2 posts tagged “sedar”

(Continued from Feast of Passover  No 2)

Feast of the Passover   No. 3

Let’s start out this third session with an explanation of some of the terminology and symbols.

afikoman: Greek, "dessert," in ancient times the last morsel of the paschal lamb, eaten at the end of the Passover meal. In modern times, it is represented by half of the middle Matzah in the ceremonial Seder dish, which, when broken off, is hidden until the end of the meal.    Adapted from some Jewish traditions, it also symbolizes the Messiah who will come to restore all things.  In Christian Seders, this becomes the symbol of Jesus the Messiah (Christ), and is used as the bread of the Eucharist.

beitzah: "roasted egg," in the Seder meal represents the burnt offerings brought to the Temple during festivals in ancient days; it also symbolizes the cycle of life, the endurance of God’s people and the hope for a future. Traditionally, a brown egg is used on the Seder plate, roasted in an oven until it turns dark. Vegetarians often use an avocado seed as a substitute for the egg on the Seder plate. While hard boiled eggs are often served as the first course of the Seder meal, like the zeroah the beitzah is not eaten since sacrifices are no longer offered.

chametz: "leaven" or "yeast," the ingredient in bread that ferments and makes the bread "rise"by producing bubbles of gas in the dough.  Its absence in Passover carries a dual symbolism.  First, the use of unleavened bread symbolizes the haste with which the Israelites had to flee Egypt; second, it is often a symbol of corruption and sin, and so its removal symbolizes the freedom from sin that God brings.

charoset: derived from the Hebrew word for "clay," a mixture of apples, nuts, cinnamon, honey, and wine which serves to sweeten the bitter herbs. Because of its appearance, it symbolizes the mud mixed with straw used by the slaves in Egyptian buildings. However, it’s sweetness symbolizes that the bitterness of slavery is tempered with the hope for a future. While the maror and matzah are biblical commands, the charoset was an element added by the rabbis.

haggadah; plural, haggadot: from a root which means "to tell," the printed booklet that contains the instructions or order or service, readings, and songs for the Passover Seder.

k’arah: a ceremonial Seder plate, sometimes very ornate, that contains places for the five symbolic elements of the Passover Seder: karpas (parsley), lamb bone, bitter herbs, egg, and charoset. On more elaborate plates, additional places are provided for other symbols, such as a place for a small bowl of salt water.  

karpas: "green vegetable," garden greens, usually parsley, celery, lettuce, or other leafy green vegetable such as watercress used in the Seder meal. The greens are dipped in a small bowl of salt water, recalling the hyssop dipped for sprinkling on the door posts of Hebrew dwellings in preparation for the Exodus (Exodus 12:22).

maggid: "telling," the section of the Seder in which the story of exodus and Passover are recited in various ways.

maror: "bitter herb," traditionally a piece of horseradish root or romaine lettuce. A reminder of the bitterness of life in bondage, not only in Egypt, but everywhere. In the Seder meal, grated horseradish is usually used.

matzah; plural, matzot: "unleavened bread," dough made without yeast that bakes into a thin flat bread. Biblical tradition says that the Hebrews had to leave Egypt so quickly that they did not have time to let the bread rise so they made the dough without yeast or leaven.  It is possible that they took the dough with them in kneading bowls and sun baked the bread on the hot rocks of the desert. There are various ways to transliterate this term.  Today, Matzah is represented by flat cracker-like wafers.  In the Passover Seder three Matzot are used, two representing the two loaves of bread that were placed in the Jerusalem Temple on festival days, plus an additional one for Passover.

pesach: "passover," used to refer to the entire Passover festival or more specifically to the Passover lamb. In the Seder, it refers to the roasted lamb shank bone that represents the sacrificial Passover lamb (Exodus 12:21-27).

seder: "order," refers both to the service of the Passover festival meal that follows a prescribed order, and to the entire festival meal itself.

zeroah: "arm," the roasted shank bone of a lamb that is symbolic of the Passover lamb, both the lambs that were killed in Egypt for the first Passover, but also for the sacrificial lambs offered in the Temple to commemorate Passover. Some Jews understand the bone also to symbolize the arm of God outstretched to help his people in times of trouble. Since there are no longer Temple sacrifices, no lamb or any other roasted meat is eaten at Passover. Some households use a chicken neck in place of the shank bone, and vegetarians often use beets to replace the shank bone on the seder plate, with the red beets and juice symbolizing the blood of the lamb that was used to mark the door posts of the houses.

