Article Discussion: Celebrating Easter and Passover in Interfaith Relationships

[admin]

Click here to read the article:Celebrating Easter and Passover in Interfaith Relationships

[Harold]

Meaning no disrespect to the choices people make and their right to make them, it is still worth noting that Easter has a specifically Christian meaning (not mentioned in the article). It is specifically about the ressurection of Jesus as lord and savior on the third day after he was crucified. This is how Christians have celebrated and thought about it for 2,000 years. This is its primary meaning, more than Easter egg hunts, just as we all acknowledge that Passover has a primary Jewish religious meaning of celebrating the Exodus from Egypt.

I wonder if it is disrespectful to Christians and to Christianity for someone who is not Christian to celebrate Easter in a way that deletes its primary meaning (just as it would be disrespectful to Judaism for a non-Jew to take a Jewish holiday, strip it of its primary religious meaning, and then celebrate it as something else although with the same name). And for a Jew to celebrate Easter as it was intented, i.e. as Jesus' resurrection, is theologically problematic.

[KNM]

The author misses an important point - Easter (the resurrection of Jesus Chirst) is THE cental brief to Christians.  As a Catholic I celebrate this fact every Sunday.
In addition - Easter is the culmination of Lent, Holy Week, Good Friday (and the Passion).

[Unregistered]

Christianity owes itself to the tradition of Judaism, as many of the founders of Christianity were themselves practicing and observent Jews.  However one thinks of Jesus, as savior or as rabbi, one cannot escaped the fact that Jesus was born, raised and died as a Jew.  It is unfortunate that this message has been lost by some whose aim it is to malign, denigrate and repudiate Judaism.

Judaism has a rich tradition of morality, humanity, and existential thought which richly translates into the demands and struggles of today.  

Being part of a interfaith marriage has enriched my thoughts on God, religion and spiritulity and, yes, despite the obvious significance of Easter to many Christians, sharing in the blessings of life including family, hope, redemption, and other very spiritual values can be shared by all regardless of one's religious affiliation.

The fact that both holidays are connected certainly makes us take note of our human similarities rather than our differences.