Passover Wishes and Messages, from the First Seder to the Last Day
Passover is built around a table: the Seder, where family and friends tell the story of the Exodus in the same order every year. The messages below are for the people around that table and the ones who can't be there, from the relative who has hosted for thirty years to a coworker taking the first days off. Copy one, then change a detail so it sounds like you.
Passover 2027 begins at sundown on Wednesday, April 21, 2027, the night of the first Seder. It ends at nightfall on Thursday, April 29, 2027 outside Israel, and a day earlier, on Wednesday, April 28, 2027, in Israel and for many Reform Jews.
48 messages: card messages, the Seder host, family, your partner, friends, coworkers and clients, someone far away, someone grieving, interfaith families, and short texts for the week.
When is Passover?
Passover remembers the Exodus, when the Israelites left slavery in Egypt. It begins on the 15th of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, so on the everyday calendar it moves from year to year and lands in March or April. Like every Jewish day, it starts at sundown: the first Seder is held on the evening Passover begins, and outside Israel most Jews hold a second Seder the next night.
How long it lasts depends on where, and how, someone keeps it. In Israel, and for many Reform Jews everywhere, Passover is seven days. Outside Israel, many Jews keep eight, with the first two days and the last two as full holidays; the days in between are called chol hamoed. In Israel the full holidays are the first day and the seventh. The dates below follow hebcal.com.
Passover 2027
- Begins at sundown, the first Seder
- Wednesday, April 21, 2027
- The second Seder, outside Israel
- Thursday, April 22, 2027
- Ends at nightfall in Israel and for many Reform Jews (seven days)
- Wednesday, April 28, 2027
- Ends at nightfall outside Israel (eight days)
- Thursday, April 29, 2027
Passover 2028
- Begins at sundown, the first Seder
- Monday, April 10, 2028
- The second Seder, outside Israel
- Tuesday, April 11, 2028
- Ends at nightfall in Israel and for many Reform Jews (seven days)
- Monday, April 17, 2028
- Ends at nightfall outside Israel (eight days)
- Tuesday, April 18, 2028
Easter Sunday, April 16, falls during Passover.
Passover greetings people use
Happy Passover is right for anyone to say, in any setting. If the person you're writing to uses a Hebrew or Yiddish greeting, use theirs.
- Happy Passover. The everyday greeting in English, for a card, a text or a colleague.
- Chag Pesach Sameach (CHAG pay-SAKH sah-MAY-ach). Hebrew for happy Passover: chag is a holiday and sameach means happy.
- Chag Sameach. Happy holiday. It fits any Jewish festival, Passover included, and is the short form many people use.
- Chag kasher v'sameach (CHAG kah-SHER veh-sah-MAY-ach). A happy and kosher holiday. Kosher points to the Passover food laws, so it suits someone who keeps them. The longer form is Chag Pesach kasher v'sameach.
- Zissen Pesach. Yiddish for a sweet Passover, usually said as a zissen Pesach. Some families say a zissen un koshern Pesach, a sweet and kosher one.
- Gut yontif. A good holiday, the Yiddish greeting many Ashkenazi families use for every festival.
- Pesach alegre. Happy Passover in Ladino, the Judeo-Spanish language of many Sephardi families.
- Moadim l'simcha. May your times be joyful. It's said on the middle days of Passover, in Israel and among Sephardi Jews; many Ashkenazi Jews say gut mo'ed on those days.
Greetings fit the week or two before Passover and every day of it. Any of them is fine in writing, and none of them needs to be pronounced perfectly to be welcome.
What to write in a Passover card
A Passover card can be short. Three things make one work:
- 1.The greeting the family uses. Happy Passover is always fine; Chag Pesach Sameach or a zissen Pesach if that's what they say to each other.
- 2.One detail from a real Seder. The Haggadahs held together with tape, the year a cousin asked the Four Questions alone for the first time, the charoset only their family makes, whether it's apples and walnuts the Ashkenazi way or dates and figs the Sephardi way.
- 3.A wish for the week. Rest, time together, a good spring.
Mail it so it arrives before the first Seder. Send the card by itself rather than with cookies or anything baked: for the whole of Passover, many families keep no bread or leavened food in the house.
For a family who hosts you every year
To all of you: Passover wouldn't feel like Passover to us without your Seder. Thank you for another year at your table, for the songs your children lead now, and for the spare Haggadahs you always keep for our family. Wishing you a sweet and peaceful Pesach.
