Jews have begun the eight-day observance of Passover (April 22-30), when they remember their ancestors’ exodus from Egypt. According to the biblical story, God commanded the Jews to leave Egypt before their bread had time to rise, so for Passover Jews traditionally eat an unleavened bread called matzah. During the entire eight days, Jewish law prohibits Jews from consuming, or even possessing, leavened items such as breads, cakes, and pasta, which are known as chametz.
For the world’s Eastern Orthodox Christians, this coming week is Holy Week leading up to Easter or Pascha on May 1st. Eastern and Western Christians use different calendars to determine when Easter falls every year. Sometimes those dates coincide, but more often than not Easter is celebrated on different days in the two traditions. And sometimes, like this year, those days are more than a month apart.