Admission/Application Essay
Subject:
History
Topic:
John Esposito, Darrell Fasching, and Todd Lewis. World Religions Today, 5th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. You can find the information about the text by clicking on this link. You can also use the 4th edition if you can find it-please use
Comparing and Contrasting Passover and Easter Festivals
Both Passover and Easter festivals are celebrated early in the spring. The dates of the two festivals are adjusted so that the celebration day falls in early spring. The First Counsel of Nicaea, the church having believed that the resurrection of Jesus took place on a Sunday, determined that Easter holidays should always fall on the first Sunday after the full moon following the Vernal Equinox. As a result, dates for Easter remained unfixed but approximate to the full moon which coincided with the beginning of the Passover on the 5th of Nissan.
In the same manner, the Jews rabbis interpreted the phrase “in the month of Aviv” to restrict Passover to early spring. The nature and history of both ceremonies resonated in a message of hope. The renewal of nature that comes with the beginning of spring symbolized the promise of redemption in the two events being commemorated. In both cases, God manifests himself through both nature and history.
While the Jews celebrate their flight to freedom from slavery in in Egypt through the magical parting of the red sea during Passover, the celebration of Easter Monday among Christians is all about the commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Jews avoided unleavened food stuffs to commemorate their exodus from Egypt when there was even not enough time for the bread to rise. Christians, on the other hand, use similar bread to represent the body of Jesus and wine to symbolize the blood of Jesus that was poured for the remission of sins at Calvary. The Jews read from Haggadah at a Sedar dinner table on the eve of Passover while recalling the story of the first Passover while Christians on Good Friday observe the anniversary of Christ’s crucifixion by fasting and paryer.
