Bat Kol International, Weekly Torah Nuggets
Parashat Pesach II | Leviticus 22:26 – 23:44
The Jewish liturgical cycle including Passover is defined in Leviticus 23:1-44; this chapter does not explain the meaning the feast which is supposed to be already known,
“The Passover of the LORD falls on the fourteenth day of the first month, at the evening twilight” (Lev. 23:5).
This year on 3 April, Judaism and Christianity will celebrate two great feasts in their liturgical calendars. The above reading from Leviticus, read on Pesach II, falls on Good Friday. Pesach (Passover) is a major Jewish holiday and one of the three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and is celebrated for eight days. Good Friday or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha), a few hours before the beginning of Passover and the Sabbath.
Reflection:
What do we learn from these great feasts? As Amy-Jill Levine says in The Misunderstood Jew “Practice holy envy: look at the other tradition with generosity and seek to see the good.” (p.226 The Misunderstood Jew Pub. HarperOne)
Marie André Mitchell, SNDdeN, South Africa
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“Since the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews is thus so great, this sacred synod wants to foster and recommend that mutual understanding and respect which is the fruit, above all, of biblical and theological studies.”
Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions: Nostra Aetate, No. 4