A very Happy Passover to all my Jewish friends who celebrate this holiday.
While we’re on the subject of religious holidays, this year, the dates for Easter are sharply divergent. Every so often, the typical rule of the Eastern Orthodox Easter date is such that it comes much later than the Western Easter. So while Western Christians celebrate Palm Sunday today, the Eastern Orthodox churches won’t be carrying palms until April 25th. Orthodox Easter, which typically follows the Passover, doesn’t occur this year until May 2nd!
Don’t ask me to explain the ways in which these dates are decided upon; it’s not just a difference between the Julian and Gregorian Calendars (because the Greeks, unlike the Russians, follow the “Revised Julian Calendar“—the same as the Gregorian calendar, for every Christian holiday, including Christmas). But for Easter, it’s a Julian rule, with a quirky calculation based on full moons and the equinox! The next time that the Western and Eastern churches will celebrate Easter on the same date will be in 2025. (Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, they have coincided in 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2014, and 2017). Apparently, because of various cumulative changes in the calendars, by the year 2700, the Western and Eastern churches will never celebrate Easter on the same date again!
Either way, getting back to the topic of this post: A very Happy Passover to all those who celebrate!
