Crosstalk: April 20, 2016

The Jewish Passover begins at sundown April 22nd and ends on April 30th. So what is the Passover? What is its significance? Joining Jim to answer these questions was Chris Katulka. Chris is the host of the radio program, 'The Friends of Israel Today'. He also serves as a speaker, writer and blogger for The Friends of Israel and writes for 'Israel My Glory' magazine. He also leads annual tours to Israel. The program began by discussing anti-semitism. For decades it seemed to be isolated to the Middle East. It spread to Europe and has become such a force that Jews are fleeing France in droves for Israel. London is no longer a safe place for Jews and Chris also reported that we are now seeing a rise in anti-semitism in American universities. This phenomenon has even penetrated the Christian community. Chris noted that the Presbyterian Church USA is very pro-active in pushing a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement within their denomination and this is showing up in Methodist circles as well. The ironic part of the BDS movement is that some Palestinians are asking that people don't boycott Israeli companies. Why? It's because those companies are where some Palestinians generate their income. So if you boycott an Israeli company that's located in the West Bank or in Judea/Samaria, you're not helping the Palestinians, you're actually hurting some of them. Why is the Passover coming 4 full weeks after the time we celebrated Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday? According to Chris, Jewish holidays follow the Hebrew Calendar which is a lunar calendar so it differs from our Gregorian calendar. It's a Jewish leap year so instead of adding an additional day to the end of February, the Jews add a whole month to the year. Chris believes the significance of the Passover is similar to what we hold dear as Christians. It's one evening that carries over into a period of 7 days of unleavened bread. The bread is unleavened because leaven carried the connotation of sin with it. In the end, Passover is a celebratory reminder that God set the Jewish people free from the bondage of Egypt. As this Crosstalk moved along it explained the connection we have to Passover as Christians, witnessing to Jewish friends, the purpose of the red heifer and more.