For neighbors who keep Passover
Happy Passover from next door. We know this is a full week for you, so if you need anything picked up or an extra pair of hands before the Seder, just knock. Wishing you good Seders and a restful holiday.
From a friend who isn't Jewish
I've only been to one Seder, at your house, and I still think about how every person at the table had a part to read, me included. Happy Passover to you and your family, and thank you for making room for me in the story.
For a grandfather
Dear Grandpa, Chag Pesach Sameach. You taught every one of us the Four Questions, one grandchild at a time, and now the great-grandchildren are learning them at your elbow. Thank you for keeping the Seder going in this family for so long.
For the Seder host
Hosting a Seder is a great deal of work: clearing the house of leavened food, cooking for a crowd, setting out the Seder plate, finding enough Haggadahs to go around, and then leading an evening that follows its own order from the first cup to the last song. A thank-you the next day that names one moment from the night means more than general praise.
If you're a guest, flowers or a tray of fresh fruit is a safe gift, and wine only if it's kosher for Passover. Skip anything home-baked. If you've been invited and can't go, say so early and kindly, so the host can plan the table. And if someone is hosting for the first time, tell them before the night that it doesn't need to be perfect.
Thanking the host after the first Seder
Thank you for last night. I loved hearing your father read the part about the four children in his own words, and watching the kids search for the afikoman under every cushion in the living room. You made a long evening feel easy. Chag Sameach to all of you.
Accepting a Seder invitation
We'd love to come to your Seder. What can we bring? I can pick up wine that's kosher for Passover or bring flowers for the table, whichever helps you more. Thank you for thinking of us.
Declining an invitation kindly
Thank you so much for asking us. We'll be at my parents' Seder this year, so we can't join you, but I hope your table is full and the evening goes late for all the right reasons. Chag Pesach Sameach.
For someone hosting for the first time
Your first time hosting the Seder. It doesn't have to be perfect; the Haggadah keeps the order for you, and the people at your table came to be with you, not to grade the evening. If the timing slips, nobody will mind.
For a host who has led it for decades
Every year you lead the Seder, and every year you make room for one more person: a new neighbor, a friend's son far from home, and me, that first spring after I moved here. Thank you for all of those nights. Chag Pesach kasher v'sameach.
For your family
Family messages work best when they remember a particular Seder: the grandparent who read the Haggadah in a voice saved for that night, the year the youngest finally asked the Four Questions without help, the dishes that come out of the cupboard once a year. If a younger relative is taking the Seder over from an older one, tell them what it means to see it carried on. Grandparents tend to keep cards, so if you can't be at their table, a handwritten one tells them you're with them in spirit on the night itself.
For your grandmother
Grandma, happy Passover. I still have the Haggadah you gave me, with your notes in the margins about which songs we always skip and which we always sing twice. I'll read from it at the table this year and think of you on every page.
For your parents
Mom and Dad, thank you for every Seder you made happen, from clearing the kitchen for Passover to finding a seat for whoever we brought home. I understand now how much work went into one night. Chag Sameach, and see you before sundown.
For a child asking the Four Questions
To our youngest: you practiced the Four Questions all week, in the car, in the bath and once at three in the morning. Tonight everyone at the table gets to hear them. We are so proud of you. Happy Passover.
For a brother or sister
Happy Passover to the only other person who remembers the year Grandpa hid the afikoman so well that nobody found it until June. Save me the seat next to you on the first night.
For a relative taking over the Seder
This is the first year you're leading the Seder instead of Aunt Ruth, and I know she's glad it's you. You don't need to do it her way; do it yours. Chag Pesach Sameach. We'll come early to help set the table.
For your partner
Write about the two of you: the first Seder you went to together, the Haggadah you chose for your own table, how you share the hosting. If your partner is new to Passover, tell them what it meant to have them there. If you're each at your own family's table this year, send something before sundown on the first night, since many observant families don't use phones once the holiday begins.
Your first Seder at home together
Our first Seder at our own table, with borrowed chairs and the Haggadah your grandfather used. I loved seeing our friends squeezed in elbow to elbow because neither of us wanted to turn anyone away. Happy Passover, love. Let's keep doing it this way.
A partner new to Passover
Thank you for asking my mother a hundred questions about the Seder plate and for listening to every answer. You don't have to know all of it yet. Having you beside me this year made the night feel like ours. Chag Sameach.
Apart on the first night
I'll be at my parents' Seder and you'll be at yours, and that's the right call this year. When they open the door for Elijah, I'll be thinking of you. Happy Passover. Tell me everything when we're together again.
