Chag Semeach and Happy Easter Everyone!

28 MAR 2013

Have you ever wanted to know some interesting traditions practiced around the world at the time of Easter, which is coming up in April.

1. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, a tradition of spanking or whipping is carried out on Easter Monday. In the morning, men spank women with a special handmade whip. The spank-ing is not painful or intended to cause suffering. A legend says that women should be spanked in order to keep their health and beauty during whole next year.

2. Throughout the English-speaking world, many Easter traditions are similar with only minor differences. For example, Saturday is traditionally spent decorating Easter eggs and hunting for them with children on Sunday morning, by which time they have been mysteriously hidden all over the house and garden.

3. Church bells are silent as a sign of mourning for one or more days before Easter in The Netherlands, Belgium and France. This has led to an Easter tradition that says the bells fly out of their steeples to go to Rome (explaining their silence), and return on Easter morning bringing both coloured eggs and hollow chocolate shaped like eggs or rabbits.

4. Hares and rabbits have long been symbols of fertility. The inclusion of the hare into Easter customs appears to have originated in Germany, where tales were told of an "Easter hare" who laid eggs for children to find. German immigrants to America brought the traditions with them and spread it to a wider public. They also baked cakes for Easter in the shape of hares, and may have pioneered the practice of making chocolate bunnies and eggs.

5. Lent is the forty-six day period just prior to Easter Sunday. It begins on Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday") is a celebration, sometimes called "Carnival," practiced around the world, on the Tuesday prior to Ash Wednesday. It was designed as a way to "get it all out" before the sacrifices of Lent began. New Orleans is the focal point of Mardi Gras celebrations in the U.S. Read about the religious meanings of the Lenten Season.

6. The Baranek Wielkanocny, or Easter Butter Lamb is a hunk of butter shaped into a woolly lamb to celebrate Easter in Poland. This is an unusual tradition but quite popular.

7. In the Philippines, some Christians put themselves through the same punishments that Jesus endured, allowing themselves to be nailed to a cross. Volunteers are not left on crosses long enough to endanger their lives.

As Jews across the world came together on Monday night to celebrate the start of Passover, Christians have been preparing spiritually for the centrality of Christ's sacrifice. Good Friday and Easter are the very essence of Christianity. Passover lasts for a week but kicks off with back-to-back nights of Seders, celebrates the Israelites' exodus from Egypt.

Wishing all our Jewish and Christian clients & friends Chag Semeach and a truly happy Easter.