Classic Rant #711 (April 6, 2012): Happy Easter, Happy Passover

With a full moon out brightly this morning, I want to wish everyone a Happy Easter and a Happy Passover.

It's kind of weird that Good Friday and the first night of Passover are on the same date, but that is how it is this year.

I don't remember the last time this happened, but it makes it kind of nice.

Now many of us have holidays to celebrate and those holidays begin on the same day.

I guess there is some type of benefit to being in a leap year, with the one extra day positioning the two holidays together.

And these are nice holidays, minus the crazed gift giving that highlights those other holidays at the end of the year.

The significance of these holidays stand out, as family oriented events.

And I like that.

Sure, Easter has been commercialized to a certain extent, and Passover is getting there, but right now, the two holidays are kind of unique and unto themselves as far as crass commercialization is concerned.

Easter has to do with the resurrection of Jesus, and Passover has to do with the flight of Jews out of Egypt.

Those are the basics, there's much more to the holidays than that, of course.

But they are holidays where families get together, actually sit at the table together and eat and talk and go over the various rituals each holiday literally brings to the table.

In our world, it is so rare for families to sit down and eat meals together, so these holidays are a brief respite from the everyday run-and-gun eating that we normally do.

And when you don't eat meals together, you don't talk with each other, so these holidays give us occasion to do that.

My family only eats together on the weekend. During the week, I eat at one time, my wife another, and my son another.

We haven't eaten with my daughter in months.

But finally, on this first and the second night of Passover, we will all eat together, and celebrate the holiday together.

I am sure it is a similar situation for other Jews, and for others who celebrate Easter.

So when we celebrate these holidays, take it all in and enjoy yourself, because these occasions don't come around very often during the year.

Have a great holiday, and I will speak to you again on Monday.