At the end of the week
Eight days of planning our meals and our calendar around the holiday, and you made every one of them easier. Thank you for keeping Passover with me, all the way to the last night.
For friends
For most friends, a text on the first night or a card that arrives before it is plenty. If a friend invites you to their Seder, answer quickly, and thank them the next day with a detail from the evening. Plenty of Jews who aren't religious still go to a Seder every year, so don't guess what a friend keeps; let them tell you. Customs differ from family to family, too: in Persian and Afghan Jewish tradition, people tap each other with green onions during the song Dayenu, and Moroccan and Algerian Jewish families open their homes for Mimouna after nightfall on the last day. If a friend's family keeps a custom like that, mentioning it shows you were paying attention.
For a close friend
Happy Passover to the friend who explained the whole Seder to me in a parking lot ten minutes before I met your family, then sat beside me so I always knew which page we were on. Thank you for that, and for every year since.
A friend whose Seder you'll miss
We won't make it to your Seder this year, and I'm sorry to miss it. Ask everyone to sing Dayenu loud enough for me to hear it across town. Chag Pesach Sameach to all of you.
A friend whose family opens the house for Mimouna
Passover ends tonight, and I know your family's door will be open for Mimouna. Thank you for inviting us again. We'll come by after nightfall, and I'll try to stay out of your grandmother's way this time.
A friend with Persian family traditions
I still remember my first Seder at your house, when everyone reached for the green onions during Dayenu and I had no idea what was coming. Happy Passover to your whole family. I hope I'm invited back to sit with your cousins.
Checking in after the first Seder
How was the first Seder? I hope it ran late for good reasons and everyone made it to the end. Thinking of you this week. Chag Sameach.
For coworkers and clients
At work, keep it short and plan around the calendar. Outside Israel, many observant Jews keep the first two days and the last two days of Passover as full holidays, much like Shabbat: they don't work, and many won't use a phone or a computer, from sundown on the first night until nightfall two days later, and again for the last two days. In Israel the full holidays are the first day and the seventh. On the days in between, many are back at their desks. So the most useful message a manager can send is about time off: approve it early, move meetings off those days, and don't expect replies.
Not everyone keeps the holiday the same way, and you can't tell who is Jewish, or who keeps Passover, from a name or a face: Jewish families have roots in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Ethiopia and India, and many American Jews are Jews of color. A Jewish colleague isn't the office's guide to the holiday either, so ask what they need rather than how it works. If you're ordering lunch for the team that week, check with anyone keeping Passover first, since many eat no bread or other leavened food all week. For clients, a short Happy Passover to the ones you know celebrate is enough.
For a coworker who is observing
Happy Passover. I know you're out for the first two days and the last two, so I'll hold anything that can wait until you're back, and nothing here needs a reply from you before then. I hope the Seders are good ones.
From a manager to the team
A note about Passover: if you're observing the first or last days and haven't asked for the time off yet, please do, and I'll approve it today. I've moved the planning meeting off those days. Chag Sameach to everyone celebrating.
For a coworker back after the first days
Welcome back. I hope your Seders were good ones. I put a short summary of what you missed at the top of the shared doc, so there's no need to read the whole thread.
For a client
Wishing you and your family a happy Passover. Thank you for the work we've done together this spring. If there's anything you need from us before the holiday, we'll have it to you well before sundown on the first night.
A team note that includes everyone
To everyone celebrating Passover this week, Chag Sameach, and best wishes to anyone keeping other holidays this spring. Thank you all for covering for one another while people are out.
For someone far away
Missing the family Seder is hard, because the whole night is built around one table. A video call can help if it's set up before the holiday begins, though relatives who don't use phones or computers on the holiday will say goodbye before sundown. Send a card early enough to arrive before the first night. For a student or someone away for work, a box with matzah, a Haggadah and a note from home can make a dorm room or a hotel feel less far away. And for a friend with nowhere to go, an invitation to your own Seder is the best message there is.
A student away at college
Your box should arrive Monday: matzah, a small Seder plate, and your grandmother's Haggadah with a sticky note on the page she wants you to read. The table feels too big without you this year. Happy Passover, and find a Seder near you to go to.
Parents in another time zone
Happy Passover from over here. By the time our Seder starts, yours will be over, but when our youngest asks the Four Questions I'll be picturing all of you around your table. I miss being there.
A friend spending Passover alone
If you don't have a Seder to go to this year, come to ours. There's a seat with your name on it, a Haggadah in big print, and nobody will ask you to sing alone. If you'd rather stay in, tell me and I'll drop off a plate before sundown.
