Chag Pesach Sameach from Israel!
What an incredible time to be here in the Land!
For the first time in 33 years, Passover (and Easter) fall during the month of Ramadan (the holy month of Islam). As someone who loves culture and history, it's fascinating to be here right now. As a Christian, I can think of no time more special than being here during this week! And, I learned today that just as with that Passover (Good Friday) of 2000+ years ago, the way Passover falls in the calendar means there are 2 Shabbats back-to-back (Friday and Saturday). So cool!
On Wednesday, I went to my first Seder. Did you know that the word "seder" means "order" in Hebrew? In fact, a common response to the question, "How are you?" is "beseder"... which literally translates to "in order". We'd use it like saying, "good" or "fine". I love learning that kind of stuff!
I wish I could detail everything I experienced that night, but there was too much! So here are just a few things:
First of all, the table decorations were so cool! The designer made it look like the Israelites walking in dry land in the middle of the Red Sea. Can you see it?
I loved the figurines walking along... especially the ones with the dogs, haha.
Most importantly, the actual seder plate and other elements:
There's so much symbolism here that it would take MANY blog posts to explain. I think that in a future year, I'll go more in depth into it all. But I didn't want to research anything until I experienced it firsthand myself. There's so much symbolism on that plate:
- the bitter herbs, horseradish, and romaine lettuce signifying the bitterness of slavery
- the lamb shank bone signifying the Lord's outstretched arm from Exodus and Isaiah
- the charoset, a mixture made of apples, pears, nuts, and wine, to signifying paste, like the mortar between bricks
- the karpas, or vegetable, signifying the backbreaking work of slavery
- the boiled egg, the first thing served to mourners at a funeral, and also signifies the circle of life.
Not to mention the matzah, the unleavened bread that is literally pierced and burned. What's so amazing is that there are 3 together, and the middle one gets broken, taken away, and hidden. It's called the Afikomen, or the ultimate redemption of suffering. At the end of the meal, the children go to find the afikomen, and the one who does receives a prize—it's ransomed back.
What I found so incredible was how the symbolism tied in with what Christians call the Last Supper. In fact, that's what Jesus and the disciples were eating when Jesus broke the bread and said, "This is my body" and passed around a cup of wine saying, "This is my blood". It's what Christians call, "Communion".
That Passover over 2000 years ago, something else un-traditional happened. One other element is that there are 4 cups of wine (or grape juice) to drink... they stand for each of the 4 promises in Exodus 6:6: the Cup of Sanctification, the Cup of Deliverance, the Cup of Redemption, and the Cup of Praise. When Jesus said "This is my blood," He was talking about the Cup of Redemption!
At one point, we filled the cup, then dipped our pinkies in it, marking our plate while reciting each of the 10 plagues.
Another interesting thing about the 4 Cups. Some believe that there's a 5th Cup—
the Cup of God's Wrath. Through Jeremiah 25:15, Matthew 26:39, Isaiah 51:17, Matthew 20:22 (and more), we see that when Jesus is praying and sweating blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, asking God to "take this cup from me", He is referring to the Cup of God's Wrath, which He took on Himself.
Like, I said, there's so much more to a
seder than what I just described. But I hope this post gives you a taste of what it's like, and maybe next year you can attend one as well! I found so much beauty and meaning in this celebration... and then after, so much fun and laughter in a delicious feast!
For now, there's just one more thing to say:
