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Holiday Almanac: Tonight starts Passover, Judaism’s primal festival of freedom

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Passover, called the oldest freedom festival, starts at sundown today for the world’s Jews. The eight-day holiday dates back some 34 centuries, recounting the deliverance of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt.

Passover window at Chabad of Weston, Florida. (Photo by James D. Davis)

As the story is told in the biblical book of Exodus, the pharaoh rejected the prophet Moses’ demand to release the people, bringing a wave of 10 supernatural plagues on the land. The Nile River turned to blood, disease struck humans and livestock, vermin multiplied, the sky rained hail mixed with fire, and darkness struck the land for three days.

The last plague was the Angel of Death, who struck down the firstborn of every Egyptian household in one night. The Israelites escaped death by dashing lambs’ blood on their doorposts — a sign of faith that made the angel “pass over” those homes.

The pharaoh finally allowed the Israelites to leave, but changed his mind yet again and sent his army after them. With the people trapped between the Red Sea and the pharaoh’s chariots, God parted the sea for the people to escape – then closed it over the pursuing soldiers.

Modern Jewish homes both celebrate and mourn the story with a ceremonial meal called a Seder on the first two nights. The Seder plate has foods symbolizing the Exodus story.

The foods include a lamb shank, for the sacrificial animal; a piece of bitter herbs such as horseradish, for the bitterness of slavery; a bowl of saltwater, for the tears of oppression; and a mix of apples, cinnamon and wine, for the mortar used in the Egyptian bricks.

Also on the Seder plate are a roasted egg and leafy vegetables, for the springtime occasion of Passover; and the hard, unleavened bread called matzoh, for the Israelites’ haste in evacuating Egypt.

— James D. Davis

Written by Jim Davis

April 22, 2024 at 12:00 am

Holiday Almanac: Today is Easter

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Angels with flaming wings welcome the risen Christ in this wall-filling window at Nativity Catholic Church in Hollywood, Florida. (Photo by James D. Davis)

Christians celebrate today as Easter, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter, the greatest holiday of the Christian year, ratifies for believers the claim of Jesus to be the Son of God.

The event is retold in the first four four books of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The disciples were huddled in a room in Jerusalem, grieving over the death of their leader on a cross. Their hopes for a new world were sealed with Jesus’ body in a rocky tomb.

Three days after his death, women came to embalm the corpse, but found it missing. They were confused at the message of a young man: “He is not here; he has risen, as he said.”

On hearing the news, two disciples, John and Peter, raced to the tomb and found it open and empty. Thereafter, Jesus began appearing to various groups of his followers, announcing: “Because I live, you will live also.”

Sunrise services are common Easter Sunday celebrations, especially in public parks and beaches. The events are often sponsored by two or more churches, or even by whole ministerial associations.

But Easter still lies ahead for the world’s quarter-billion Eastern Orthodox Christians, who reckon the day by the ancient Julian calendar instead of the contemporary Gregorian calendar. Easter for the Orthodox will fall on May 5 this year.

— James D. Davis

Written by Jim Davis

March 31, 2024 at 7:30 am

Religion almanac: Palm Sunday starts Holy Week

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Palm Sunday today starts Holy Week, the most solemn yet joyous time on the church calendar. Palm Sunday takes its name from an impromptu welcome given Jesus as he entered Jerusalem on the last week before his crucifixion.

According to the Gospel accounts, Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, with people paving the street before him with coats and palm fronds. That week he preached in the Temple and celebrated Passover with his disciples. Their observance of the Seder, the ritual meal of Passover, has become known in churches as the Last Supper.

Churches commonly celebrate Palm Sunday with special musical programs and Easter pageants. They often pass out palm leaves, sometimes tied into the shape of a cross. In Catholic and some Episcopal churches, extra palm leaves are burned and the ashes saved for Ash Wednesday the following year.

Holy Week ends with Maundy Thursday, commemorating the birth of the Holy Communion ritual; Good Friday, mourning Jesus’ death; and Easter Sunday, celebrating his Resurrection.

— James D. Davis

Holiday Almanac: Easter dawns today

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Christians celebrate today as Easter, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter, the greatest holiday of the Christian year, ratifies for believers the claim of Jesus to be the Son of God.

Christ emerges from the tomb in this sculpture at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Miami. (Photo by James D. Davis)

The event is retold in all four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The disciples were huddled in a room in Jerusalem, grieving over the death of their leader on a cross. Their hopes for a new world were sealed with Jesus’ body in a rocky tomb.

