The Passover Seder
The Passover Seder, the Last Supper and the Eucharist
Mary
Kelly
Published by the Study Centre for Christian
Jewish Relations
London
1975 |
Throughout
all ages and in every culture people have
met together to celebrate. Such gatherings
are called Festivals and they would seem
to be essential to truly human life. Often
they are connected with nature. Harvest
festivals, for instance, are held annually
in the Churches and in many countries Carnival
is held at the beginning of Spring. The
origin of Christmas was the festival in
honour of the Winter solstice. Sometimes
festivals commemorate a historical event,
for example the liberation of a city, or
a state occasion like the Coronation of
the Monarch. The Edinburgh festival honours the Arts and Music festivals are frequent. Even a
birthday party, a wedding feast are festivals
celebrating particular persons. Festivals
create in participants awareness of phenomena
through an experience which involves the
whole person.
Religious
festivals are the oldest of all. Without
them religion would probably die for they
allow people to give expression to their
beliefs and the emotions they generate;
to communicate these to their children.
In them they experience relationship to
the source of all life, give thanks for
it, acknowledge their fears, their dependence,
their sorrow and hope. They become liberated.
The meaning of existence is broadened and
deepened through the religious festival.
Christianity
is in essence awareness of one continual
festival, Easter, which commemorates the
death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.
Every Eucharist re-presents this event and,
through word and symbols, the Congregation
can participate in it. Feast days honouring
individual saints are also Easter festivals.
The New Testament connected the
death and resurrection of Jesus with the Jewish festival
of Passover. There are indications that the crucifixion
took place at the Passover season, but more important,
its significance is explained with reference to the
Passover feast. Jesus himself celebrated this festival
during his life-time and his disciples went on doing
so for some time. Our Jewish neighbours still do.
The purpose of this pamphlet is to describe their
ceremonies, explore their meaning and the relation
between Passover and the Christian Eucharist.
Passover
is as old and as enduring as the Jewish
people itself. It commemorates the great
event when God redeemed the Israelites from
slavery in Egypt
and made them a free people. It is therefore a national feast celebrating
the liberation and the birth of a people but it is
also a religious festival, for the event is remembered
as the act of God who is man's redeemer. Its consequence
was the covenant at Sinai when the Israelites pledged
themselves to live according to the divine law, the
Torah, and God promised that they would be
his special people, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation
(Exodus 19). Passover is a festival of freedom, of
brotherhood, of faith and of hope.
 "To
remember the Exodus from Egypt is an essential commandment in Judaism.
Four times in the Pentateuch the obligation is laid
on every father to tell his children "what the Lord
did for me when I came out of Egypt" (Ex. 12:26; 13:8,
14; Deut. 6:20). Throughout the centuries right until
our own times this command is fulfilled through the
annual observance of Passover. This is not the only
way in which the Exodus is remembered. Every Sabbath
Day also commemorates this event (as well as the creation
of the world). The ten commandments begin with the
statement "I am the Lord your God, who brought you
out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Ex.
20: 2). A rite as old as Passover (about thirty- five
centuries) undergoes changes in its form, though the
basic underlying meaning remains the same for the
Jewish people. It became the "key" to the meaning
of their existence, for past and future are understood
in its light - God saw their plight, intervened and
delivered them from it. In doing so once He pledged
himself to continue to do so throughout history. As
a Jewish festival it is a feast of history in which
the story of what happened long ago is recounted but
also experienced by the participants through the ritual
- "God makes a covenant not with our fathers but with
us, our very selves, here this day, all of us being
alive" (Deut. 5:3).
The remote origin
of the Jewish Passover is the rite practised by nomads
at the time of the Sp ring
equinox, at the full moon. To placate the deity and
to call down the blessing of fertility, a young lamb
was slaughtered and its blood smeared over the entrance
to the tent to ward off evil powers and to show the
rite had been completed. The animal was roasted and
eaten with green herbs and unleavened bread, both customary
to Bedouins. The migration in search of fresh pastures
would begin immediately, the household being dressed
ready for the journey "their loins girt, their staff
in hand" (Exodus 12: 11).
