Easter 2015: Start Of Passover, Good Friday Fall On Same Day

This Friday marks the first time in many years that both the Christian holiday Good Friday and the start of Jewish Passover have fallen on the same day.

Processions like the Way of the Cross over the Brooklyn Bridge Friday morning will be held worldwide to remember the day Jesus was crucifie by the Romans.

As CBS2’s Andrea Grymes reports, this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Way of the Cross bridge. Anyone is welcomed to join in the walk, which started at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral-Basilica of Saint James in Brooklyn. The march ends at Saint Peter’s Church in downtown Manhattan around 1:30 p.m.

In Jerusalem, the Via Dolorosa, the way of sorrows, retraces the path of Jesus Christ on his way to crucifixion. In New Jersey’s Upper Saddle River on Good Friday, there’s a bit of a twist.

Pastor Bob Stag leads parishioners from the Church of the Presentation on a 12-mile bike tour for the Stations of the Cross.

“It is a mini-pilgrimage and I’ve been to the holy land several times and most people won’t ever get to the holy land or ever get to pilgrimage to Rome or pilgrimage in northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. But everybody, well, almost everybody, can jump on a bike and follow me around,” he told WCBS 880’s Sean Adams.

For prayers, reflection and meditation, they stop at seven churches– three of them Protestant. The ministers come out and discuss their church’s architectural significance.

The eight-day Jewish holiday of Passover begins at sundown Friday night and commemorates the Israelites’ escape from Egyptian slavery more than 3,000 years ago.

During the first two nights, families gather for a Passover Seder, the ritual meal which features six symbolic foods, including matzo. Matzo is a cracker-like unleavened bread that symbolizes the exodus from Egypt, when there wasn’t enough time to let the bread rise.

Read more: Start Of Passover, Good Friday Fall On Same Day « CBS New York

Nick.com:Easter & Passover - Different Holidays, Common Roots

For the complete report from Nick.com click on this link

Easter & Passover - Different Holidays, Common Roots

This weekend, Jews are celebrating Passover and Christians are celebrating Easter. For Jews, Passover celebrates their ancestors' liberation from slavery in Egypt approximately 3,500 years ago. For Christians, Easter celebrates Jesus' resurrection after his crucifixion by the Romans, approximately 2,000 years ago.according to historians, both holidays grew out of ancient festivals that celebrated the start of spring - festivals that date back before both Judaism and Christianity. In fact, one of the Hebrew names for Passover is "Hahg ha Ahveev," which translates as "Holiday of Spring." And according to historians, the name "Easter" probably comes from the name of the Scandinavian and Teutonic (Germanic) fertility goddesses ("Ostra" or "Eastre") that were worshipped in Europe before Christianity - goddesses associated with the start of spring. In English, the words "Passover" and "Easter" obviously don't sound anything alike. But in some languages, the words for the holidays are very similar. The Hebrew word for Passover is "Pesach." In Spanish, the word for Easter is "Pascua." In Italian, it's "Pasqua." in French, it's "Paques." and in Dutch its "Pasen".