To recall the exodus in dark times nurtured the yearning for a future restoration, which is why Passover ends with the reciting of a haftarah [prophetic reading] that bristles with this-worldly messianism Isaiah If Passover is largely about Egypt, Easter is largely about Passover. Its historical setting is Jerusalem at Passover, the Last Supper could well have been an embryonic seder, and Jesus is fated to become the paschal lamb.
The good news is that the death of one has the capacity to save many. The resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate affirmation of life or in the words of the Byzantine liturgy:. Christ is risen from the dead! Dying, he conquered death; To the dead, he has given life no.
Finally, because the message of both festivals is so central to the belief system of each faith community, it interlaces the liturgy year round. In the Haggadah we read that Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah was already advanced in years before he fathomed that the exodus from Egypt should be recalled by every Jew twice daily, in the evening as well as in the morning. That is the reason for the addition at the third paragraph of the Shema [a prayer said twice daily] in which this bedrock fact is affirmed.
Still for all their commonalities, Passover and Easter diverge fundamentally. While both festivals are about delivery from a state of despair, be it slavery or sin, Passover heralds the birth of the Jewish people as a force for good in the comity of nations.
In contrast, Easter assures the individual Christian life eternal. Passover summons Jews collectively into the world to repair it; Easter proffers a way out of a world beyond repair. Passover reflects a worldview that devalues life after death and privileges the community over the individual.
Easter bespeaks a religion that reverses both sets of priorities, enabling it to comfort those who had lost faith in the gods of Rome. It is well known that Passover is not the only Jewish new year, that in fact it came to share that role with Rosh Hashanah. Whereas our months are numbered from Nisan [when Passover falls], the years are counted from Tishrei [the month in which Rosh Hashanah falls].
The reason for that anomaly is the development of Rosh Hashanah , after the canonization of the Hebrew Bible, perhaps concomitantly with the emergence of Christianity, into a festival that addressed itself solely to the fate of the individual.
On the other three pilgrimage festivals, including Passover , the world is judged by God collectively. Yet about 15 percent of the time, the two holidays actually occur a month apart.
What causes this mismatch? There are two ways of answering this question. Both holidays are supposed to fall on, or near, a full moon in the spring. Passover always begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan. Because the Hebrew months are pegged directly to the lunar cycle, the 15th day of Nisan is always a full moon. For a time, early Christians used the Jewish calendar as a reference, celebrating Easter on the first Sunday after Nisan But at the First Council of Nicaea in A.
Today most Christian communities celebrate Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon after March And here arises the second, deeper answer. The lunar mismatch occurs because both calendars must grapple with the same underlying problem: A lunar year is not the same length as a full solar year.
In fact, nothing is exactly the same length as a solar year, because not all solar years are the same length. This challenge ails not only both religious calendars, but also every human attempt at timekeeping on Earth. Read: Predicting the end of the world. Allow Benjamin Dreyfus to explain.
If left unaddressed, this would quickly cause the Hebrew calendar to drift out of sync with the solar calendar, violating the biblical commandment to celebrate Passover during the spring. The Hebrew calendar resolves this tension by periodically adding an extra month to the calendar. Two thousand years ago, this decision was made on the fly, almost Groundhog Day— style. During the month of Adar which directly precedes the Passover month of Nisan , the ancient rabbinical court would decide if it was springy enough outside for Passover.
Easter stalks Passover. They arrive together every spring, like the daffodils and magnolia blossoms. This year, Easter Sunday falls as the eight-day Jewish festival nears its end. In March, my wife, who is Jewish, was on the phone, herding her parents, uncles, brothers and cousins. The first night of Passover is on Monday this year. Emails and texts were exchanged to sort out who would bring what, and this past Monday night we sang and recited the age-old prayers and set out a cup for Elijah, the harbinger of the messianic era.
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