The Israelites
who lived in Egypt were shepherds
(cf. Gen. 46: 32, 47:3). A rite of this
nature could have been an important annual
observance and might have been the feast
they wished to celebrate in the desert (cf.
Ex. 5 :1). The Pharaoh who "knew not
Joseph" (Ex. 1:8) conscripted them
as sweated labour for his immense building
projects and this presumably interfered
with the annual migration with their flocks.
Nevertheless at the time of the Springtide
Pastoral rite, which coincided with some
catastrophe or plague in Egypt, under the leadership
of Moses, the Israelites did in fact succeed
in getting away, never to return but to
find a new home in the Promised Land, that
is in Canaan.
This event is remembered as the
foundation stone of the Jewish people. It is interpreted
as "deliverance by the Lord", for the Israelites -
their houses being marked by the blood of the lamb
- were unaffected by the plague which killed the first
born of the Egyptians. The story is told in chapter
eleven of the Book of Exodus and the rules for its
annual observance follow in chapter twelve. The Bible
has two names for this festival, Pesach (Passover)
and Chag ha Matzot (feast
of Unleavened Bread).
FEAST
OF UNLEAVENED BREAD
The feast of the unleavened bread
was a harvest feast celebrated by farmers when the
barley ripened sometime in the Spring. The first sheaf
was offered at the local shrine - this made it a pilgrimage
feast. From that day fifty days were counted to the
second harvest, the feast of the wheat offering. During
the seven days of the Spring feast no leaven was added
to the new bread. The beginning of a new year was
thus emphasized by the fact that nothing belonging
to the old year was mixed with the new harvest. When
the Israelites settled in Canaan and became farmers, they too celebrated the harvest festivals. The
feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover were two
Spring festivals.
The celebration
of particular Passovers is described in
the Bible, namely, the first one in Exodus
12: 21ff, after. crossing the Jordan and arriving at Gilgal (Joshua 5:
10-12), during the
reform of King Josiah (2 Kings 23:21-23;
2 Chronicles 35:1-18) and after the return
from exile (Ezra 6:
19-22).
The religious
calendars contain liturgical rules about
two Spring feasts : Pesach (Passover), which
was to be celebrated at a fixed date - the
evening of the fourteenth day of the month
of Abib (Spring) (cf. Ex. 12:1-13, Lev. 23:5, Deut. 16:1-8) -
and Chag ha Matzot
(Feast of Unleavened Bread), which began
on the first Sabbath after the barley harvest
and lasted seven days (cf. Ex. 12 :14-20,
Lev. 23 : 6-8). Both feasts commemorate
the Exodus from Egypt. In the Bible neither is concerned just with animals or crops but
with the faith of Israel
that God had historically intervened to deliver them from slavery,
to make a covenant with them in the desert, and establish
them as his people in a Promised Land.
At some
date (certainly before the exile in 587)
the two feasts were fused into one. Certain
inherent factors facilitated this. They
were both Spring feasts, unleavened bread
was a feature of both and the Deuteronomic
reform made the Passover (which had been
a domestic feast) into a Pilgrimage feast
to be celebrated at the central shrine.
The commandment "you must tell your
son ‘what the Lord did for me when he led
me out of Egypt
’” was fulfilled through this festival.
By the
time of Jesus the Passover was the most
important festival of the year. According
to the historian Josephus, the New Testament
and the Talmud immense crowds gathered in Jerusalem for it. The Mishnah describes how work
ceased at midday and the lambs were slaughtered by the head of the household in the
Temple area and offered by the priests after the ninth hour on the fourteenth
of Nisan. The sacrificial portions were
extracted from the animal and burnt on the
altar in accordance with Leviticus 3: 3-4.
The rest of the carcass was taken away to
be roasted for the communal meal which began
after sunset - fifteenth of Nisan. The main characteristics of
this table liturgy : the bitter herbs, the
unleavened bread, the wine, the repeating
of the tradition and the explanation of
the meaning of the rites are described in
chapter ten of tractate Pesachim in the Mishnah.
As sacrifice could only be offered
at the Temple in Jerusalem, after its destruction the Paschal Lamb ceased to be part of the Passover
festival. A memory of the Temple liturgy is retained even today, the shank bone of a lamb being placed
on the table together with a roasted egg. The latter
symbolises the second offering that was customary
on feast days. Apart from this, the Passover today
contains all the elements present at the time of Jesus.
