Passover/Easter in Jersualem

[orienteerer]

OK, can someone gently introduce me as to what to expect when spending Easter in Jersualem (& rest of Israel)? DS(7) and I will be visiting DH who is currently working there. I have only just discovered this is one of the few years when Orthodox, RC & Anglican celebrate the same Easter (I should add that we are not practicing).

Anyone?

Well it depends where you are. Apart from the Christian bit of Jerusalem, don't expect much celebration of Easter. However, in the Jewish parts and in Israel proper, they will be celebrating Pesach as there is some overlap this year. The main way that this will affect you is that it is impossible to get bread, apart from the odd Arab baker.

Oh yes, and if you are in Jerusalem in the old city, you will almost certainly see groups of Christian fundamentalists lugging a huge cross through the streets.

Dress modestly in Jerusalem - keep legs and arms covered.

And have a lovely time!

What do you mean about 'the same Easter'? Is it not the same? Do you mean the date?

Thanks for that MrsSF, I'll keep an eye out for crosses on the move!
Falafel - yes what I meant was that Passover this year falls at the same time (dates) as Christian Easter.

Pesach normally falls a week or so before Easter (it comes in on the Monday before Good Friday, so not an exact overlap). It's not a Jewish version of "Easter" though - completely different story and festival!

Seems to pretty much coincide:

Pesach begins at sundown on March 29th, 2010 (Monday). It ends at sundown on April 6th, 2010 (Tuesday).

Sorry, have now re-read your message and realise what you meant- thought for some reason that you were claiming that there were differences in the dates RC, Anglican and Orthodox churches celebrate Easter- which (quite rightly) I thought was insane and wrong.

Continuez adroit.

They generally coincide because Jesus' last supper was meant to be a seder (the meal on the first nights of pesach) and it is the only festival where the Christians still keep to a version of the lunar calendar. Most years they are close together except for when there is a Jewish leap year which means there is an extra month to correct the difference between lunar and solar calendars.

No bread can be bought or anything made from wheat and on the festive days which are the 1st and 7th in Israel, many shops and attractions will be closed. On the days in between attractions and parks are likely to be full of groups (families and young people) going on picnics and the like.

Thanks tigger15

We were in Tel Aviv last year for passover. It is a lot more relaxed than Jerusalem. We found that loads of restaurants were doing regular food.

We stayed in a hotel in Jerusalem on first seder night and it was all strictly kosher for passover.

About the dates of Easter:

I'm a long-time lurker on Mumsnet, and have never posted before. I can't believe my very first post is spurred on by my incredible pedantry!

The Eastern Orthodox church and the "Western" church (i.e. RC, Anglican, Methodist etc.) use different calendars for calculating the date of Easter. This means that quite often Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter on a different (later) date to Western Christians. Sometimes, the calendars calculate the same date, and everyone has Easter on the same day. This is one of those years, and Easter for all Christians has been today (April 4th). However last year, Western Christians celebrated Easter on April 12th, and Eastern Christians on April 19th.

RC and Anglican use the same calendar, and so they always share the same Easter.

welcome to mn frozenflowers

Thanks OhYouBadBadKitten.

I'll probably never post again for years - I don't even have any children yet! Found MN once when googling something (can't even remember what - I think I was procrastinating) and was instantly hooked though. I feel like when I do have kids I'll be very well prepared.

I think there a few people without children here despite the name all are welcome!

Thanks for the clarification re dates