A Convergence of Holy Days

The brisket is roasted and stored in the fridge.  Two Passover desserts are safely tucked in the freezer.  The Apple Matzo Kugel, required according to the family halachah, is ready.  We have enough matzo to last to mid-May.  There is ample cream cheese, hummus, and peanut butter to spread on it.

In other words, the larder is pleasantly stocked but there has been nothing to eat for dinner this week.  Just like the week before Thanksgiving.

It occurred to me that we could have a reverse seder plate this year.  Put a whole bunch of different foods on the seder plate.  During the seder meal, we would remove each food from the seder plate and eject it from the house while explaining why it does not belong.  That seems to be the direction America is headed, pointing out those who do not belong here.

It's not unheard of to desire to throw things
off the seder plate:
"A woman belongs on the bima like an orange
belongs on the seder plate,"
said some dude who was threatened by women.

Tomorrow night is Good Friday, with solemn worship commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus.  It is also the first night of Passover, with a festive meal commemorating the exodus from Egypt.  This is not the first time that these two, both of which the Common Household observes, have coincided.

In the past, the Common Household seder
has included telling the Passover story
using Peeps.

I think the clump of purple Peeps are Israelites
leaving Egypt.

You can tell this Peep is Moses.  He has a staff.

I was today years old when I discovered that the first night of Passover, the “First Seder,” never falls on a Sunday, Tuesday, or Thursday.  Minimal research on the internet leads me to conclude that this is thanks to Maimonides, the medieval Jewish scholar.  

I first learned about Maimonides through my children, as is the case with many things I have learned.  When my son was a mere youth, his second-grade religious school class was studying Maimonides.  I asked him “What are the eight levels of tzedakah, according to Maimonides?”  He replied, “Level 1, level 2, level 3, level 4, level 5, level 6, level 7, level 8.”   

He always replied to any question with the most concise answer.

Maimonides’ numbered list of eight levels of charitable giving has to do with the amount of cheerfulness exhibited while giving, the swiftness of giving, and how much recognition can be conferred upon the giver.

Maimonides set up the Jewish calendar so that Passover never begins on the night of Sunday, Tuesday, or Thursday.  It seems Maimonides was most concerned about Yom Kippur not starting on a Thursday night, and the result of that rule guides the weekdays on which Passover can start.  If Yom Kippur would start on a Thursday night, then it would immediately precede Shabbat (which starts on Friday night).  That would be two solid days of numerous prohibitions against doing various things.

I haven’t looked up the dates of the First Seder back to Maimonides time in the 12th century, but did look back at the years of my marriage to see how many times the First Seder fell on a Friday night.  For the past 33 years, the First Seder has fallen on a Friday night 10 times (30%), but one of those Fridays was not Good Friday.   There was a stretch, from 1999 to 2011, when the First Seder never fell on a Friday, thus lulling me into complacency.  From 2012 to 2022, though, 5 of the 11 First Seders fell on Good Friday.  In 2016 the First Seder fell on a Friday, but that was one of those rare years when Holy Week was widely separated from Passover, due to the intricacies of the lunar and solar calendars.  The next time when the First Seder will coincide with Good Friday is in 2029, seven years from now, if we make it that far.

Having just read the account of the crucifixion in the Gospel of John, I am aware of how unjust and painful an event it was.  And yet there is redemption at its core.  We will be commemorating Good Friday at church tomorrow evening with traditional readings and music.  The exodus from Egypt was also an event of injustice,  pain and redemption.  The firstborn of the Egyptians died.  The Israelites had to leave their homes in a hurry and trek to a place unknown to them.  We will be celebrating that uncertain freedom at home the next night with traditional readings, food, and music.

There is much pain and injustice in the world.  I hope to spend these paradoxically joint holy days praying for redemption and peace.  God knows, the world needs both.

This is a giant painting of the burial of Jesus,
at the Church of the Sepulchre in
Jerusalem.  The holy sites are right on top
of one another, just as these two holy days are this year.