Six on History: Easter and Passover
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"Both the Christian Easter and the Jewish Passover take place next month. Here’s a “The Best…” list sharing my picks for the best online resources out there about these holidays that are accessible to English Language Learners :
EASTER:
As usual, the History Channel has excellent Easter resources, including online videos.
The CBBC Newsround has a variety of accessible Easter resources.
Speaking of the Easter Bunny, you can see a picture of him/her hugging George W. Bush and, on the same page, view a slideshow of the annual White House Egg Roll.
How Stuff Works has quite a bit of accessible information on How Easter Works.
EL Civics has a good Easter Lesson for ESL students.
You can send a regular Easter E-Card at Blue Mountain.
Here are two activities designed for ESL students — read about Easter and answer comprehension questions; then take an Easter Quiz
The New York Times has a slideshow on Good Friday activities.
Topmarks has some great Easter materials
Here’s a photo gallery of weird Easter Eggs.
Renee Maufroid has an exercise teaching “Easter Words.”
From Egg To Art is a video from the Wall Street Journal.
Here’s an article and photo from The San Francisco Chronicle about an Easter Egg Hunt for blind children.
Holy Week is a similar series of photos from the Boston Globe’s The Big Picture.
Watch a video from the Wall Street Journal about a crazy Easter egg celebration.
Easter, 2009 is another series of slideshows from The Big Picture.
In pictures: Mexico passion play is from the BBC.
Holy Week is a series of photos from The Boston Globe’s Big Picture.
Good Friday Around The World is a New York Times slideshow.
In Spain, Women Find a Place in the Procession is a New York Times slideshow.
In Rio’s reimagined Passion Play, drug lords kill Christ comes from CNN.
Holy Week and Easter, 2011 is a series of photos from The Atlantic.
Holy Week rituals around the world is from NBC News.
First family hosts White House Easter Egg Roll is a slideshow from The Washington Post.
Easter Egg Hunt Canceled Due To Aggressive Parents is from NPR.
Here are the winners of Washington Post’s 2012 “Peeps Diorama Contest” (In case you’re wondering, Peeps are a popular Easter candy).
Nobody Minds Dyeing the Egg, but the Chicken Is Another Story is from The New York Times.
Nine Things You Didn’t Know About Your Easter Candy is a slideshow from TIME.
Read about the Eggbot at The Atlantic, and watch it in action below.
PASSOVER:
Again, the History Channel has great resources on Passover.
The CBBC Newsround also has accessible resources.
The ESL Free Press gives a very accessible overview of both Easter and Passover.
And here’s another virtual Seder Plate.
The BBC has a good site, though it’s probably only accessible to high Intermediate or Advanced English Language Learners.
You can send a Passover E-Card at Blue Mountain.
From Indian Jews to Jewish Bears: A Passover Photo Gallery is from The Atlantic.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews Prepare For Passover is a TIME slideshow.
Passover: A Time to Grow Students’ Vocabulary and Aspirations is from Edutopia.
Why Add A Banana To The Passover Table? is from NPR.
The Roots of Surprising Passover Seder Traditions From Around the World is from TIME.
"Greek Orthodox Easter, or Pascha, is the most important religious feast of the year, with customs and traditions that have been part of Christianity for two thousand years.
The 40-day period of Lent before Easter (Πάσχα-Pascha), the solemnity of Holy Week, the rich symbolism, and the unique traditions of Orthodox Easter make it very different than Easter as celebrated by Roman Catholics, Protestants, and other Western Christians.
The way Greek Orthodox Easter is observed by the faithful is so very different and includes different symbols used to commemorate the Resurrection. Orthodox Easter and the Easter of other Christian denominations are also observed on different dates.
Every Easter, Greeks thank and honor Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins and we celebrate the miracle of the Resurrection, the rise of Jesus Christ from the dead, and the promise of an afterlife.
