Not long ago a friend asked me why Catholics don't celebrate the Jewish holy days. Good question.
A response to the question as to why we don't celebrate the Jewish holy days would be along these lines: the Paschal Triduum is the Christian Passover, the true Pasch. Even the Greek and Latin name for Easter tells us that (as also the derivation of the name for Easter in Spanish, French, Italian from the same root).
In one sense, Jesus' teaching was in continuity with Judaism (Mt 5.17: "Think not that I have come to abolish the Law"); but he also in Matthew 5 puts himself forward as a higher Lawgiver than Moses ("you have heard it said, but I tell you..."). I suggest reading Rabbi Jacob Neusner's book, A Rabbi Talks with Jesus, which makes this point very clear. The Pope himself said in Jesus of Nazareth that Neusner's book is an excellent example of honest and reasoned argument between a believing Jew and the Jesus of the gospels.
