Easter and Passover celebrated at the same time
By Mace Yampolsky
They both took place this past weekend. Two of the most significant religious holidays in Judaism and Christianity were celebrated at the same time. Easter, also called Pascha (Aramaic, Greek, Latin) or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD. It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus, preceded by Lent (or Great Lent), a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.
Easter-observing Christians commonly refer to the week before Easter as Holy Week, which in Western Christianity begins on Palm Sunday (marking the entrance of Jesus in Jerusalem), includes Spy Wednesday (on which the betrayal of Jesus is mourned), and contains the days of the Easter Triduum including Maundy Thursday, commemorating the Maundy and Last Supper, as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus.
In Eastern Christianity, the same days and events are commemorated with the names of days all starting with “Holy” or “Holy and Great”; and Easter itself might be called “Great and Holy Pascha,” “Easter Sunday,” “Pascha” or “Sunday of Pascha.” In Western Christianity, Eastertide, or the Easter Season, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts seven weeks, ending with the coming of the 50th day, Pentecost Sunday. In Eastern Christianity, the Paschal season ends with Pentecost as well, but the leave-taking of the Great Feast of Pascha is on the 39th day, the day before the Feast of the Ascension.
Passover, also called Pesach (/ˈpɛsɑːx, ˈpeɪ-/; Biblical Hebrew: חַג הַפֶּסַח, romanized: Ḥag hap Pesaḥ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring. The word Pesach or Passover can also refer to the Korban Pesach, the paschal lamb that was offered when the Temple in Jerusalem stood; to the Passover Seder, the ritual meal on Passover night; or to the Feast of Unleavened Bread. One of the biblically ordained Three Pilgrimage Festivals, Passover is traditionally celebrated in the Land of Israel for seven days and for eight days among many Jews in the Diaspora, based on the concept of yom tov sheni shel galuyot. In the Bible, the seven-day holiday is known as Chag HaMatzot, the feast of unleavened bread (matzoh).
According to the Book of Exodus, God commands Moses to tell the Israelites to put a mark of a lamb’s blood above their doors in order that the Angel of Death will pass over them (i.e., that they will not be touched by the tenth plague, death of the firstborn). After the death of the firstborn, Pharaoh orders the Israelites to leave, taking whatever they want, and asks Moses to bless him in the name of the Lord. The passage goes on to state that the Passover sacrifice recalls the time when God “passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt.”
This story is recounted at the Passover meal in the form of the Haggadah, in fulfillment of the command “And thou shalt tell (Higgadata) thy son in that day, saying: It is because of that which the LORD did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.”
The wave offering of barley was offered at Jerusalem on the second day of the festival. The counting of the sheaves is still practiced, for seven weeks until the Feast of Weeks on the 50th day, the holiday of Shavuot.
Nowadays, in addition to the biblical prohibition of owning leavened foods for the duration of the holiday, the Passover Seder is one of the most widely observed rituals in Judaism.
So that is all of the accurate biographical data. Now here is my take. This is taken from Comedian Sam Kinison. Could you imagine if Jesus had a wife and he needed to explain why he hadn’t checked in with her for 3 days prior to his resurrection on Easter Sunday? “But honey, I was dead!”
Mrs. Jesus said “Hmmmmmm, you could have sent me a message.”
“How? I was dead? Dear, you are not listening to me. I was dead. D-E-A-D. I couldn’t have communicated with anyone.”
“Humph! I just don’t know why you wouldn’t communicate with me. Far be it from me to opine on communicating effectively with the opposite sex, but this seems like a no-win situation, son of G-D or not.”
I Play tennis with a group of guys every Wednesday. On Ash Wednesday a couple of the guys who are Catholic had the ashes between their eyes; one of the other guys is a doctor and a piece of work. He is a pediatrician (apparently a good one) that hates kids. We’ll call him Horace. He wanted to know about the Ash marks. I’m Jewish and I said it is the beginning of Lent. You give something up for Lent for 40 days. Why don’t you give up being an assh-le for 40 days? I asked. He replied he wouldn’t make it 40 minutes. I agreed with him.
So it is time for rebirth, recreation and rejuvenation. It’s springtime, go forth and prosper. May the fourth be with you.
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