Preparations for Easter start 40 days priorGreeks prepare for Easter forty days prior to the great feast, with fasting, prayer, and the attendance of liturgies through Holy Saturday when the resurrection of Christ is celebrated on Easter Sunday.
Preparations for Easter begin at the start of Great Lent. Orthodox Christians fast and pray regularly during the forty days of Lent and Holy Week.
Great Lent prepares the individual believer to reach for, accept, and attain the calling of his Savior.
Observance of Great Lent includes abstinence from many foods (including all meat and dairy), almsgiving and an intensified period of prayer alone and in church along with self-examination, confession, repentance, and restitution for sins committed during the past year.
Lent for the Greek Orthodox concludes with the Presanctified Liturgy on Friday of the Sixth Week. The next day is called Lazarus Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday.
Easter liturgiesOn Holy Week, the church’s liturgies run for hours and hours. Also called Passion Week, the gospels read in church during this time recount the Passions of Christ, the painful days that led Him to the Cross and finally to Resurrection.
Holy Monday’s liturgy commemorates the blessed and noble Joseph and the fig tree which was cursed and withered by the Lord.
The evening liturgy begins with the Hymn of the Bridegroom: “Behold the Bridegroom comes in the midst of the night… beware, therefore, O my soul, lest thou be borne down in sleep…and lest thou be shut out from the Kingdom….”
Liturgy on the Tuesday of Holy Week commemorates the parable of the Ten Virgins. It is about the preparation of the soul and wakefulness.
On Holy Wednesday, Orthodox churches hold the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. This very ancient Liturgy is a Vesper Service held during the evening.
The sacred ceremony of the Mystery of the Holy Unction takes place during that liturgy. It is the evening devoted to repentance, confession, and the remission of sins by the Lord, preparing the faithful to receive Holy Communion, usually on the following day.
Holy Thursday liturgies are the most heartbreaking of all as Jesus Christ’s betrayal is recalled, and he is led to his death at the end of the day.
On Holy Thursday morning, the liturgy celebrates four events: the washing of the disciples’ feet, the institution of the Holy Eucharist, the Marvelous Prayer, and the betrayal.
After the washing of His Apostles’ feet, He pointed out the betrayer, celebrated the Eucharist as part of the Passover meal with His disciples, and pronounced the new commandment to love one another as He had loved them.
Upon leaving his Apostles, Christ spoke to them about the descent of the Holy Spirit to complete man’s union with Christ. His departure, Christ said, would bring joy to them and the world.
The liturgy also includes the reading of the “Twelve Gospels.”
On Holy Friday, church bells throughout Greece ring mournfully all day long, and in the evening there is the Procession of the Epitaphios—a recreation of the tomb of Christ—in each parish.
In the morning, the Epitaphios is decorated with spring flowers—mostly white, red, and purple—until it is entirely covered.
The Epitaphios is often sprinkled with flower petals and rosewater, decorated with candles and ceremonially censed as a mark of respect. Traditionally, the faithful walk underneath it as it is held aloft as a gesture of faith.
In the evening, the ceremonial Epitaphios Procession takes place, led by the parish priests and followed by the faithful who hold lit beeswax candles.
On Holy Saturday, psalms are read and Resurrection hymns are sung, telling of Christ’s descent into Hades: “Today Hades cried out groaning,” the psalm says.
The hymns speak of the conquering of death and the day’s celebration is called “First Resurrection.” Most of the readings of this day are from the Old Testament on the prophecies and promise of the conquering of death.
Finally, at midnight comes the moment that all Orthodox Greeks around the world eagerly anticipate: The Resurrection ceremony when the faithful can finally greet one another by saying “Christos Anesti!” (Christ is risen!).
On this night, Greeks wear their Sunday best, carry a white candle, and go to church to attend the liturgy and wait for midnight.
Children hold their lampatha (λαμπάδα) a decorated white candle given to them by their godfather or godmother. This is a much-anticipated gift by children.