Someone working far from home
Happy Passover from all of us at home. We'll set your place at the table anyway, and Dad will read your part of the Haggadah slowly, the way you do. We're counting the weeks until you're back.
For someone who is grieving
The first Seder after a death is one of the hardest nights of the year for many families. The Seder follows the same order every year, so an empty place is easy to see, whether it was the person who always led it, the one who asked the questions, or the one who made the charoset. Say the name of the one who died, share a memory of them at the table if you have one, and don't tell anyone to enjoy the holiday anyway. After the name of someone who has died, many Jews add of blessed memory, or say may her memory (or his) be a blessing; use those words if they come easily to you both.
The end of the week can be heavy as well: Yizkor, the memorial prayer, is said in synagogue during the last days of Passover. Many people who observe those days won't read messages during them, so send yours before the last days begin. For more words, see condolence messages and thinking of you messages.
The first Seder without a parent
I know tonight is the first Seder without your mother at the head of the table. I keep thinking of the way she read the Exodus story as if it had happened to her own family. May her memory be a blessing. I'm thinking of you tonight and all week.
An empty chair at the Seder
I know there will be an empty chair at your Seder this year, and that the night won't feel the same without him. Nobody expects you to be cheerful. I'm holding your father in my thoughts, and you with him.
Before Yizkor at the end of Passover
Yizkor at the end of Passover will be your first for your brother. I wanted to tell you before the last days begin that I'm thinking of you and of him. If you'd like company after synagogue that day, I'll be nearby.
A hard Passover for another reason
I know this Passover comes in the middle of a hard stretch for you. No need to write back. I'll be thinking of you at our Seder, and you can call me any time once the holiday is over.
For an interfaith family
Many families bring two traditions to the spring: a Seder with one side of the family and Easter with the other, or both under one roof. Wish each person well in their own holiday, by name, and let them tell you how their family does it. If you're not Jewish and you've been invited to a Seder, ask the hosts beforehand what to expect, follow along in the Haggadah, and join in where you feel comfortable. A Haggadah with translation and transliteration lets everyone at the table read a part. If you married into a Jewish family, thank them for making room for you rather than explaining their holiday back to them.
Passover tells the story of the Exodus from Egypt and stands on its own; it isn't an Easter for Jewish families, even in a year when the two land in the same week. In 2028, Easter Sunday falls on April 16, during Passover.
Writing to someone who celebrates Easter? See Easter messages.
For Jewish in-laws, from the partner who married in
Thank you for handing me a Haggadah with the transliteration at my first Seder with you, and for slowing down the songs so I could find my place. Every year I understand a little more of the night, and I'm grateful to sit at your table. Chag Pesach Sameach.
For Christian in-laws who come to the Seder
Thank you for coming to our Seder and for reading the part we asked you to read, Hebrew names and all. It meant a lot to the kids to have both sides of the family at the table. Happy Passover, and a happy Easter to you.
For a couple who keep both holidays
Wishing you a good Passover and a happy Easter, in whichever order the calendar puts them this year. I hope there's time for both meals and that no one has to rush between them.
For a friend who hosted an interfaith Seder
Thank you for the Seder last night, and for the readings you added so that everyone at the table, Jewish or not, felt invited into the story. I learned more about the Exodus at your table than from any book. Happy Passover.
Short texts for Passover
Short texts for the whole week, from the first Seder to the last day, for a friend, a sibling or the family group chat. For anyone who keeps the first days without a phone, send before sundown on the first night; the rest suit friends who are online during the holiday, or the middle days of the week.
Before the first Seder
Chag Pesach Sameach. Thinking of you and everyone around your table tonight.
After the first Seder
How did the Four Questions go? Happy Passover to all of you.
The second Seder
Two Seders in two nights. I hope tonight's is as good as last night's. Chag Sameach.
In Yiddish
A zissen Pesach to you and the whole family.
For a friend keeping Passover
Chag kasher v'sameach. I hope the week goes smoothly for all of you.
The middle of the week
Moadim l'simcha. Halfway through Passover, and thinking of you.
Before the last days
The last days of Passover begin tonight. Chag Sameach, and rest well.
For the family group chat
Happy Passover, everyone. Post a picture of your Seder table before sundown so we can all see them.
Other dates this year, with their messages, are in the holiday calendar. For the winter festival, eight nights in December, see Hanukkah messages.
Remember the birthdays of the people at your Seder table
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