The most important symbol is the eating of the unleavened
bread together with blessings recited over it and
over the wine. The story of the Exodus is told, interspersed
with songs of praise and hope.
The liturgy
or the order of Passover is found in a special
book called Haggadah.
This Hebrew word means ‘telling’ and it
refers to the fact that the reason for celebrating
Passover is to tell the story of the Exodus
according to the command “And thou shall
tell thy son in that day, saying, ‘It is
because of that which the Lord did for me
when I came forth out of Egypt’ (Ex. 13:8)”.
The text in its present form is about a
thousand years old but much of it is more
ancient, some portions going back to the
year 500 B.C.
The service consists of a number
of ceremonies, some of them recalling customs in use
when the Temple was standing; others are taken from later periods in Jewish history.
The story is recounted together with songs, prayers,
legends and with the aid of many symbols. Its central
point is the festive family meal. The head of the
household presides at his own table at the precise
time fixed by the calendar, i.e. after sunset, 15th
Nisan. But before this many preparations have been
made.
It is still important that no leaven
is found in the house at Passover time. A thorough
“spring-cleaning” is carried out; often special cooking
utensils and crockery kept only for Passover are used.
A symbolic “searching for leaven” is conducted the
night before by the father and his children. Some
leavened bread is carefully deposited and, by the
tight of a candle with dustpan and broom, is swept
up to be burnt. Leaven has become the symbol of what
Jews call “the evil inclination” and Christians “sin”.
St. Paul uses it in this way when he exhorts his readers to “cleanse out the
old leaven that you may be fresh dough, as you really
are, unleavened” (1 Cor.
5:7).
b)
Fast of the first born
Traditionally
the first born of the family fasts before
the Seder in memory of the tenth plague
from which the Israelites were spared while
the first born of the Egyptians died.
After
sunset, when the time has come, the family
gathers around the prepared table which
is covered with a white cloth. The mistress
of the house lights the festival candles,
saying a prayer, (called a Benediction),
as she does so. At every place there is
a Haggadah
and a wine glass, which will be filled four
times: On the table are bitter herbs (usually
horse radish), a roasted egg, the shank
bone of a lamb, green herbs, salt water
and a mixture of apples, nuts and cinnamon
called Charoset. Three pieces of unleavened bread, covered
and separated from each other by the folds
of a cloth or serviette, are perhaps the
most important item. Each of these “visual
aids” will be pointed out and explained
during the service, for they are a powerful
means to evoke the deliverance of the Israelites
from slavery in Egypt
. A special cup called the Cup of Elijah is also on the table. This
will be filled with wine and his presence is expected,
for he is the forerunner of the Messiah. Passover
will be the season when he comes. Cushions are also
provided. This is a custom in memory of Roman times
when free men took their meals reclining. At Passover
all recline for it is the feast of freedom.
Fifteen
word summarise the ceremonies that constitute
the Seder:
I. KIDDUSH (Sanctification)
The meal begins with a blessing over a glass of wine and all drink:
Blessed
art Thou, O Lord, our God, King of the Universe,
Creator of the produce of the vine. Blessed
art Thou, O Lord Our God, King of the Universe,
who hast chosen us from all peoples, and
hast exalted us above all tongues, and hast
sanctified us by Thy commandments. And thou
hast given us, O Lord, our God, in love,
seasons for rejoicing, and gladness, this
feast of Passover, the time of our freedom,
a holy convocation in memorial of our departure
from Egypt. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who sanctifies Israel
and the festival seasons. Who has
preserved us, and sustained us, and brought us to
this season.
Before eating all wash their hands.
The Celebrant
takes the greens (parsley, watercress or
lettuce) and distributes some to each one.
The greens are dipped in salt water and
all say:
Blessed art Thou, O Lord, our God,
King of the Universe, Creator of the fruits of the
earth.
The middle Matzah (unleavened bread) is broken. One half is left on the
cover and the other half (called afikomen)
is hidden and will be eaten at the end of the meal.