Children keep their lampatha throughout the year because the blessed candle which has been lit by the Holy flame on Resurrection night can be used in other special liturgies such as baptisms and weddings.
At midnight, all the priests come out and chant “Christos Anesti!” while they pass the Holy Light from which all the faithful light their candles and pass the light to one another, saying “Christos Anesti!” with the recipient replying “Alithos Anesti!” or “Truly, He is risen!”
The Holy FireIn Orthodox tradition, the Holy Fire is considered a miracle that occurs annually on the day preceding Pascha within Jesus Christ’s tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem.
In the church, a blue light is said to emit from within Jesus Christ’s tomb, rising from the marble slab covering the stone believed to be that upon which Jesus’ body was placed for burial.
The light is believed to form a column of fire from which candles are lit. This fire is then used to light the candles of the clergy and pilgrims in attendance.
The fire is also said to spontaneously light other lamps and candles around the church. Pilgrims and clergy say that the Holy Fire does not burn them.
The Patriarch is inside the chapel kneeling in front of the stone while the church is dark. Then, the Patriarch exits with the two candles lit and shining brightly in the darkness.
The crowd roars as they witness the bright candles with the Holy Fire and light their own, jubilant after seeing the miracle.
The Holy Fire, which Greeks call Holy Light, is taken to Greece by a special flight, while it is received in the country by political and church leaders with all the honors of a visiting state leader.
Naturally, after the 40-day Lenten fast before Easter, what most Greeks have in mind is to rush to the table to make up for lost time.
Since meat, milk, and eggs, as well as alcohol and sugar, have been prohibited for a long time, there is a great deal of eating to make up for.
Right after the Resurrection liturgy, in the middle of the night, Greeks return home to eat meat once again for the first time forty days. Magiritsa (μαγειρίτσα), a soup made from lamb offal, is consumed at that time; tradition dictates that it be the offal of the very lamb which is to be roasted on Sunday.
Magiritsa also contains dill, lettuce, and other herbs and greens. Eaten after forty days of strict fasting, it is an ideal food with which to prepare the stomach for the Easter Sunday feast.
Easter Sunday is the big day in Greece, the day of the greatest feast of all. The festive day begins with the many preparations for the roasting of a whole lamb on an outdoor spit.
The particular meat is high in religious symbolism.
According to one theory, when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Abraham obeyed God and began preparing for the sacrifice. When Isaac saw what his father was doing, he asked, “The fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
Although Abraham naturally did not really want to kill his son, he was willing to do what God wanted him to do. When God saw that he was willing to obey, He told Abraham to stop, and Abraham sacrificed a nearby ram instead.
A second theory, and more probable theory is that the sacrifice of the Passover lamb was first offered on the night of the Exodus. In the Torah, the blood of this sacrifice painted on the door-posts of the Israelites was to be a sign to God, when passing through the land to slay the first-born of the Egyptians that night, that he should pass by the houses of the Israelites.
In the Mishnah this is called the “Passover of Egypt”. It was ordained, furthermore, that this observance should be repeated annually for all time once the Israelites entered their promised land. In the same manner, the lamb symbolizes for Christians Jesus that got sacrificed to save humans.
Today, Greeks spend Easter Sunday morning slow-roasting the delicious lamb, and then the whole family gathers at the table to eat. The whole preparation and the turning of the spit is a communal experience.
Once at the Easter table, Greeks crack eggs dyed a brilliant bright red with their family and friends. The eggs are dyed red on Holy Thursday, a custom which goes back to the early Christians and symbolizes the sacrificial blood of Christ.
Later on, Greek Orthodox tradition said that the eggs are dyed red on Holy Thursday in commemoration of the Last Supper.
The cracking of the red eggs has its own symbolism, as well. The hard shell of the egg symbolizes the sealed tomb of Christ while the cracking means that the tomb has been broken and that Christ has been resurrected from the dead.
