In which Hebrew month does Passover begin?

Passover begins in the Hebrew month of Nisan.

Nisan is the first month of the Hebrew calendar’s ecclesiastical year and is associated with spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Passover, or Pesach, commemorates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and is one of Judaism’s three pilgrimage festivals.

The month’s name ultimately comes through Akkadian and is connected with an older Mesopotamian calendrical tradition. In the Torah, Nisan is also referred to as the month of Aviv. Its placement in the Hebrew lunisolar calendar means it generally falls across March and April in the Gregorian calendar.

A common source of confusion is that the Hebrew calendar has more than one way of describing the beginning of a year. Nisan is the first month for religious or ecclesiastical counting, while Tishrei is associated with the civil new year and Rosh Hashanah. Passover therefore belongs to Nisan even though it may occur during the Gregorian months of March or April.