Of all Jewish holiday traditions, the most popular remains the Passover seder””the festive ritual meal, celebrated next week, at which family and friends gather to recount the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt and deliverance from bondage to freedom. It’s so popular, in fact, that these days more and more of those seated at seder tables are non-Jews. Not only that: An increasing number of churches now offer their own versions of the Passover seder.
The Passover seder’s embrace by Christians seems an unlikely phenomenon. The Passover haggadah””the book that guides the seder service as prescribed by Jewish tradition””is designed to fulfill the Torah’s commandment that Jews remember and retell the journey from slavery to freedom every year. The haggadah’s reminder is explicit: “If the most holy, blessed be He, had not brought forth our ancestors from Egypt, we, and our children, and children’s children, had still continued in bondage to the Pharaohs in Egypt.” Jews are taught to celebrate each Passover as if they themselves were embarking on that journey from Egypt.
What makes Christians’ embrace of Passover all the more unusual is that for centuries””even into the 20th””the holiday’s proximity to Good Friday and Easter routinely sparked violent anti-Jewish riots and pogroms, especially in Europe.
Festivus for the Rest o’ us!
Gosh, if Christians celebrating Passover catches on, they might even do something related to it every week! Maybe give it a name, like “eucharist” or something.
There are actually very old canons that prescribe excommunication for a Christian who attends a seder. To explain: it denies that Christ has come and the seder is *fulfilled*. That the eucharist is what is *done* now for baptised people. But that assumes they know what they’re doing, not screwing around. A big assumption.
Remember, folks, that we are now living under a very big tent. Hmm. Wonder what the Christians would think about Jews trying a hand at celebrating Holy Communion, once a year or so.
Interesting. I normally have a traditional seder during holy week as part of my Holy Week disciplines. I figure that we are grafted into the vine and Jesus routinely ate the Passover. That’s good enough for me.
Do you suppose that Jesus was a Christian?
Hmm, I wonder what, “Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us” might mean?
Perhaps that we mihgt have our own Passover Meal that replaces the Sedar?
Br. Michael, I agree. I think that incorporating our Passover roots into Maundy Thursday is quite beautiful. A good friend of mine who was a convert from Judaism did a “Christian Seder” at any church interested. She did a wonderful job of explaining the Jewish traditions and how Jesus expanded and fulfilled them.
I have done a Maundy Thursday meal for friends that included some Jewish foods. I make some mean latkes!!! 🙂
My haroset is to die for. My roasted egg is delicious and the horseradish root has to be experienced. Shalom.
We have a Messianic Seder annually at Passover.
We have Maundy Thursday annually in Holy Week.
“Christ our Passover IS sacrificed for us!
Therefore let us keep the Feast!”
Like I said.
Br. Michael, Care to share your haroset recipe?! 🙂
There. See? All religions are the same so one form is convertible into another at no cost to anyone. Isn’t that great? We’re all one. Inclusive. Multicultural. Schori is right after all. Larry
Ah, but Br Michael, can you make matzoh brei?! 😉
On a more serious note, to the comments of #s 2,3, and 6:
As a “completed Jew” who became an Anglican 20some years ago and who has conducted seders at several churches of which she was a member, I think it is good for cradle Christians to experience a seder. Their participation doesn’t mean that they believe that the Messiah has not yet come (as Jews certainly do – witness the place setting for Elijah the Prophet and the invitation for him to join the Passover attendees at table), but rather that they learn about this important Jewish remembrance of the Jews’ covenant with God, and how this ties in with Jesus’s attempt to teach his disciples that he was the fulfillment of the new covenant with his believers.
11, sure:
Depending on the number of guests:
6 Winesap or Delicious apples finely chopped in a food processor
Sprinkle generously with cinnamon
Several ounces of crushed walnuts
generous handful of dark raisins
1/4 cup sweet passover wine
1/2 cup kosher honey
Mix together thoroughly and cover. Serve cold.
This makes a rather large serving. If your seder is about 6 people I would cut the amounts in half.
13, alas no.
Our relationship to the Jews is the relation of the son to the parent. We are to honor our parents, so should we honor the Jews. But the above is different than honoring one’s parents. It is the failure to observe the distinctions that separates one from the other. Still, if the son has done well, we should praise the parents for his upbringing. Larry
Maybe we could “do” pretend Eucharists for our Jewish friends. Then they would have a better understanding of what the Eucharist is “all about.”
I’m surprised no Anglican has pointed out the excellent history of this in The Shape Of The Liturgy by Gregory Dix. Chapter 4 should clear up a lot of questions. Especially since the research of Dix would suggest that the Last Supper was no Seder to begin with. How to cure the desire to do something “neat” and pretend for a day the Eucharist has never happened, well, that’s a hard question. #17 clarified the problem of the desire for novelty. Do married couples “pretend” they’re single and act as though their covenant didn’t happen? If they do, we have a *name* for it, don’t we?