Tsoureki is also prepared on Holy Thursday, but it is not to be eaten before the Resurrection, much like the red eggs. The tsoureki also usually features a bright red egg nestled into its braids.
Tradition has it that the tsoureki symbolizes the Resurrection of Christ and rebirth in general, as after the dough is molded into shape, it rises and looks like it is alive as it swells and transforms into the finished loaf.
The tsoureki has different names and shapes in different parts of Greece, such as “kofinia,” “kalathakia,” “doksaria,” “avgoulas,” “koutsouna,” “kouzounakia” and others. The most common shape is the braid.
A unique Easter tradition in Greece is the fireworks and firecrackers that go off at midnight when priests across Greece declare that “Christ is Risen.”
It is a moment when the ringing of the bells is drowned out by the the noise of firework displays throughout the country, lighting up the skies.
This tradition is fairly recent and its origin is unknown. It is reminiscent of people who fire guns into the air to celebrate a great occasion.
Usually, neighboring parishes participate in a “fireworks war” against each other in trying to outdo the “opponent.” It is a tradition that the Church of Greece and authorities have denounced.
Greek Orthodox and Western EasterThe Greek Orthodox and Western Easter are usually set on different dates. Unlike most European nations which celebrate Easter on April 17th, Greece celebrates Orthodox Easter on April 24th this year.
Orthodox Churches still use the Julian calendar for Easter, meaning that in certain years, there can be a weeks-long gap between the Gregorian calendar that Catholic countries use and the Julian calendar. There may even be a weeks-long gap between Jewish Passover and Easter.
Due to this difference in calendars, the last time the two great Christian denominations celebrated Easter on the same day was in 2017.
Calculating the dates of Greek Orthodox and Western Easter is a complicated factor that has caused debate throughout history.
In the early days of their faith, Christians celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ at different times. It was the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council in 325 AD who came up with a uniform way of determining the date.
The Holy Fathers decreed that Easter was to be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox and always after Passover.
To this day, the Orthodox have stuck with this method of calculating the date of the feast, leading to the fact that it usually falls later than does Easter in the Western world.
In several years, however, Eastern and Western Easter fall on the same date, as will be the case once again in 2025.
13 APR 2022
Is ‘Passover’ Actually a Mistranslation?
Recovering one of the original meanings of the Jewish holiday’s name helps us better understand its message.
This is a free edition of Deep Shtetl, a newsletter about politics, culture, and religion. Sign up to receive future free editions here. But to gain access to the full newsletter, including all paid content, subscribe to The Atlantic.
A few years ago, I learned that I’d been misled about Passover for my entire life.
Jews will begin celebrating this holiday, which commemorates the exodus of the enslaved Israelites from ancient Egypt, on Friday night. In the Hebrew Bible, this festival is called “Pesach.” In English, it is known as “Passover.” But what if that’s a mistake?
Back in 2019, thanks to Joe Septimus, a member of my New York synagogue, and his brother Bernard Septimus, my adviser at Harvard, I discovered that according to the original Jewish sources, “Passover” is far from the most intuitive translation of the holiday’s name.
This debate has more than academic implications. As it turns out, recovering the lost earlier understanding of the festival’s title also helps us better grasp its meaning. For today’s edition, I thought I’d unpack that moral message, in hopes of enhancing your experience of this moment, whether you observe Passover or not. (If you do, feel free to print this out to read at your own seder!)
Parsing PassoverSo, where does the name of Pesach—what we call “Passover”—come from? It appears in the Bible in Exodus 12, where Moses tells the Israelite slaves to sacrifice a lamb and mark their homes with its blood so that they will not be harmed by a plague that kills Egypt’s first-born males:
וַיִּקְרָ֥א מֹשֶׁ֛ה לְכָל־זִקְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֑ם מִֽשְׁכ֗וּ וּקְח֨וּ לָכֶ֥ם צֹ֛אן לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתֵיכֶ֖ם וְשַׁחֲט֥וּ הַפָּֽסַח׃
Moses then summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go, pick out lambs for your families, and slaughter the Pesach offering.”
