No. We’re not Jewish. . . most of the time. . . but we were tonight.
We had the wonderful pleasure of being asked to participate in a Passover Seder this evening. Our dear friends, Barry and Anne Koff and their kids, Jonathan and Shoshana, were our very gracious hosts and teachers. Seriously, we learned so much about the Passover rituals.
Every food, every drink has a holy tradition. It was all so fascinating and quite dramatic.
So, as Barry led us through each part of the service, he explained in great detail the symbolism behind everything we did and ate. We eagerly learned the lessons of the history of Passover as seen in the book of Exodus.
We tasted the bitterness of the slavery of the children of Israel.
We re-enacted the ten plagues of Egypt.
Jonathan turned water into "blood." (very dramatic moment!)
Barry represented the darkness by being blindfolded.
(I LOVED seeing my boys in their yarmulkes. =D)
Adam very tentatively drank from the first (of four!) cups of wine.
We all took turns reading the story of the Passover and the Exodus.
We even sang traditional Hebrew prayers.
At first we were all very tentative, but again, those four cups of wine we had to drink to the merits of the Children of Israel, really kind of loosened everyone up. You see, the Children of Israel
had four great merits even while in exile: (1) They did not change
their Hebrew names;
(2) They continued to speak their own language,
Hebrew;
(3) They remained highly moral;
(4) They remained loyal to one
another.
(To which Adam was loudly toasting, "I’ll drink to that!!" and very enthusiastically, did.)
Then it was time for the Hallel, so when they pulled out the instruments and the singing started and the tambourines were sounding, we all jumped right in with great (four-cups-of-wine!) enthusiasm. (Hallel – where we get the word – Halleluiah!) Look how I learned stuff!
It was a very noisy and joyful Jewish celebration and we felt privileged to be a part of it.
Thanks, Barry and Anne for sharing yourselves and your lives with us. – "L’chaim!"
That is so cool. Hubby was looking at a video clip online on Saturday explaining the Passover rituals, and we were both quite fascinated with the rich symbolism of it all. What a wonderful experience!
Marta,What a wonderful experience you had. My husband’s uncle was widow to a Jewish woman
and we participated in their Passover Seder for many years. Her Son would do it in Hebrew
and of course they would translate for us. It was a wonderful and memorable experience
for all of us. We had the horseradish Sauce, Matzo Balls, Gefilte Fish, and even the Passover Gravy.
Many years later, we visit the Holy Land in Orlando, Florida around the Passover time and
in their theater room, they reenacted the Passover Seder, but this time, in a Messianic Jewish
way. They taught us how Jesus applied in the Passover Seder. It was so interesting. We loved it. Thanks for the reminder of God’s faithfulness to Israel this morning.
Marta: This was definitely meant to be. I have a friend from the Baptist church in our town who invited me to their church(I’m Episcopalian)next Sunday for a Passover Seder. I was thinking about it and how interesting it would be to attend. Then…I read your blog, and my mind is made up–I’m going! Apparently, there is a Messianic Jewish synagog in Deland, just south of us, who is going to conduct this seder in the Baptist church’s parish hall. Thanks again for your very interesting and informative post. Who knew?? Hallel…Halleluia!!
Allow me to reccomend to beautiful books dealing with Cuba, written by a Cuban, Enrique Flores Galbis. They are, Raining Sardines and 90 Miles to Havanna. They both earned prestigious literary prized, The America Prize, for Raining SArdines and The Bel[re Author Honor for 90 Miles to Havana.