# Why are Easter and Passover so far apart this year? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 19, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-easter-and-passover-so-far-apart-this-year/295349 "2005-03-19T20:59:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-easter-and-passover-so-far-apart-this-year/295349/1 "2005-03-19T20:59:34Z")
Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon in spring. I always assumed Passover was set along the same lines – since the first Easter fell on a Passover weekend; and they always seem to land near each other every year. But this year Easter is March 27, and Passover is April 24. What gives? (It seems to have thrown ABC-TV off, too. They always show _The Ten Commandments_ every year at this time. It’s on tonight – even though it has nothing to do with Easter, and everything to do with Passover.) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-easter-and-passover-so-far-apart-this-year/295349/2 "2005-03-19T21:03:11Z")
From [this website](http://quasar.as.utexas.edu/BillInfo/ReligiousCalendars.html): > [@](#): > > If you pay attention to the dates of Easter and Passover from year to year, you will notice that although they usually fall within a week or so of each other, on occasion Passover falls about a month after (Gregorian) Easter. At the present time, this happens in in the 3rd, 11th, and 14th years of the Metonoic Cycle (i.e., when the Golden Number equals 3, 11, or 14). The reason for this discrepancy is the fact that although the Metonic Cycle is very good, it is not perfect (as we’ve seen in this course). In particular, it is a little off if you use it to predict the length of the tropical year. So, over the centuries the date of the vernal equinox, as predicted by the Metonic Cycle, has been drifting to later and later dates. So, the rule for Passover, which was originally intended to track the vernal equinox, has gotten a few days off. In ancient times this was never a problem since Passover was set by actual observations of the Moon and of the vernal equinox. However, after Hillel II standardized the Hebrew calendar in the 4th century, actual observations of celestial events no longer played a part in the determination of the date of Passover. The Gregorian calendar reform of 1582 brought the Western Church back into conformity with astronomical events, hence the discrepancy. > > Similarly, you will notice that in many years Gregorian Easter (the one marked on all calendars) differs from Julian (Orthodox) Easter, sometimes by a week, sometimes by a month. Again, this is due to the different rules of calculation. A major difference is that Orthodox Easter uses the old Julian calendar for calculation, and the date of the Vernal Equinox is slipping later and later on the Julian calendar relative to the Gregorian calendar (and to astronomical fact). Also, the date of Paschal Full Moon for the Julian calculation is about 4 days later than that for the Gregorian calculation. At present, in 5 out of 19 years in the Metonic Cycle–the years when the Golden Number equals 3, 8, 11, 14 and 19–Orthodox Easter occurs a month after Gregorian Easter. In three of these years, Passover also falls a month after Gregorian Easter (see above). Once you understand that, I’d appreciate it if you’d explain it to _me_. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-easter-and-passover-so-far-apart-this-year/295349/3 "2005-03-19T21:29:11Z")
:eek: Well, there you go. Our Golden Number this year is 11. Plain as the nose on your face. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-easter-and-passover-so-far-apart-this-year/295349/4 "2005-03-19T22:07:54Z")
It just so happens that this year the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring equinox is different from being the 15th of Nisan. ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-easter-and-passover-so-far-apart-this-year/295349/5 "2005-03-19T23:12:55Z")
It’s leap year on the Hebrew Calendar. Than means an extra month, not just an extra day. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-easter-and-passover-so-far-apart-this-year/295349/6 "2005-03-19T23:28:38Z")
The Jewish calendar is lunar, so it drifts more and more out of synch with the Gregorian solar calendar each year. A leap month is added every few years to resynch with the solar cycle. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-easter-and-passover-so-far-apart-this-year/295349/7 "2005-03-20T04:44:48Z")
For what it’s worth, I think this year Passover is as late as it can ever be relative to the solar cycle; the last day is May 1, something I can never remember happening ever before. I’m assuming the whole Golden Number thing has to do with how the solar and lunar years are matched up within the Jewish calendar, although I don’t exactly understand their explanation. The solar and lunar years are synched, unlike in the Muslim calendar, because the Torah specifically mandates that Passover be in the spring. This means that the month of Nisan has to always remain in the spring rather than cycling around the calendar like the months of the Islamic calendar. (I’ve always felt bad for Muslim friends when Ramadan is in the summer.) There’s a nineteen year cycle, seven years of which are leap years (13 lunar months, like this year) and twelve of which are regular (12 lunar months). Today, for example, was both March 19 on the Gregorian calendar and the 8th of Adar II (because it’s a leap year; the leap month is added after the regular Adar, and is called Second Adar) on the Jewish calendar. 19 years from now, the two dates will fall out on the same day again. (My nineteenth birthday was the first time that my Hebrew and English birthdays were on the same day, and the next time will be when I turn 38.) ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-easter-and-passover-so-far-apart-this-year/295349/8 "2005-03-20T18:35:52Z")
> [@coffeecat](#): > > It’s leap year on the Hebrew Calendar. Than means an extra month, not just an extra day. Clear & concise answer. I had no idea there were leap months in the Hebrew Calendar. Thanks.