Passover 2026: Seder Date, Haggadah & Removing Chametz

The Passover Seder

The Seder follows the Haggadah — a text retelling the Exodus through prayers, songs, and 15 structured steps. Children ask the Four Questions (Ma Nishtana) that open the storytelling. The Seder plate holds symbolic foods: shankbone, bitter herbs, charoset, parsley, and a roasted egg. Four cups of wine are drunk.

Removing Chametz

In the weeks before Passover, homes are cleaned to remove all chametz — any leavened grain product. The night before, a candle-lit search for chametz (bedikat chametz) is performed and remaining chametz is burned the following morning. Many sell their chametz to a non-Jew for the duration of the holiday.

Matzah — The Bread of Affliction

Matzah (unleavened flatbread) is eaten throughout Passover in place of chametz, recalling the haste of the Exodus — no time for bread to rise. Eating matzah at the Seder is a biblical commandment. Many use handmade shmurah matzah, watched from harvest to baking to ensure no leavening occurs.

Hol HaMoed and the Last Days

The intermediate days (Hol HaMoed) are semi-festive, with many taking family outings. The last day of Passover commemorates the splitting of the Red Sea. Yizkor, the memorial service for departed loved ones, is recited on the last day.

What is the order of the Passover Seder?

The Seder follows 15 steps, named in a mnemonic sung at the start: Kadesh (sanctification over wine), Urchatz (hand washing), Karpas (vegetable dipped in salt water), Yachatz (breaking the middle matzah), Maggid (telling the Exodus story with the Haggadah), Rachtzah (hand washing before eating), Motzi Matzah (blessings over matzah), Maror (bitter herbs), Korech (Hillel sandwich), Shulchan Orech (festive meal), Tzafun (eating the afikomen — the hidden matzah), Barech (Grace after Meals), Hallel (Psalms of praise), Nirtzah (conclusion with songs). The Seder plate holds symbolic foods: shankbone, egg, bitter herbs, charoset, karpas, and — in many traditions — chazeret.

What can and cannot be eaten during Passover?

The primary prohibition is chametz — any of five grains (wheat, barley, oats, spelt, rye) that have been leavened. This includes bread, pasta, cereals, beer, and most baked goods. Matzah is permitted because it is baked within 18 minutes of water touching flour, preventing fermentation. Ashkenazi Jews additionally avoid kitniyot — legumes, rice, corn, and similar items — though this tradition has no universal basis and many Sephardic Jews and modern authorities permit kitniyot. Passover products must be certified kosher for Passover (KFP). Homes are cleaned of chametz before the festival, and remaining chametz is legally sold (mechirat chametz) through a rabbi.