This is Not exhaustive…but it should help………………

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Kaddesh…  Previously (No. 2), we had done the Kaddesh (The Blessing ) over the items on the table and the Seder plate.  But before the First Cup of wine is drunk from, there is a special blessing over the wine.

“Baruck ato Adoni, Eluhaynu meleck Haw Olam, boray paree agophen.”

Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, king of the universe, creator of the fruit of the vine.”

Then they all Drink of the First Cup.

In teaching the Passover, I usually do not explain the Christian parallel of this incredible prayer until the end of the Seder.

Urchatz..  The Washing of hands

In preparation for the meal, there is a ceremonial hand washing This is not a sanitary action but is symbolic of the "clean hands" with which one comes before God (Psalm 24:3-4). This can be done only by the leader, with a brief explanation of the action, or can be done by all the participants. If time allows, this can be expanded into a communal activity, in which one person pours for another, thus emphasizing the humility and service to each other in community. It is also possible to incorporate a reading here from John 13:2-14, in which Jesus washed the disciples’ feet as a sign of humility. It is not included here in order to preserve the flow of the story without introducing specifically Christian elements at this point.

This first washing of the hands is none without a blessing in preparation for eating of the Karpas (Vegetable.. usually parsley or celery).

Karpas  .. A vegetable (usually parsley) is dipped in salt water and eaten. The vegetable symbolizes the lowly origins of the Jewish people; the salt water symbolizes the tears shed as a result of our slavery. Parsley is a good vegetable to use for this purpose, because when you shake off the salt water, it looks like tears.  Once again all these symbols have a fulfillment in Christian doctrine and will be explained a little later in the Seder.

Yachatz… The breaking of the Matza

At this point the Father of the Passover (or the leader) picks up the Matza cover containing three pieces of Matza.  The three pieces separate and yet under the cover together.  In this we see the trinity of the one God.  The Father, the Son and the Spirit.  The center piece, the Son, is removed.  It is broken, wrapped in white linen or placed a special cover.  This piece is called the “Afikoman”.. the dessert.  The children cover their eyes while the Father hides the Afikoman.  While he buries it.  If during the Seder. A child finds the Afikoman, it must be redeemed in silver.

Like children with their eyes closed, the disciples really did not understand, when Jesus told them He would have to leave soon.  And when they came to the empty tomb their first reaction was, “Where is my Lord?  What have you done with Him?”  It was after He had risen that suddenly all these symbols of a ceremony that had done every year of their lives…moved from their heads…to their hearts.  More detail on this will be given near the end of the Seder.

Mageed…  The Story

Mageed means the story and begins with the invitation…the “Ha-lahma-anya”…”this is the bread of affliction”.  Spoken in Arabic traditionally, as they believed that was the language of the Jews spoken in that era.  But if fact, at the time of the first Passover, the language spoken was Egyption, Hebrew..or a mixture of those language that had developed during the 400 year captivity.  Much as Yiddish formed in Europe as a unique blend of both Hebrew and German.  It wasn’t till much later that Arabic became a common language.  It was the common language of Jesus.  In His great pain and anguish on the cross, Jesus would speak in the language of His childhood…Arabic, when He said, “My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me”.  “Eli Eli Lama sabach thani”, as prophecied in Psalm 22.

Reading from the Haggadah: “Lo, this is the bread of affliction, the humble and simple bread which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt.  Let anyone who is hungry join us at this Seder, and let him partake of what we have to share.

This is amazingly similar to the invitation to communion!!

                      (More of the Mageed to come…in Feast of Passover  No. 4)

The Feast of Passover  No.2

Preparation For The Passover.       It doesn’t just happen!!

