Three holidays were celebrated on one day, April 17th, Easter, Passover, and Ramadan
Easter is a very common holiday in the USA. Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The holiday is observed by most people in America but holds special importance to Christians, Catholics, and other denominations. Special church services, flowers, music, candy, and eggs are present in modern Easter celebrations. Catholics have a whole host of holidays related to Christ, such as Ash Wednesday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Palm Sunday, Divine Mercy Sunday, and Ascension.
Passover, or the Hebrew Pesach, is a major Jewish holiday that remembers the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Passover lasts a whole week, with the first day having the most significance. During Passover, Jewish law states that no family can consume, buy, or even store chametz, aka leavening. This means that all bread can not rise. There is a huge feast and celebration held on the first day, including a fourteen-step dinner that includes telling the story of the exodus, drinking four cups of wine, engaging the children at the table to learn more about the Jewish belief, and more.
Ramadan is the 9th month of the Muslim Calendar, which is based on the moon rather than the sun. It is a holy month of fasting. The month begins and ends with the appearance of a crescent moon. It is a time of introspection, reading the Qur’an, and being forgiven. The highlight is fasting, meaning that no food is allowed to be eaten between dawn and sunset. The goal is to become closer to Allah, or God, similar to Lent in the Catholic tradition.
Passover and Easter almost always coincide, it hasn’t only three times since 2000: ’05, ’08, and ’16. Ramadan, however, is special in that the Muslim Calendar is shorter than our calendar, and it falls back 11-12 days each year, resulting in a 33-year cycle. This means that all three of these observations only coincide every 33 years. This will next happen in 2055.
So Happy Easter, Sameach Pesach, and Ramadan Mubarak!
