If you look up world's oldest holiday, a holiday that is still observed, you'll probably

get New Year's.

But that doesn't really count.

New Year's was not one holiday, different groups celebrated in different ways, often

with different calendars.

And aside from marking the New Year, it doesn't commemorate anything, not an event or a

person.

So what is the world's oldest holiday?

The answer is Passover.

It's been celebrated continuously in the same way by the same group and commemorates a

single event.

Jews have been doing this for more than 3,000 years.

That alone is almost incredible.

But Passover is not only the world's oldest holiday, it is also the world's most important

holiday.

I'll explain why in a moment, first a word about the story of Passover.

It celebrates the Jews Exodus from Egypt in approximately 1200 BC or BCE as many academics

now refer to it.

The Israelites were slaves in Egypt for hundreds of years until, as described in the Hebrew

Bible, the Egyptians suffered what are known as the Ten Plagues.

There farrow the Egyptian ruler finally relented and allowed the Jews to leave.

That's the story of the Exodus, the most widely known national event in Western history.

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