וּלְקַחְתֶּ֞ם אֲגֻדַּ֣ת אֵז֗וֹב וּטְבַלְתֶּם֮ בַּדָּ֣ם אֲשֶׁר־בַּסַּף֒ וְהִגַּעְתֶּ֤ם אֶל־הַמַּשְׁקוֹף֙ וְאֶל־שְׁתֵּ֣י הַמְּזוּזֹ֔ת מִן־הַדָּ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֣ר בַּסָּ֑ף וְאַתֶּ֗ם לֹ֥א תֵצְא֛וּ אִ֥ישׁ מִפֶּֽתַח־בֵּית֖וֹ עַד־בֹּֽקֶר׃
“Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and to the two doorposts. None of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning.”
וְעָבַ֣ר יְהוָה֮ לִנְגֹּ֣ף אֶת־מִצְרַיִם֒ וְרָאָ֤ה אֶת־הַדָּם֙ עַל־הַמַּשְׁק֔וֹף וְעַ֖ל שְׁתֵּ֣י הַמְּזוּזֹ֑ת וּפָסַ֤ח יְהוָה֙ עַל־הַפֶּ֔תַח וְלֹ֤א יִתֵּן֙ הַמַּשְׁחִ֔ית לָבֹ֥א אֶל־בָּתֵּיכֶ֖ם לִנְגֹּֽף׃
“For when the Lord goes through to smite the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, and the Lord will pasach on the door and not let the Destroyer enter and smite your home.”
The Bible goes on to direct the Israelites to commemorate this moment by making a regular sacrifice, thus establishing the holiday that Jews now observe:
וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־הַדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֑ה לְחָק־לְךָ֥ וּלְבָנֶ֖יךָ עַד־עוֹלָֽם׃
“You shall observe this as an institution for all time, for you and for your descendants.”
וְהָיָ֞ה כִּֽי־תָבֹ֣אוּ אֶל־הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יִתֵּ֧ן יְהוָ֛ה לָכֶ֖ם כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר דִּבֵּ֑ר וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־הָעֲבֹדָ֥ה הַזֹּֽאת׃
“And when you enter the land that the Lord will give you, as He has promised, you shall observe this rite.”
וְהָיָ֕ה כִּֽי־יֹאמְר֥וּ אֲלֵיכֶ֖ם בְּנֵיכֶ֑ם מָ֛ה הָעֲבֹדָ֥ה הַזֹּ֖את לָכֶֽם׃
“And when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this rite?’”
וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֡ם זֶֽבַח־פֶּ֨סַח ה֜וּא לַֽיהוָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר פָּ֠סַח עַל־בָּתֵּ֤י בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ בְּמִצְרַ֔יִם בְּנָגְפּ֥וֹ אֶת־מִצְרַ֖יִם וְאֶת־בָּתֵּ֣ינוּ הִצִּ֑יל וַיִּקֹּ֥ד הָעָ֖ם וַיִּֽשְׁתַּחֲוּֽוּ׃
“You shall say, ‘It is the Pesach sacrifice to the Lord, because He pasach on the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but saved our houses.’” The people then bowed low in homage.
Now, you can see how “pass over” would be an easy way to translate the words pesach and pasach in the verses above. And in fact, that is how Saint Jerome, the Christian author of the Vulgate, the fifth-century Latin translation of the Bible, rendered the words. And he was not alone.
But it is not how many traditional Jewish translators and commentators rendered them.
One of the most ancient and foundational Jewish translations of the Hebrew Bible is the Aramaic Targum Onkelos, which dates to approximately the third century. For many Jews of that era, it was the only way they could access the Bible, as they did not speak Hebrew. Indeed, after the destruction of the Second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem around 70 C.E., it became common practice for synagogues to read the Torah in both Hebrew (the language of the learned) and Aramaic (the language of the masses). Targum Onkelos was the most influential of the latter translations, and to this day it is printed alongside the Hebrew text in many traditional Jewish Bibles.