Three days after his death, women came to embalm the corpse, but found it missing. They were confused at the message of a young man: “He is not here; he has risen, as he said.”

On hearing the news, two disciples, John and Peter, raced to the tomb and found it open and empty. Thereafter, Jesus began appearing to various groups of his followers, announcing: “Because I live, you will live also.”

Sunrise services are common Easter Sunday celebrations, especially in public parks and beaches. The events are often sponsored by two or more churches, or even by whole ministerial associations.

But Easter still lies ahead for the world’s quarter-billion Eastern Orthodox Christians, who will celebrate on April 16 this year. The Orthodox reckon the day by the ancient Julian calendar instead of the contemporary Gregorian calendar.

— James D. Davis

Written by Jim Davis

April 9, 2023 at 10:00 am

Holiday Almanac: Good Friday is today

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Christians today mourn the death of Jesus Christ as Good Friday. Despite his agonizing death on a cross, the holiday is called “Good” because Christians believe the death was a sacrifice for all humanity’s sins. “The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” the New Testament calls him.

The crucified Jesus is shown in priestly robes in this window at All Saints Episcopal Church, Fort Lauderdale. Keeping vigil with him are Mary, his mother, and his disciple John. (Photo by James D. Davis)

Catholic observances often include the Stations of the Cross, a series of meditations based on the 14 traditional events between Jesus’ condemnation in a Roman court and his burial.

The Stations typically are represented with plaques or bas-reliefs, although some sites use stained-glass windows or even full-size statues.

Catholics also hold a Veneration of the Cross ceremony, during which churchgoers approach the altar to show respect before a cross, often with a bow and a kiss.

Sometimes observed by ecumenical Protestants is Tre Ore, a three-hour service examining each of the “Seven Last Words” Jesus uttered from the cross. The service is useful for having seven or more ministers take part.

Another type of service is Tenebrae, in which a church is slowly darkened to illustrate Jesus’ death, then relighted to show his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

— JAMES D. DAVIS

Written by Jim Davis

April 7, 2023 at 10:00 am

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Holiday Almanac: Passover starts tonight

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Passover, called the oldest festival of freedom, starts at sundown today for the world’s Jews. The eight-day holiday dates back some 34 centuries, recounting the deliverance of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt.

Passover window at Temple Kol Ami Emanu-El in Plantation, Florida, shows the slavery of the Israelites in Egypt. (Photo by James D. Davis)

The last plague was the Angel of Death, who struck down the firstborn of every Egyptian household in one night. The Israelites escaped death by dashing lambs’ blood on their doorposts — a sign of faith that made the angel “pass over” those homes.

As the story is told in the biblical book of Exodus, the pharaoh rejected the prophet Moses’ demand to release the people, bringing a wave of 10 supernatural plagues on the land. The Nile River turned to blood, disease struck humans and livestock, vermin multiplied, the sky rained hail mixed with fire, and darkness struck the land for three days.

In modern Jewish homes, Passover starts with a ceremonial meal called a Seder on the first two nights, with foods symbolizing the Exodus story. They include a lamb shank, for the sacrificial animal; a piece of bitter herbs such as horseradish, for the bitterness of slavery; a bowl of saltwater, for the tears of oppression; and a mix of apples, cinnamon and wine, for the mortar used in the Egyptian bricks.

Also on the Seder plate are a roasted egg and leafy vegetables, for the springtime occasion of Passover; and the hard, unleavened bread called matzoh, for the Israelites’ haste in evacuating Egypt.

— James D. Davis

Written by Jim Davis

April 5, 2023 at 9:00 am

Epiphany: The Twelfth Day of Christmas

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Tabletop triptych of the Wise Men at St. John the Apostle Church, Hialeah. (Photo by James D. Davis)

Today, Jan. 6, is Epiphany, the traditional “Twelfth Day of Christmas,” recalling when Christians say Jesus’ divinity was revealed.

For Western churches, especially Roman Catholic, Epiphany is Three Kings Day, when they believe the Wise Men visited the young Jesus. In South Florida, Hispanics often celebrate with floats and bands in an exuberant parade along Miami’s Calle Ocho.

For Eastern Orthodox churches, Epiphany marks Jesus’ baptism, when the Bible says a dove settled onto him and a voice from heaven declared him “my beloved son.” Some parishes, or groups of parishes, gather for a colorful “Blessing of the Waters” ceremony, in which youths retrieve a cross that has been thrown into a waterway.

