We had the unique privilege of participating in a Messianic Passover/Seder.
My sister's church, a few hours away from us, was offering this in preparation for a study they were about to begin. She invited us, and other members of our family, to participate.
Armed with our Haggadah (a compilation of the rituals and passages used for the Seder service), we were ready to begin!
This was so perfect for us because we are studying Creation to the Greeks in our home school studies this year and the Passover was the next Biblical Feast we were planning to cover in the next few weeks. We have covered several Biblical feasts already (Shabbat, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Booths) and let me tell you, they are a lot of work! They are also extremely meaningful and I love how God used/uses these feasts to draw His people closer to Him and cause them to remember everything that He has done and continues to do.
To be able to participate in a Biblical Feast that was basically done for us was a HUGE blessing! Not only that, but it was led by an Israeli Messianic Jew by the name of Zohar Gonen. Zohar partners with Chosen People Ministries in order to bring the gospel to Jewish people around the world. Unlike me, trying to glean information from the book Celebrating Biblical Feasts by Martha Zimmerman, this guy knew exactly what he was doing! He has an amazing testimony and the ministry he participates in is awesome. Check out the ministry link for more information.
My husband and I, along with our children and other members of our family, participated in this 2/2.5 hour memorable event. I wish I could tell you about every single detail of the Passover because it was all so interesting and exciting, but I will just highlight a few things.
The Seder plate contained:
-salt water
-Karpas (parsley)
-Z'roah (shank bone) - Our individual plates did not each contain this item, but the speakers plate did
-Maror (bitter herbs)
-Cha-gee-gah (boiled egg)
-Charoset (mixture of apples, honey, nuts, and wine)
Each item signifies certain things and has great meaning wrapped up in it. The karpas was nasty. I am not a fan of parsley and the bitter herbs just about brought tears to everyone's eyes. I think boiled eggs dipped in salt water might just be a new breakfast hit with the kids though ;)
As we went through the Passover, Zohar explained each step and item in great detail. It was so neat to hear him recite/sing most things in the Hebrew language.
Here is my goofy, but beautiful sister lighting the festival candles (Nay-rot shel Pesach).
Her husband singed off most of his arm hairs later on in the Passover when he was reaching across the table for something....too bad I didn't get THAT on camera ;)
And here is my husband breaking the middle Matzah (unleavened bread).
It was so much fun participating in this Passover/Seder. We all learned so much. Of course, after 4 glasses of wine each (aka - grape juice), we were all about to bust our britches...LOL!
I wish I could participate in all the Biblical feasts this way!
What a great event! MFW recommends a passover celebration activity and I still haven't gotten my act together to make it happen! :(
ReplyDeleteOne thing I plan to do with my kids that I thought I'd let you know about if you are interested is making a Seder (Passover) plate. Fun City in Beaumont, (the place with Laser tag and pottery), has Seder plates the kids can decorate/paint. Then they fire them up in a kiln type oven to give them a nice glaze. You can eat on them and everything after that. Last time I checked, it cost about $20 to do this. I plan to take my kids and let them share in the decorating/painting of a plate. Here is an example of the plates (without the color) they had last time I checked. http://www.ajudaica.com/item/4983_121/Blue+Glass+Passover+Seder+Plate+++Star+of+David+Design Anyway, I thought it would be something neat to do to commemorate the Seder/Passover :)
ReplyDeleteVery cool! Our church is doing the same thing with another gentleman from Chosen People Ministries. I may or may not have suggested the idea to our pastor so I wouldn't have to do all the work of the Passover feast at home myself. :) A question for you, how did the matzoh crackers get folded in the napkins at the table? I'm in charge of all the prep and set-up for our event, and I just can't figure out how the matzohs are supposed to be presented.
ReplyDeleteWe had 3 squares of matzah wrapped in a larger white cloth/napkin. Between each layer of matzah they laid a smaller white paper napkin. I think they unfolded the napkins to cover each layer completely. Let me see if I can break it down to make it a little more clear b/c that sounded confusing to me..lol!
ReplyDelete1) Lay out a larger unfolded white cloth napkin.
2) In the center of the cloth napkin, place the bottom (3rd) matzah layer.
3)Then cover with the white paper napkin.
4) Next, place the middle (2nd) layer of matzah on top of that.
5)Then cover with another white paper napkin.
6)Then place the top (1st) layer of matzah on that.
7)Finally, take the outer white cloth napkin and fold up around the matzah set.
This creates the overall cover with the inner napkin covers. I hope this makes sense :)
on a side note...There was also another separate cloth/paper napkin folded up near the matzah. That is to be used to wrap up half of the middle piece of bread you break during the service to be used as the affikomen.
A little extra info - We did not have a shank bone at each table on the Seder plate (most likely due to cost and availability). Instead, the speaker had the shank bone at his main table at the front. He held it up, described it, and talked about it.
The speakers table was also the only one that contained the wash bowl and the 4 silver cups. Our tables had a flask of grape juice, a cup of water, and an empty cup to be used for the grape juice on 4 different occasion throughout the service.
Probably more info than you need, but hope it helps :) I hope all goes well for you guys and your Seder celebration :-D