The most important Christian holiday was Easter, the Bright Resurrection of Christ. The prototype of the Christian Passover was the Jewish Passover, more precisely, the Jewish Passover, from which the Christian holiday inherited its name.
Easter is a Greek pronunciation, in this form the word came into Russian from Byzantium. In Hebrew, the name of the holiday is pronounced somewhat differently - Passover, or Passover, which means "exodus".
The holiday is dedicated to the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, where they were in slavery. In Christianity, the meaning was rethought: the exodus from sinful slavery, which made possible the Savior's victory over death.
Date of Jewish Passover
The day of the Jewish Passover, like all Jewish holidays, is calculated according to the Jewish calendar, which is officially used in Israel along with the Gregorian one. The holiday is celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Nisan.
The Jewish calendar is connected simultaneously with the movement of the sun and with the phases of the moon, therefore it does not coincide with the solar Gregorian, and relative to the latter, the date of the holiday turns out to be "wandering".
The beginning of each month in the Hebrew calendar falls on a new moon and the middle on a full moon. But the position of the sun is also taken into account, so the beginning of each month falls on the same season.
The month of Nisan, in which Pesach is celebrated, begins on the new moon, which follows the day of the vernal equinox, i.e. for March 20. Having counted 14 days from this date, the date of the Jewish Passover is obtained. In 2014, the holiday was celebrated on April 15th.
Holiday traditions
Passover occupies a special place among the Jewish holidays, because it is the most ancient of them.
On this day, as well as during the week following it, it is forbidden to eat and even keep in the house bread and other flour dishes, the preparation of which is associated with the fermentation process (chametz). It is allowed to use only unleavened bread - matzo. For this reason, before the holiday, they carry out a great cleaning in the house so that even the smallest crumb of leavened bread is not left.
Along with matzah, the traditional attributes of the holiday are maror (bitter herbs: horseradish, basil and lettuce), hazeret (grated greens) and haroset (a mixture of wine, grated dates, apples and nuts). All these dishes are served at the evening festive meal - Seder, and each of them has a special meaning.
Maror and Hazeret symbolize the bitterness and suffering that the Jewish people endured in Egyptian slavery. The color of Kharoset resembles the clay from which bricks were made in Egypt. Those who, for some reason, are deprived of the opportunity to celebrate Passover with their family, are supposed to be invited to this meal.
During the Seder, the Jews not only eat special dishes, but also read the story of the Exodus from Egypt. After finishing the meal, believers part with the words: "Next year - in Jerusalem!"