The Passover
story now begins. This is not a straight
reading from the Bible. It is a drama with
questions, answers and gestures. All can
take part, but a special role is given to
the youngest for the Seder is designed for
the children. The Matzah
(unleavened bread) is uncovered and lifted
up far all to see. The following proclamation,
which is older than the time of Jesus, captures
the spirit of Passover with its characteristic
notes of hospitality and freedom.
This
is the bread of affliction which our ancestors
ate in the land in Egypt. Let all who are hungry enter and eat. Let all who are in want come
and celebrate the Passover with us. This
year we are here, next year may we be in
the land of Israel. Now we are slaves, but next year may we be free men!
The matzah
is put down and the second glass of wine
is poured. The youngest person at the table,
whose curiosity has now been awakened, asks
f our questions:
Why is
this night different from all other nights?
On all other nights, we eat either leavened
or unleavened bread; why, on this night,
only unleavened bread?
On all
other nights, we eat all kinds of herbs;
why, on this night, bitter herbs especially?
On all
other nights we need not dip herbs at all;
why on this night, do we dip them twice?
On all
other nights, we may sit at the table either
erect or reclining; why, on this night,
do we recline?
In response
to these questions the Father instructs
his son "according to his capacity",
beginning with shame and ending with praise,
and he expounds from ‘A Syrian would have
destroyed my father’ (Deut. 26 : 5).
We were
slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Eternal our God brought us forth from there with a mighty
hard and an outstretched arm. And if the
Holy One, blessed be He, had not liberated
our fathers from Egypt, then we, and our children and our children's children would be servants
to Pharaoh in Egypt. Therefore, even were we all wise, all men of understanding, all advanced
in years, and all endowed with knowledge
of the Torah, it would nevertheless be our
duty to tell the story of the coming forth
from Egypt: and the more a man tells of
the coming forth from Egypt, the more he
is to be praised.
A story
follows, telling how five famous Jewish
scholars of the second century celebrated
Passover in the village of B’nai B'rak in Israel. Then all say:
Blessed
be the All present, blessed be He: Blessed
be He who have the Law to His people Israel, blessed be He.
A passage
from the Talmud follows, describing four
types of sons, the wise who really seeks
instruction, the wicked who is scornful,
the simple who is without much intelligence
and the one who is too young to speak. Each
receives an appropriate answer but the story
of the Exodus follows with the youngest
in mind. A summary is given here.
Praised
is He Who is faithful to His promise to
Israel, for He set a term to our bondage,
fulfilling the word which He gave our father
Abraham in the solemn covenant of the divided
sacrifice, as it is written "Be certain
of this: your descendants shall recede in
a land not their own, in subjection to people
who will treat them harshly for four hundred
years; but I shall punish the nation that
held them in slavery and then they shall
get away with ample possession" (Gen.
15 :13).
This
promise, which has stood by our forefathers,
stands by us; for it was not only one tyrant
who planned our destruction; but in every
generation men have sought to destroy us,
and the Holy One, blessed be He, has delivered
us from their hands. “My father was a wandering
Aramean, and he
went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; and there he became a nation,
great, mighty and numerous” (Deut. 26 :
S). Interpret this so: Jacob went to Egypt compelled by the divine decree; it was never Jacob's intention to
settle there permanently; during their long
residence in Egypt, the Israelites retained their distinctive names, faith and language.
“And
the Egyptians dealt harshly with us, and
oppressed us, and enslaved us in hard bondage”
(Deut. 26:6). As it is written “And the
Egyptians said : ‘Come let us outwit them,
lest they grow in number; for war may come,
and they may join our enemies and fight
against us, and thus leave our land’ . .
. and they set taskmasters over them, to
torment them with heavy loads; and they
built the treasure cities of Pithom
and Ramses for
Pharaoh . . . and the Egyptians drove the
children of Israel ruthlessly at their task”
(Exodus 1 :10,11,13).
And we
cried unto the Eternal One, the God of our
Fathers, and He heard our voice, and saw
our affliction, and our toil and our oppression
(Deut. 26:7). As scripture tells us, “And
in the course of those long years the long
of Egypt died; and the children of Israel sighed in the midst of their slavery, and wept: and their cry carne
up to God from their bondage. And God heard
their groaning, and He remembered His covenant
with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob”
(Exodus 2 : 23,
24).
