Passover, for the Jews, is a festival of freedom, meant to commemorate the Exodus from Egypt.

During the holiday many Jewish people will refrain from eating leavened products, honoring a key component of the Passover story: when the Israelites fled Egypt, they had no time for their bread to rise. It is traditional to vicariously relive this moment in history, eating matzoh instead: an unleavened, hard-tack style cracker.

What are the Four Questions?

The guide books for the the Passover seder known as the Haggadah has a section much beloved by the younger attendants: the Four Questions.

During this portion of the dinner, the youngest child present (who can read) is tasked with reciting four quandaries to the larger group. Known in Hebrew as 'Mah Nishtanah,' these questions are:

• On all other nights, we eat chametz (leavened foods) and matzah. Why on this night, only matzah?

• On all other nights, we eat all vegetables. Why, on this night, maror (bitter herbs)?

• On all other nights, we don't dip even once. Why on this night do we dip twice?

• On all other nights, we eat either sitting upright or reclining. Why on this night do we all recline?

In a call and response format, after each question is asked the remaining dinner guests respond, explaining to their younger, less wise counterpart how the traditions came to be.

Just Curious? Your everyday questions, answered.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: When is Passover 2023? Pesach dates, traditional menu items and more.