Simply put, Onkelos reflects how ancient Jews understood the Bible. And Onkelos did not think Pesach meant “Passover.” Here’s how he translates Exodus 12:23, which we cited above:
וְיִתְגְלֵי יְיָ לְמִמְחֵי יָת מִצְרַיִם וְיֶחֱזֵי יָת דְמָא עַל שַׁקְפָא וְעַל תְּרֵין סִפַּיָא וְיֵחוֹס יְיָ עַל תַּרְעָא וְלָא יִשְׁבּוֹק לְחַבָּלָא לְמֵיעַל לְבָתֵּיכוֹן לְמִמְחֵי:
God will appear to strike the Egyptians, and He will see the blood upon the lintel and upon the door posts, and God will be compassionate on your threshold and not permit the destruction to enter your houses to smite.
This shift also affects how Onkelos understands the purpose of regularly commemorating Pesach with the paschal sacrifice. Thus, he translates Exodus 23:27 like so:
וְתֵימְרוּן דַבַּח חֲיָס הוּא קֳדָם יְיָ דִי חָס עַל בָּתֵּי בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּמִצְרַיִם כַּד הֲוָה מָחֵי יָת מִצְרָאֵי וְיָת בָּתָּנָא שֵׁזִיב וּכְרַע עַמָא וּסְגִידוּ:
[When your children ask you, “What do you mean by this rite?”] You shall say, “It is the sacrifice of compassion before God, who had compassion upon the houses and children of Israel in Egypt, when He struck the Egyptians and spared our houses.”
In other words, in this traditional Jewish understanding, the holiday of Pesach is a celebration of divine compassion. The same idea is reflected in the commentary of Rashi, the most influential Jewish biblical commentator, who translates God’s conduct in Exodus 12:23 of “u’Pasach” as “will have compassion.” Only then does he add, “one can also say, ‘He skipped.’” Other Jewish sources that reflect this tradition include Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael, ninth-century polymath Rabbi Saadia Gaon, and the famed biblical grammarians Ibn Janah and Menahem ben Saruk. (Hebrew readers can consult this scholarly article by Dr. Raphael Weiss for a full rundown of these materials, including related sources like the Greek Septuagint, which translated pasach as “protect.” Weiss also notes that the word pasach has parallels in Arabic—that also refer to compassion.)
The implications of this alternative understanding are significant. For one, it gives greater moral meaning to the observance of Pesach. Rather than marking a morally antiseptic act of omission—the “passing over” of Jewish homes—the holiday celebrates a deliberate act of compassion toward an enslaved people, and calls on us to emulate that divine conduct ourselves. “Passing over” is an almost incidental act; a “sacrifice of compassion” is not. When we commemorate Pesach, we commemorate compassion, and remind ourselves that without it, none of us would be here.
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Pesach PostscriptsBarring unforeseen developments, Deep Shtetl will be on hiatus next week for the holiday, so here are a few Passover resources to tide you over.
Back in 2020, the onset of the coronavirus pandemic prevented many from celebrating Passover with their loved ones. In an attempt to recapture some of the missing magic of the occasion, I combed through every Passover song on Spotify and compiled a playlist that reflects an array of Jewish holiday traditions, from Ashkenazi to Sephardi to Jack Black. You can listen to it here.
There is still time to pick up a Haggadah for the holiday, whether my dad’s famed Hogwarts Haggadah or this elegant edition from my old colleagues at Tablet. (You might also check out their 20 charoset recipes from around the world.)
Finally, earlier this week, I had the pleasure of addressing the entire upper school at the Rivers School in Weston, Massachusetts, whose students were more awake and attentive than I ever was at 10 a.m. on Mondays in high school.
Now that I’m back on the road, if you’d like to bring me to your community, just drop me a line. I’m looking forward to seeing many more of you in person in the months ahead.