“On the 14^th day of the first month at even, is the Lord’s Passover” (Leviticus 25:5)

A)   Bedikat Hametz:  In preparation for Passover, all chametz or leavened food (food with yeast) is removed from the house and cannot be eaten during the seven days of the Festival. The unleavened bread symbolizes the haste with which the Israelites had to flee from Egypt. Since they did not have time for the bread to rise in order to have provisions for the journey, they had to bake it without yeast (Ex 12:11, Deut 16:3).  A game is played with the children, as they search through the house for leaven.  The father hides crumbs on windowsills or counters.  When the children find them, they yell out, “Leaven, leaven.”  The father quickly comes and sweeps them onto a piece of paper and them throws them into the fire.  In this we can see the doctrine of justification as Jesus became our sin-bearer…going through the fire of Gods wrath on our behalf.  We can also see the doctrine of sanctification of being separated from sin and made holy through Jesus the Messiah.

      (1 Corinthians3:13) “Every man’s work shall be made manifest,  

      For the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire;

      And the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.”

     (1 Corinthians 5:7-8) “Purge out therefore the old leaven that ye

      may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened.  For even Christ our

     Passover is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast, not

     with the old leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the

     unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

                 The house is trimmed in white, a symbol of righteousness as seen

                 In Rev 19: 1-8…white linen, napkins, candles.  The leader of the

                 Seder (usually the Father in the home) wears a white “Yarmulke”

                 and a special white “Talis” for the occasion.  All this is symbolic

                 of that the priesthood has come into the home (Rev 1:6), and also

                 of the glorified Christ (Rev 1:12-16).  Even the dishes are special. 

                 In orthodox Jewish homes have four sets of dishes to keep

                 Kosher.  One set for the separation of dairy products and meat ..

                 And the other sets that had never touched leaven.

Hadlakat Ha-Nerot       The Lighting of the Passover Candles

Women in Judaism participate in very little of the traditional formal ceremonies, but a woman must light the candles of the Passover.

How fitting this is as the “Light of the world” would come not through the seed of man….but the seed of woman.

             (Isaiah 7:14) “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign;

            Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his

           name Immanuel.”  

           (Galations 4:4) “But when the fullness of time was come, God sent

           forth His Son, made of woman, made under the law,”

           As the Seder begins and a woman lights the candles, this prayer is

           said.

           “Barch ato Adoni, Eluhaynu melech haw olam, asher v’kid shawnu

           B’mitz-vu-sawu visti vanu ver hadlick ner shal peasch.”

           “Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has

           Commanded us to kindle the Passover lights.”

            The Four Cups

The Seder is predominated by four cups of wine.  Reading from the

Haggadah, “Four times in the course of the Seder, we shall partake of the wine, a symbol of joy and thanksgiving.  The four cups represent the four-fold promise which the Lord made to the Israelites in Egypt.  In the following words, He assured them that they would be freed from servitude.  I will bring you forth, I will deliver you, I will redeem you I will take you.

First Cup  (Sanctification)  (1 Corinthians 6:11) but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Second Cup  (Deliverance)  (Colossians 1:13) Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son:

Third Cup  (Redemption)  (Galations 3:13) Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed [is] every one that hangeth on a tree:

Fourth Cup  (The cup of Joy/ Elisha’s Cup)  (Matthew 26:29) But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

Kaddesh      Sanctifying Prayer and the First Cup

     The Kaddesh means “cleansing” and this prayer of sanctification 

     begins the Seder.  The prayer can be quite long in orthodox traditions

     and is said over the items and food on the Passover table.  Reading

     from the Haggadah:

     “Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, who hast chose us for thy service

     from among the nations, exalting us by making us holy through thy

     commandments.  In love hast thou given us, O Lord our God, Sabbaths

     for rest, holidays for joy and festivals for gladness.  Thou did give us

     this feast of unleavened bread, the season of our freedom, in commem-

     oration of our liberation from Egypt.  Blessed art thou, O Lord, who

     hallowest Israel and the festival.” 

     “Bauch ato Adoni, Eluhaynu meleck haw olam, she-he-che-yo-noo,

     V’kee-ymo-noo, vhee-gee-o-noo, lazman hazeh.”

      “Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who hast kept

      us in life, who hast preserved us and hast enabled us to reach this

      season”

                                            (More to come in Passover No. 3)