“And
the Eternal One brought us forth out of
Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched
arm, and with awesome terrors, and with
signs and with wonders” (Deut. 26:8). He
sent no intermediary; it was God Himself,
blessed be He, in His glory.
These
are the ten plagues which the Holy One,
blessed be He, visited upon the Egyptians
in Egypt
Each
spills out a drop of wine from the glass
at the mention of each of the plagues, as
a symbol of regret that the victory had
to be purchased through misfortune visited
upon God's creation, the Egyptians.
BLOOD
FROGS LICE BEASTS BLIGHT BOILS HAIL LOCUSTS
DARKNESS SLAYING OF THE FIRST BORN.
A
hymn of thanksgiving with a refrain DAYENU
(it would have been sufficient) is now sung.
It lists all the acts the Almighty has done
for his people, from the bringing out of
Egypt
to the building of the Temple.
Each
of the Passover symbols is now pointed out
and explained (Note the use of the word
“this” here and in the words of institution
at the Eucharist in the New Testament).
The remembrance
of the Exodus of our fathers from Egypt
will never fail to inspire us with new courage,
and the symbols of this Festival always
help to strengthen our faith in God, Redeemer
of the oppressed. Thus our ancient teacher
Rabban Gamaliel
taught "Whoever does not well consider
the meaning of these three symbols: the
Passover sacrifice, the Matzah and the Bitter Herb, has not properly observed this
Festival".
The
Celebrant holds up the shank bone and says
This
shank bone, symbol of the Passover sacrifice,
reminds us of how the Holy One, blessed
be He, passed over the houses of our forefathers
in Egypt, “smiting the Egyptians and sparing
us” (Ex. 12: 27).
The
Celebrant points to the Matzah.
This
Matzah reminds
us how, in the haste of their departure
from Egypt our forefathers had to take along unleavened dough, "for they
had not made any provisions for the road"
(Exodus 12.39).
The
Celebrant points to the Bitter Herb.
This
Bitter Herb reminds us how the Egyptians
made bitter the lives of our forefathers
in Egypt (Ex. 1:14).
The
climax of the ritual is reached with the
following passage which makes clear the
meaning of the action far those taking part
in it today. It is followed by the first
part of the Hallel (Psalms 113, 114).
In each
generation, every man is duty bound to envisage
himself as though he personally took part
in the Exodus from Egypt; as we read in the Torah : “you shall tell your son on that day, saying
‘It is because of what the Lord did for
me when I came forth from Egypt.’” It was not only our forefathers that the Holy One, blessed be He,
redeemed, He redeemed us, the living, together
with them.
All
raise their wine glasses and say
We should
therefore sing praises and give thanks and
pour out infinite adoration to Him who performed
all these wonders for our fathers and for
us. He brought us from slavery to freedom,
from anguish to joy, from mourning to festivity,
from darkness to light, and from bondage
to redemption; and we will sing unto Him
a new song, Halleluyah!
The blessing over the wine is said
and all drink the second glass.
Hands
are washed in preparation f or the meal
and all say
Blessed art Thou, O Lord, our God,
King of the Universe, who sanctifies us by His commandments
and commanded us concerning the washing of the hands.
The
Celebrant breaks the upper and middle Matzot
and distributes a portion to each. All say
the blessing aver the bread (cf. Mk. 14 : 22) after which the Matzah
is eaten.
Blessed
art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe,
who brings forth bread from the earth.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God,
King of the Universe who sanctified us by His commandments
and commanded us concerning the eating of unleavened
bread.
The
Celebrant distributes bitter herb which
is dipped in the Charoset; the fallowing blessing is said and the bitter herb
eaten.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God,
King of the Universe who sanctified us by His commandments
and commanded us concerning the eating of Bitter Herb.
X. COROR (Combining) The Hillel
Sandwich
In
remembrance of the Temple,
according to the custom of Hillel, a famous
Jewish teacher earlier than the time of
Jesus, the Celebrant distributes a piece
of Matzah and
bitter herb. They are eaten together, after
saying the following:
Thus Hillel was accustomed to do
when the Temple was still standing : he used to place together some of the Paschal
offering, unleavened bread, and bitter herb and eat
them as one, to fulfil that which is said: ‘Upon unleavened
bread and bitter herbs shall they eat it’ (Nums.
