Important religious festivals of Jews, Christians and Muslims rarely coincide as clearly as this weekend. Why?
Jerusalem: holy City for Jews, Christians and Muslims
Celebrate the three major monotheistic world religions. Not together, but on the same date. On this Friday, Christians commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus, and on the night of Sunday with Easter his resurrection. The Jews celebrate on Wednesday the eve of Passover, which commemorates the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and thus the end of slavery. Muslims have another Friday, their weekly holiday, within the month of Ramadan, which began on March 23 and ends on April 21 and intensifies as it progresses. This coincidence is unusual, especially with regard to the proximity of the Islamic Ramadan to the Christian Lent or to the dates of Passover and Easter.
The symbols of the three world religions
Because unlike the Christian calendar, which is determined by the course of the sun and which characterizes the western world, the Islamic calendar is consistently aligned with the moon and the lunar year. Twelve months in the solar year last a good 365 days, in the lunar year on the other hand only 354 days. Thus the year and the festival circle of Islam “wander” through the western calendar year over the course of a good three decades.
“Brothers in humanity”
The shorter course of the year offers Muslims “the chance to experience Ramadan as well as other festivals in different seasons and different climatic conditions,” Abdassamad El Yazidi, Secretary General of the Central Council of Muslims, told DW. And at the same time it ensures that the festivals of the Muslims coincide over time with different festivals of Christians and Jews. “This should each remind us that we are all brothers in humanity and we must stand together for good.”
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From Passover to Yom Kippur: Jewish Holidays
Passover: Feast of Unleavened Bread
Passover commemorates the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. Orthodox believers then make a pilgrimage to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Nothing leavened is eaten during the eight-day Passover festival, the ancestors only brought unleavened bread with them when they fled. The family gathers for a feast, a custom also among secular Jews. Orthodox clean all kitchen utensils to keep food kosher.
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From Passover to Yom Kippur: Jewish Holidays
Shavuot: Feast of the Firstfruits
According to tradition, God proclaimed the Ten Commandments to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai, and therefore Shavuot is considered the day of “giving of the Torah”. It is also the “Feast of the First Fruits”, when the first grain is ripe in Israel and some fruits can also be harvested. In biblical times, two wheat loaves of flour from the new harvest were sacrificed on this day in the Jerusalem Temple.
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From Passover to Yom Kippur: Jewish Holidays
Lag BaOmer: celebration after mourning
The weeks between Passover and Shavuot are considered the mourning period. Then Jews are not allowed to cut their hair or celebrate weddings. But on the 33rd day, the mourning period is interrupted and the celebration of Lag BaOmer is celebrated. In memory of Shim'on Bar Jochai, who in Roman times secretly studied the Torah in a cave. Fires are still lit in his honor in May today.
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From Passover to Yom Kippur: Jewish Holidays
Rosh Hashanah: The Jewish New Year
During the two-day festival in September, people are supposed to turn away from evil and do good, because on Rosh Hashanah (beginning of the year) they have to give an account to God. The sound of the shofar, a trumpet made of ram's horn, reminds the faithful to contemplate – like 2000 years ago. In Judaism God's name may not be used, one speaks reverently of the Almighty or “G'tt”.
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From Passover to Yom Kippur: Jewish Holidays
Yom Kippur: The Day of Atonement
The Jews spend ten days repenting of their misdeeds. At the Kaparot ceremony, their sins are supposed to go into a chicken (photo), and on the tenth day, Yom Kippur is celebrated as a strict day of fasting. Not only eating and drinking, but also personal hygiene is prohibited on the most important Jewish holiday. Because on Yom Kippur Yahweh will pass judgment on the people. Believers pray in the synagogue all day.
From Passover to Yom Kippur: Jewish Holidays
Sukkot: The Feast of Tabernacles
3000 years ago, the Israelites led a life of slavery under the Egyptian pharaoh. God commissioned Moses to lead them to the promised land of Canaan. The hike through the desert is said to have taken 40 years. On the way they lived them in “sukkot” (huts). This is commemorated by the Feast of Tabernacles, the Jewish harvest festival. Believers move there in the fall after fruit picking and grape harvest.
