Saturday, October 1, 2011

PASSOVER SEDER

The Passover Seder is a Jewish ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted on the evenings of the 14-15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, which is late March, early April. The Seder is a ritual meal held for the purpose of retelling the story of slavery and liberation of the Jews in ancient Egypt. The Book of Exodus or Shemot in the Hebrew Bible commands the Jews to retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt: "You shall tell your child on that day, saying, 'It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.'" (Exodus 13:8) Traditionally, families and friends gather in the evening to read the text of the Haggadah, an ancient work that contains the narrative of the Israelite exodus from Egypt, special blessings and rituals, commentaries from the Talmud, and special Passover songs. The Bible tells that God helped the Children of Israel escape slavery in Egypt by inflicting ten plagues upon the Egyptians before Pharaoh would release his Israelite slaves. The Jews were instructed to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a spring lamb and, upon seeing this, the spirit of the Lord passed over these homes, PASSOVER celebrates the mercy of God through the blood of His lamb. When Pharaoh freed the Israelites, it is said that they left in such a hurry that they could not wait for bread dough to rise (leaven). In commemoration, for the duration of Passover no leavened bread is eaten, for which reason it is called "The Festival of the Unleavened Bread". Seder customs include drinking four cups of wine, eating matza, partaking of symbolic foods placed on the Passover Seder Plate, and reclining in celebration of freedom. There is an obligation to drink four cups of wine during the Seder. Even the poor are obliged to drink the four cups. Each cup is imbibed at a specific point in the Seder. The Four Cups represent the four expressions of deliverance promised by God Exodus 6:6-7"I will bring out," "I will deliver," "I will redeem," and "I will take." Also the Four Cups represent the four worlds: 1) this world 2)the Messianic age 3)the world at the revival of the dead 4)the world to come. This also connects them to the four Matriarchs: Sarah, Rebeccah, Rachel, and Leah and the three Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The four historical redemptions of the Jewish people: 1)the choosing of Abraham 2) the Exodus from Egypt 3)the survival of the Jewish people through the exile 4) to happen at the end of days. Therefore partaking in the four cups is very important for all Jews. THEMES for the Seder meal is slavery and freedom. The day begins at sunset and ends at sunset. The Jewish people were enslaved to Pharaoh and after the 10th plague struck Egypt at midnight, which killed all the first-born of Pharaoh to the first born of the slaves in the dungeon, and all the first born of livestock, Pharaoh let the Hebrew nation go. Effectively making them free people for the second half of the night. Thus, Seder participants recall the slavery that reigned during the first half of the night by eating matzo (the "poor person's bread"), maror (bitter herbs which symbolize the bitterness of slavery), and charoset (a sweet paste representing the mortar which the Jewish slaves used to cement bricks). Recalling the freedom of the second half of the night, they eat the matzo the "bread of freedom"and also the "bread of affliction" and then drink the four cups of wine. As they dip vegetables into salt water, the dipping is a sign of royalty and freedom, and the salt recalls the tears the Jews shed during their slavery. Since the retelling of the Exodus to one's child is the object of the Seder experience, much effort is made to arouse the interest and curiosity of the children and keep them awake during the meal. To that end, questions and answers are a central device in the Seder ritual. By encouraging children to ask questions, they will be more open to hearing the answers. The most famous question which the youngest child asks - "Why is this night different from all other nights?" After the asking of these questions, the main portion of the Seder, Magid, gives over the answers in the form of a historical review. Also, at different points in the Seder, the leader of the Seder will cover the matzot and lift their cup of wine; then put down the cup of wine and uncover the matzot—all to elicit questions from the children. The questions are asked by the assembled company in chorus rather than by a child, and are put to the leader of the seder, who answers the question. Originally, Jewish scholarship was all oral. Rabbis expounded and debated the written law expressed in the Hebrew Bible and discussed the Tanakh without the benefit of written works. Some Rabbis may have made private notes (megillot setarim) of court decisions. This situation changed drastically mainly as the result of the destruction of the Jewish commonwealth and the Second Temple in the year 70 CE and the consequent upheaval of Jewish social and legal norms. The Bible tells us to celebrate our freedom ~ PASSOVER from guilt to God with His truth: "There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus" for the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ takes away the sins of those who claim Him as their Lord and Savior. Click into the SIMPLE WAY TO GOD and REJOICE in the One who came to give you Eternal Life. AMEN

2 comments:

  1. Today Doyle King and I read scripture together and viewed God's living Word fulfilled by watching His Word come true! God said that when the Jews return to a desolate Jersualem, milk and honey would flow ~ and a 2,000 year old DATE SEED today bears fruit. Walking in the Spirit, Doyle and I walked into Trader Joe's with the intention to dine on dates from Jerusalem. At the counter where they give free samples, they were passing out dates from Jerusalem! We then drove past 33 W Rose, and walked into Annunciation Cathedral where Barbara first accepted Jesus as her Savior!

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  2. ISAIAH 11:11 "And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea."

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