9 :11, Ex. 12 : 8).
XI. SHULHAN ORECH (Partake of
the meal)
The meal is now served. This
is an integral part of the celebration, the table
now taking the place of the altar. The Talmud says
"Now that there is no altar, a man's table atones
for him" (Ber. 55a, Men.
97a).
XII. TZAFUN (Aphikoman-dessert)
The
Matzah which had
been hidden is now found and distributed
to all present. This is the last food eaten
and it preserves a memory of the former
custom that the Paschal Lamb was eaten at
the end of the meal so that its taste should
remain.
Usually a game of ‘hide and seek’
is played with the aphikoman.
The children, whose usual bed-time is long past, and
whose interest should be sustained, look for the hidden
matzah and the finder receives
a reward.
XIII. BARECH (Grace after meal)
A series of thanksgiving prayers,
beginning with Psalm 124 and ending with a number
of invocations, addressing God as the "All Merciful"
constitute the Grace after meals. The third cup of
wine is poured and drunk at the end of the prayer.
This is probably the cup referred to in the Gospels
taken after supper (Lk.
22:20,
1 Car. 11:25)
over which Jesus said “This cup which is poured out
for you is the new covenant in my blood”. An extract
from the Grace after meals is printed here
Celebrant:
Let us say grace:
All: May
the name of the Lord be blessed henceforth and forever.
Celebrant
Let us bless
Him of whose bounty we have partaken.
All:
Blessed is He of Whose bounty we have partaken, and through Whose goodness
we live. Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God,
Ruler of the Universe, Who nourishes the
whole world in goodness, grace, loving kindness
and compassion. “He gives food to all flesh,
for His mercy is everlasting.” Because of
His enduring goodness, we have not lacked
sustenance, and may we not lack it in the
future - this for His great name's sake.
For He is the universal Nourisher
and Provider, beneficent towards all, and
preparing sustenance for all living things
of His creation. Blessed art Thou, O Lord,
Who provides food for all.
Celebrant:
Our God and God of our fathers, be Thou ever mindful of us as Thou
hast been of our fathers, so that we may
find enlargement, grace, mercy, life and
peace on this Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Celebrant:
Remember us
this day in kindness.
Celebrant:
Visit us this
day with blessing.
Celebrant:
O give thanks
unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy
endures forever.
All:
Thou openest
Thy hand and satisfiest
every living thing with favour.
Celebrant:
Blessed is the
man who trusts in the Lord; the Lord will
be unto him for a help.
All:
The Lord will
give strength to His people; He will bless
His people with peace.
Celebrant:
May the All Merciful cause us to inherit that day which shall be altogether
Holy-Day.
All:
May the All-Merciful make us worthy of the days of the Messiah and
the life of the world to come.
The
blessing is now said and the third glass
of wine is drunk.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God,
King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the
wine.
The
Cup of Elijah, which is set in the centre
of the table is now filled with wine. Elijah
is the fore-runner of the Messiah. The door
is opened and the company rise, for according
to an old legend he will come to herald
the Messiah on Passover night.
In
some places it has became customary to remember
at this moment the six million Jewish people
who were killed in the death camps in Nazi
Europe and the Song of the Martyrs is sung
I believe
with perfect faith in the coming of the
Messiah: And though he tarry, nonetheless,
do I believe!
The fourth cup of wine is poured
and the remainder of the Hallel psalms (115-118, 136)
together with prayers are said. After the blessing
the wine is drunk.
XV.
NIRTZA (Accepted) Closing Prayer
Our Passover
Service is completed. We have reverently
repeated its ordered tradition. With songs
of praise we have called upon the name of
God. May He who broke Pharaoh's yoke forever
shatter all fetters of oppression and hasten
the day when war will be no more. Soon may
He bring redemption to all mankind - freed
from violence and from wrong, and united
in an eternal covenant of brotherhood “NEXT
YEAR TN JERUSALEM !”
The
statutory part of the Haggadah
is now ended but usually the evening continues
into the night with folk songs, traditional
music and fellowship.
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