Rant #1,883: Holiday Road

Today is Good Friday, one of the holiest days on the Christian calendar, and it is followed by Easter Sunday, another day of reverence.

These days are sacred, and holy, and I do understand their importance, even as a Jew.

And as a Jews, I understand how Passover and Easter are interwoven in time, place, occurrence and importance.

But being that I am Jewish, this weekend is simply another weekend to me.

What do Jews do on Easter?

Pretty much the same thing we do on Christmas.

As the perpetual outsiders looking in, we do what we pretty much normally do on the weekend, at least during the present time.

It wasn't always like that, though.

I do remember the time, which probably ended about 20 years ago, where Jews pretty much did nothing on Easter Sunday, simply because there wasn't very much to do.

Few stores were open, movie theaters were closed, and probably one of the few things that you could do was attend a baseball game or watch the game at home.

There were a few restaurants open, but pretty much only those that catered to those who ate out with their families on Easter Sunday.

Much like how Christmas day was, retailers, restaurateurs and others gave their employees off to be with their families.

However, starting about 20 years ago, that thinking changed.

There is money to be made on Easter Sunday, and many stores and restaurants are open.

Movie theaters are also open, and quite frankly, for non-Christians, Easter Sunday really is just another Sunday, and we can pretty much do what we normally do on a Sunday on that day.

I am not going to get into whether that is right or wrong here, just that the world has changed over time.

This is actually a great time of year. Christians are celebrating Easter, while Jews continue the Passover celebration, which ends Tuesday at sunset.

The two holidays are both solid family get-togethers, and that makes them special in and of themselves.

So happy Easter to all, and have a good weekend. I will speak to you again on Monday.