Serving Larchmont Village, Hancock Park, and the Greater Wilshire neighborhoods of Los Angeles since 2011.

Happy Passover and Earth Day!

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Passover starts at sundown on this Earth Day

That’s right, today marks the start of both the Jewish festival Passover and Earth Day! People all over the world are thinking about the connection between these two occasions, which happen to coincide this year.

“The holidays are natural allies, because at their core, they both aim to promote freedom. In Passover’s case, that freedom is celebrated by remembering the Jewish people’s exodus as slaves from Egypt. In Earth Day’s case, we remember that the Earth should be free from humanity’s many assaults on it,” wrote Rachel Krantz on the Bustle.com.

“The chief lesson of Pesach and the Exodus is not to become hard-hearted and cruel towards our enemies,” Rabbi John Rosove of Temple Israel of Hollywood told the Buzz this morning.  Jewish tradition is infused with the notion of caring for the earth and repairing the world, not just on special occasions like Passover, but every week on Shabbat, explained Rosove.

“The passage from tradition that “The earth is the Lord’s all all its fullness thereof” (Psalm 24:1) is the principle, and our obligation is to protect it and nurture it,”said Rossove.

Passover is also a rite of spring, a celebration of the renewal of the earth. Though Earth day is only 46 years old, in contrast to Passover, which has been celebrated by Jews for thousands of years, both holidays invite us to take time to stop and take stock of how we are treating our blue planet.

In Los Angeles, we’ve been working hard to save water and adjust to our changing climate. We are becoming citizen scientists and observing the wildlife around us so we can become better stewards of the earth. Passover and Earth Day provide one day when those efforts converge with a religious and secular holiday.  The Buzz wishes our readers a sunny, joyful day whatever tradition you are celebrating.

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Patricia Lombard
Patricia Lombard
Patricia Lombard is the publisher of the Larchmont Buzz. Patty lives with her family in Fremont Place. She has been active in neighborhood issues since moving here in 1989. Her pictorial history, "Larchmont" for Arcadia Press is available at Chevalier's Books.

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1 COMMENT

  1. Loved your article on Passover and Earth Day coinciding, both in terms of date, this year, and in overall messages. Thanks, Patty, for the good reading!

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