Is Passover Eve a thing?

March 4, 2016 11:31 AM

I work for a non-profit, and we have tentatively scheduled an early evening event on April 21. This will take place in NYC, and will be attended primarily by entertainment industry executives. One of our hosts (who is not Jewish) is concerned that this is the evening before Passover begins, and wonders if it might hurt attendance. The Jewish folks we've asked don't think it's an issue, but none of them are particularly observant. I'd like to get a large sampling of opinions. Jews of Mefi... what say you?
posted by kimdog to Society & Culture (12 answers total)

Jewish holidays start at night, so Passover starts at sundown on the 22nd. Most even moderately observant Jews will be busy that night at a Seder. The night before (21st), *really* observant Jews will be searching for chametz, but that doesn't sound like your audience, so you're good.
posted by damayanti at 11:37 AM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]

Passover begins this year on the evening of Friday, April 22 and it's particularly the night of the 22nd that people celebrating the holiday will be busy. There are some rituals that particularly observant Jews will do on the day before. I wouldn't be super concerned about that unless you think that's your crowd, and you certainly wouldn't be committing a faux pas by scheduling your event then.

It's also possible that some people will be traveling to go see family and won't be around on the 21st, but I don't think you need to worry too much beyond that.
posted by zachlipton at 11:44 AM on March 4, 2016

I would be concerned if you have a lot of people hosting a seder at their homes -- no idea how common this is in NYC -- because I don't know anyone who hosts a seder who would have time to do something the night before. It's a huge amount of prep.
posted by jeather at 12:00 PM on March 4, 2016 [15 favorites]

I usually host a seder, which means I'll be busy setting the table and doing some day before cooking on the night of the 21st, but anyone who would be coming to my seder would most likely be free the night of the 21st and would most others.

So that means some people who are having guests on the night of the 22nd probably wouldn't be able to make your event, but most other Jews would be free that evening.
posted by brookeb at 12:10 PM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

Yeah, hosts or people helping them are going to be really busy. Other than that, this really might only be an issue for Orthodox or especially observant people.

Quick reference, in terms of observance and stringency: Orthodox > Conservative (or Masorti; Masorti is probably a better name for it but everybody I've talked with uses the other name) > Reform.

As another obvious signal, this could bother anybody who wears the Kippah (skullcap) out in public all the time. If they don't, they're probably not observant or fussy enough to care.

Most american jews fall into Conservative or Reform. I was raised in a Conservative household. We didn't do anything special the night before Passover.
posted by Strudel at 12:14 PM on March 4, 2016

The only real problem you'll have is if people are traveling for the holiday, but personally I would find that a significant enough concern that I would try to reschedule if the majority of my guests were Jewish. Travel for Passover is not uncommon.

Also, unrelated note re:Strudel's point: the Conservative/Masorti split is a geographic one; the movement is referred to as Conservative Judaism within North American and Masorti Judaism outside of North America (primarily in Israel).
posted by Itaxpica at 12:22 PM on March 4, 2016

Best answer: Imagine it's the day before Thanksgiving. Not a holiday, but many people will be taking the next day off or having family in town or prepping for a huge meal. Does that help?
posted by miyabo at 1:22 PM on March 4, 2016 [5 favorites]

Ditto consider it equivalent to day before Thanksgiving, with similar expectations of travel for guests and prep for hosts. (It's actually much more prep work than Thanksgiving, but you get the idea.)

For most of my guests, there would be no conflict. For the travelers, maybe a minor one. For the host, yeah, I probably won't make that event, and if I have to, it'd be a hardship.
posted by fingersandtoes at 1:42 PM on March 4, 2016

Nthing "it's the night before Thanksgiving," meaning the host is cooking and cleaning but everybody else isn't that busy.
posted by BlahLaLa at 1:51 PM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

miyabo has it. It is not that you are scheduling event for the SAME NIGHT as a seder, but that everyone who has a home and takes getting set for the holiday seriously is going to be shopping, cleaning, cooking, prepping, and also getting set for any guests.

I'd move your event a little further from Passover, myself.
posted by bearwife at 2:22 PM on March 4, 2016

Response by poster: Thanks all, for the information. Very helpful. It's good to know this now, because we haven't done much planning yet!
posted by kimdog at 2:51 PM on March 4, 2016

One of our hosts (who is not Jewish) is concerned that this is the evening before Passover begins,
It is possible that this host, like me-before-enlightenment, thinks of Passover as being on the 22nd because is starts on the 22nd--and this timeframe is confusing to people who aren't used to it--but is aware enough to know that Jewish holidays start at sundown the night before, therefore, big conflict.
posted by SLC Mom at 8:05 PM on March 4, 2016