Wishing you all a chag sameach,
Yair
- WHEN IS EASTER 2022?
- WHY IS EASTER CALLED ‘EASTER’?
- RELIGIOUS TRADITION OF EASTER
- PASSOVER AND EASTER
- EASTER TRADITIONS
- EASTER EGGS
- EASTER BUNNY
- SOURCES
EASTER IS A CHRISTIAN HOLIDAY THAT CELEBRATES THE BELIEF IN THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT OF THE BIBLE, THE EVENT IS SAID TO HAVE OCCURRED THREE DAYS AFTER JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED BY THE ROMANS AND DIED IN ROUGHLY 30 A.D. THE HOLIDAY CONCLUDES THE “PASSION OF CHRIST,” A SERIES OF EVENTS AND HOLIDAYS THAT BEGINS WITH LENT—A 40-DAY PERIOD OF FASTING, PRAYER AND SACRIFICE—AND ENDS WITH HOLY WEEK, WHICH INCLUDES HOLY THURSDAY (THE CELEBRATION OF JESUS’ LAST SUPPER WITH HIS 12 APOSTLES, ALSO KNOWN AS “MAUNDY THURSDAY”), GOOD FRIDAY (ON WHICH JESUS’ CRUCIFIXION IS OBSERVED) AND EASTER SUNDAY. ALTHOUGH A HOLIDAY OF HIGH RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE IN THE CHRISTIAN FAITH, MANY TRADITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH EASTER DATE BACK TO PRE-CHRISTIAN, PAGAN TIMES. ... "
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Pharaoh, Putin and why this Pesach is different from all others
"In the days leading up to Easter Sunday, Christians around the world will participate in retellings of the story of the last days of Jesus’ life, from his entry into Jerusalem to the Last Supper and to his trial, crucifixion and resurrection. They may walk the Stations of the Cross – a processional ritual marking key points in the biblical narrative – attend a pageant or simply gather in church for religious services.
And some people will view or listen to “Jesus Christ Superstar,” the 1971 rock musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. NBC’s “Jesus Christ Superstar: Live in Concert,” featuring R&B star John Legend in the title role, was first broadcast on Easter Sunday 2018 and re-aired for Easter 2020. This year, if you find yourself in Dallas during Holy Week, you might even score a ticket to the latest touring production.
As I detail in my book “Playing God: The Bible on the Broadway Stage,” “Superstar” is the most commercially successful adaptation of a biblical story in Broadway history, with well over 1,000 performances spanning multiple productions. In some ways, this is unsurprising. Church reenactments of biblical scenes were foundational for the development of Western theater, especially the “quem quaeritis trope,” a 10th-century dialogue that reenacts the moment when Jesus’ body is supposedly discovered missing from the tomb. Put another way, Christians have seen drama as an appropriate way to communicate the story of Jesus’ passion and resurrection for more than a millennium.
Yet something about “Superstar” has always seemed a bit improbable, and its depiction of Holy Week set off controversy from the start. Composer Lloyd Webber has recounted how London producers initially regarded the project as “the worst idea in history.” Many religious audiences viewed the play with deep suspicion for what they considered an irreverent approach, questionable theology and its rock ‘n’ roll-influenced score. ... "
B) This week, ahead of Easter, host Amanda Borschel-Dan tours the Jerusalem Old City’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre with top archaeologist Prof. Jodi Magness.
Christian tradition holds that Jesus was crucified and buried on the spot of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. As we tour the church and its surroundings, we see parts of the ruins of earlier stages of the church, including a find from when it was built by Constantine in around 330 CE, as well as remains of earlier structures.
At the end of the tour, we see what Magness feels is the best evidence that supports the Christian tradition.
For much of our tour, we are standing next to praying pilgrims, so to respect them, at times we’re almost whispering. Apologies as well for the background noise as Holy Week was being observed in Jerusalem."
