Click to ENLARGE. Base image from ‘Wikimedia Commons‘.
Passover, in our times, can fall between March 26 and April 25.
So, April 22 is towards the end of that scale, but not at the very end.
Others years, in recent times, Passover has been in late April.
So, last time it fell on April 22 wasn’t that long ago, viz., 2016. Just 8 years ago. Prior to that 1959. That was a 57-year gap. The longest gap in the last 200 years.
Please don’t ask me to explain how the date for Passover is calculated. I have NO clue. I have a hard enough time trying to work out how Easter is calculated.
Click to ENLARGE. From an Excel Spreadsheet I maintain.
IF you know your Christianity you appreciate that the two holidays are related & as such it is no great surprise that they can — or should — overlap or coincide.
For those that haven’t thought about it the Crucifixion happened just after Passover. Jesus had come to Jerusalem for Passover. The last supper is believed to have a Passover connection.
Hence the connection. In early Christianity Easter was celebrated at the same time as the Passover.
Easter Sunday, per the ‘latest’ formula, can fall between March 22 (the day after the nominal ‘March 21’ Spring Equinox) and April 25.
However, Easter Sunday can NEVER COINCIDE with the start of Passover! The formula used to calculate Easter has this built-in.
So, it is always GOOD FRIDAY that can coincide with the start of Passover — and never Easter per se.
They coincided last year, i.e., Christian Good Friday & the start of the Jewish Passover falling on the same day (which, of course, has to be a FRIDAY). This happens more often that you probably realized. It happened back-to-back, in 2018 & then 2019. Do you remember that? It had also happened in 2012 & 2015.
It will happen again in 2029.
Not so this year, i.e., 2023. Passover started two days BEFORE Good Friday.
The Passover holiday is celebrated over 7 days. So, Passover this year will overlap Easter. That is quite common. Again, remember the CONNECTION.
Click to ENLARGE. View from my seat, BEFORE the show. (I ADHERE to the rules.)
I already RAVED enough about this in my Dec. 29, 2022 post (i.e., the day after I attended). So, I won’t reiterate all of that again, bar saying it was outstandingly good.
This short (i.e., 1.23 min) video produced by them does a very nice job of capturing the highlights. I have watched it many, many times already & I will confess I love ‘The Sussex Mummers Carol‘ (the last song they performed) — which is used as the soundtrack.
This show, with its ‘Ellis Island’ theme was the MOST topical & POLITICAL Revels I ever remember seeing & I have seen more than 25 Revels going back at least 25 years.
This show addressed: immigration, (new) immigration laws, Jewish assimilation, Mexican appreciation AND the ‘unintended consequences of giving power to a person who lacks a conscious’!
‘Cambridge Revels’, the mothership of Revels, just puts so much thought, planning, production & planning into it, each year. They are, & they know it, a class a part.
There is Revels & then there is ‘Cambridge Revels’.
The 2022 production, the “Tales from Ellis Island“, — which I was privileged to see yesterday (i.e., December 28) was no exception. It was brilliant. Immaculately produced. Wow. And the talent.
Prior to the show, an 80-year old usher, an ex-linguistic professor, who had been involved with ‘Cambridge Revels’ since 1978, happened to tell me that ‘they’ felt a moral obligation to convey a message of ‘social responsibility’ in addition to entertaining the audience. And WOW did they do that with this performance!
This show, with its ‘Ellis Island’ theme was the MOST topical & POLITICAL Revels I ever remember seeing & I have seen more than 25 Revels going back at least 25 years.
This show addressed: immigration, (new) immigration laws, Jewish assimilation, Mexican appreciation AND the ‘unintended consequences of giving power to a person who lacks a conscious’!
Wow. It was bit like a segment from the ‘January 6 Hearings‘.
Good job that there are no Republicans within a 50-mile radius of Cambridge.
It was all very well done. Bravo.
Nearly all the performers, on stage, wore masks.
Keeping COVID under check was still a big challenge. I appreciate. Having performers in masks was a downer. But, they did good.
The Sword Dance that involved some sword SKIPPING was outstanding.
The ‘Horn Dance’ & “Mummer’s Play” was a bit subdued. I suspect they have had issues getting folks given COVID.
But, in the end, it was a RESOUNDING SUCCESS. Kudos & Bravo.
Click to ENLARGE. Years when Good Friday & Passover coincide.
Click to ENLARGE.
This happens more often that you probably realized, i.e., Christian Good Friday & the start of the Jewish Passover falling on the same day (which, of course, has to be a FRIDAY).
It happened back-to-back, in 2018 & then 2019. Do you remember that? It had also happened in 2012 & 2015. So, this is the 5th time in the last 11 years.
However, given that the two holidays are related it should not come as a great surprise that they do fall, close together.
For those that haven’t thought about it the Crucifixion happened just after Passover. Jesus had come to Jerusalem for Passover. The last supper is believed to have a Passover connection.
Hence the connection. In early Christianity Easter was celebrated at the same time as the Passover. So that they fall together, per a now very convoluted and artificial formula used by the Western Church, is to be expected.
Easter Sunday, per the ‘latest’ formula, can fall between March 22 (the day after the nominal ‘March 21’ Spring Equinox) and April 25.
However, Easter Sunday can NEVER COINCIDE with the start of Passover! The formula used to calculate Easter has this built-in.
So, it is always GOOD FRIDAY that can coincide with the start of Passover — and never Easter per se.