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From Passover to Yom Kippur: Jewish Holidays
Simchat Torah: Celebration of Torah
Sukkot ends with the “Shemini Atzeret” and the “Simchat Torah” festival: the first marks the beginning of winter, the second is the celebration of the Torah, the Jewish Bible. All of the synagogue's Torah scrolls are lifted from the shrine and carried seven times through the prayer house in a merry procession. The rabbi dances to this. A blessing is then said on the Torah.
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From Passover to Yom Kippur: Jewish Holidays
Hanukkah: The Festival of Lights
For two centuries under the rule of the Greeks, the Jews did not practice their religion, but in 164 B.C. they reconquered Jerusalem. A jar of oil was found in the temple to light the candlestick. But the oil was only enough for one night. In the end it burned for eight days: a miracle. That is why a candle is lit every eight days on Hanukkah with a saying of thanks.
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From Passover to Yom Kippur: Jewish Holidays
Tu Bishvat: The New Year of the Trees
The holiday in January marks the end of the rainy season, until then the plants should be allowed to grow in peace. Traditionally, on Tu Bishvat, the fruits that Israel has to offer are eaten together: grapes, nuts, figs, dates, olives, pomegranates and grains. Meanwhile, it's also an Environmental Protection Day in Israel, with people planting seedlings across the country.
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From Passover to Yom Kippur: Jewish Holidays
Purim: Happy Festival and Jewish Carnival
The Persian minister Haman once wanted to exterminate all Jews, says the Torah. But Esther, the king's Jewish wife, saved her people. When the rabbi reads her story, a noise is made with rattles at the mention of the Jew-hater Haman. In addition, the Talmud encourages getting drunk at the banquet afterwards for joy. On the streets, people celebrate in brightly colored costumes.
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From Passover to Yom Kippur: Jewish Holidays
Sabbath: The Weekly Day of Rest
The Sabbath lasts from sunset on Friday to Saturday evening. Work is forbidden, believing Jews visit the synagogue on this day. No fire may be lit on the Sabbath, this also applies to electric lights or the stove. The candle for the family feast is therefore lit on the working day. A blessing is said to separate the holiday from the workday.
The Jewish Passover festival and the Easter date of the western churches, on the other hand, are always quite close together in early spring. But they don't often fall on the same date. In 2023, Passover begins on April 6, the Christian Maundy Thursday. The “holy days” of Christians last from Maundy Thursday evening to Sunday morning, from the memory of Jesus' last supper with his disciples to the celebration of the resurrection. The difference is due to the fact that the Christian calendar dates Easter to Sunday since the year 325, the first Sunday after the spring full moon. In the Jewish calendar, on the other hand, Passover can begin on any day of the week.
Jerusalem celebrates
Nowhere in the world do the celebrations of monotheistic religions come together as closely as in Jerusalem. In what is currently an “intensive time” there, you can feel how all three religions are “looking forward to these days,” says German Benedictine Nikodemus Schnabel, who has been living on the outskirts of Jerusalem's old town for many years, to DW. “The city literally vibrates with the various pilgrims, as if there was a need to catch up after Corona to celebrate outside again and to come together for the festivals.”
Father Nicodemus Schnabel, Benedictine monk in Jerusalem
Ultimately, according to the Benedictine, the common experience of a pilgrimage festival connects the religions. Christian prayers parade through the old town for several days in a row. On Friday morning, Muslims go to the mosque on the Temple Mount for prayer. And these days, many Jews are drawn to the western wall of the destroyed temple, the so-called Wailing Wall, for prayer. In view of the political tensions in the country, such days are always a challenge for all security forces in the city.
Spring cleaning at the Western Wall
Easter in the Orthodoxy
After this weekend, however, the Easter celebrations are far from over, not even in Jerusalem. Because for the Orthodox Church and some of the Eastern Churches associated with the Catholic Church, the commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus is not until the weekend after Easter. The reason for this is that the Eastern Christians in 1582 under Pope Gregory XIII. made more precise by a calendar reform, the move towards the so-called Gregorian calendar, and they therefore time the beginning of spring differently in most years.
Orthodox Easter in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem
This is how Greeks, Russians and other Eastern Christians are celebrating Easter this year one week after the Western Christians.
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Note: Easter, Ramadan and Passover were also close together last year. This 2022 article has now been updated.