Passover is over...or is it?

Here in Israel, the Passover holiday ended this evening. As the Torah says, it is a 7-day holiday.

But outside of Israel, in the Diaspora, Passover lasts for 8 days, following an ancient practice. 

In antiquity, the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem would determine the start of a new month based on testimony from witnesses who saw the new moon. Even 2000 years ago, there was a Jewish Diaspora - in fact, there was a sizable Jewish community in Babylon (which later became part of the Persian empire) dating from the exile from Judea in 586 BCE. 

Word had to sent to the distant Diaspora communities, and the Talmud records how this was done: from Jerusalem, and along the hilltops, signal fires would be used to announce the new month. But then saboteurs began to light false fires, and the system no longer worked.

The rabbis of antiquity then legislated that Diaspora communities would observe each of the Biblical holidays (except Yom Kippur) for two days instead of one, to make sure that they were observing the holy day (even if it also meant observing an extra day).

Hence, the first day of Passover, for example, is followed by a second day in the Diaspora that repeats it. This is why Jews outside of Israel have not one seder, but two, on successive nights. And, at the end of the holiday, the seventh day (which is the last day of Passover in Israel) is followed by an eighth day in the Diaspora.

So, it's still Passover in the rest of the world. And here in Israel, the bakeries are busy baking bread for eager customers tomorrow morning.