Passover And Easter

This year is one of those rare times that Easter Sunday does not fall right around Passover. I, for one, am a little disappointed.

Everyone always takes time to discuss how Chanukah and Christmas are similar. Really they are not, they are very different holidays. Passover and Easter, on the other hand, truly do have a lot of similarities and I think when the holidays fall close together, it allows more people to focus on those similarities.

Now, while I say the holidays are similar, obviously they have their differences; they commemorate different things. Still both are Spring holidays, holidays of renewal and rebirth, and that is no accident. Easter commemorates the renewal of life as the belief is that is the day their lord rose from the dead. Passover, however, also is about renewal. Up until this holiday the Jews were slaves and had not gained an identity as a religion. That does not come until the Jews leave Egypt and gain their freedom. The Jewish people, then, are being reborn.

Now, I have yet to figure out how the actual date of Easter is calculated. Since the Last Supper was a Passover Seder, Easter logically should fall during the holiday of Passover. Since Easter is pushed to a Sunday, it should be the Sunday in Passover. Frequently that happens, but not always. Then there are cases like this year where the holidays are a month apart.

Still, I think it is important to appreciate the difference amongst the religions as well as the similarities.