In formal Epiphany observances, many parishes use incense as a fragrant reminder of the magi’s gifts to Jesus. Eastern Orthodox bless their baptismal fonts by dipping a cross into the water.

— James D. Davis

Written by Jim Davis

January 6, 2023 at 10:42 am

Religion Almanac: Today is Christmas Day

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Tabletop Nativity scene at St. John the Apostle Church, Hialeah, Florida. (Photo by James D. Davis)

Believers worldwide celebrate today as Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, whom they worship as the Son of God. The founding events are set in Israel 20 centuries ago.

As told in the New Testament books of Matthew and Luke, a Jewish couple named Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem for a Roman census. Rebuffed from every inn in the crowded village, they settled in a stable, where Jesus was born.

In nearby fields, angels announced the birth to shepherds, who rushed to the stable to worship the child. And from the East, magi, or wise men, followed a special star to Jesus’ home and offered gifts of gold, incense and rare spice.

Roman Catholic churches begin Christmas with Midnight Mass; Eastern Orthodox churches hold Divine Liturgy. Protestant Churches often celebrate with special cantatas and carols.

Church youths like to stage “Living Nativity” scenes, recreating the first Christmas — a custom said to have been founded by St. Francis of Assisi. A few churches unpack high-tech gear or rent civic auditoriums for elaborately staged pageants.

Christmas is actually Dec. 25 to Jan. 6 — the “Twelve Days of Christmas” in the carol of the same name. That tradition still thrives among Europeans and Latin Americans, who celebrate Jan. 6 as Three Kings Day, when they believe the Wise Men arrived in Bethlehem.

— James D. Davis

Written by Jim Davis

December 25, 2022 at 9:00 am

Lights of freedom: Hanukkah starts at sundown

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A menorah shines onto an idealized picture of ancient Jerusalem at Temple Emanu-El, Miami Beach. (Photo by James D. Davis)

Sundown today starts Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish Feast of Lights. Hanukkah, whose name is Hebrew for “dedication,” recalls the Jews’ recapture of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem from a pagan tyrant.

The founding events took place 165 years before the traditional date of Jesus’ birth, when Israel was ruled by a Greco-Syrian king named Antiochus Epiphanes. The king banned Judaism, then had a pig — a ritually unclean animal — sacrificed in the Jerusalem Temple.

The Israelites finally revolted, led by the five Maccabee brothers. They miraculously defeated the Greek army and set out to rededicate the Temple, but found only one day’s supply of oil for the Great Menorah or candelabrum. In the story’s second miracle, the oil lasted for eight days, long enough to purify a new supply.

Jewish families commemorate the victory by lighting an eight-branched menorah at home, while singing seasonal songs such as Maoz Tzur, or “Rock of Ages.” One more candle is lighted each night, until by the last night, the whole candelabrum is ablaze.

Hanukkah also features festive foods: latkes or potato pancakes for Ashkenazic Jews, sufganiot or doughnuts filled with jelly or chocolate for Sephardic Jews. Both are deep-fried in oil, recalling the miracle of the Temple lamp.

A more subtle holiday custom is the dreidel, a four-sided top that children play with. The sides of the dreidel have Hebrew letters: Nun, Gimel, Hay and Shin. The letters form an acrostic for a sentence: Nes gadol hayah sham, or “A great miracle happened there.”

— JAMES D. DAVIS

Written by Jim Davis

December 18, 2022 at 9:00 am

Waiting for God: Advent begins today

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Photo by Max Beck on Unsplash

Today is the first Sunday of Advent, the season of preparation for Christmas. Advent, which is marked by the four Sundays before that day, is celebrated mainly in traditional churches, especially Episcopal, Lutheran and Catholic.

The season’s central symbol, the Advent wreath, is made of a leafy horizontal circle with four candles, a new one lighted each Sunday. Each church lights a large wreath, and many homes of the faithful often have smaller versions. Although the custom originated in western Europe, Hispanic and Latino Catholic parishes have adopted the wreath as well.

Another Advent custom is the Jesse Tree, often decorated by children in church schools. The tree, which need not be a pine tree, is draped with homemade representations of biblical prophecies — scrolls, the Lion of Judah, seraphim, David’s harp and other symbols — believed by Christians to have foretold Jesus’ life.

— JAMES D. DAVIS

Written by Jim Davis

November 27, 2022 at 3:47 pm