SUbstance Volume No Seven Resources Session CP3 _Cross foreshadows Passover Seder In order to conduct this abridged Passover Seder, you ll need the following: Candles and matches Wine glasses Non-alcoholic wine (Red grape juice) A bowl of water and towels for hand washing A bowl of saltwater Parsley Matzoh (unleavened bread) Horseradish Bitter herbs (Romaine lettuce) Lamb (a soft toy, unless you want to roast a joint) You will also need to print out the following pages double sided and make into an A5 sized booklet to give to each young person: Page 1 should have 12/1 on the front and 2/11 on the back Page 2 should have 10/3 on the front and 4/9 on the back Page 3 should have 8/5 on the front and 6/7 on the back when folded in half and collected together, the pages should appear in the correct order. SUbstance Vol 7 Transformation web downloads www.scriptureunion.org.uk/substance Scripture Union 2010
Passover Seder SUbstance Vol 7 CP3 Passover Seder Transformation web downloads www.scriptureunion.org.uk/substance Scripture Union 2010 12 1
Part 1 The Mother s Blessing Everyone gathers round the table. While lighting the candles, the mother says: for giving us festivals and seasons for rejoicing, and for bringing us to this time of year, this springtime, the season of our freedom. Everyone sits down. Part 2 The Father s Opening Prayer Everyone raises their cups as the father says: for bringing us together this day to celebrate the feast of unleavened bread. As we gather here we are linked with the families and friends who, throughout the centuries, have celebrated this Passover festival. We celebrate springtime. We celebrate the going out from Egypt. We celebrate our freedom. We celebrate our maturity, our adulthood. We celebrate our lives whose fullness is in yours. And so we praise your holy name. 2 kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lo r d, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens. He has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his saints, of Israel, the people close to his heart. Praise the Lo r d. (NIV) 11
Therefore, let us sing before him our song of praise. Psalm 148 is recited by everyone: Praise the Lo r d. Praise the Lo r d from the heavens, praise him in the heights above. Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars. Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lo r d, for he commanded and they were created. He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away. Praise the Lo r d from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, 10 With cups raised, all say: for giving us our lives of overflowing fullness, and bringing us to this happy time, this season of our freedom. Everyone drinks from their cup. Part 3 Eating the Green Vegetable The Father says: We eat this green vegetable as a welcome to springtime and as an affirmation of life of all human life, Including its tears and its sorrows We wash each others hands. After the washing, everyone takes a piece of parsley, dips it in the saltwater, and says the blessing together: Creator of the fruits of the earth! Everyone eats the parsley. 3
Part 4 Showing the Matzoh The father uncovers the plate of matzoh, and holding up a piece for all to see, he says: This is the bread of affliction which our fathers ate in the land of Egypt! All who are hungry, let them come and eat. All who are in need, let them come and celebrate this Passover with us. May everyone enjoy this festival in freedom! The wine cups are refilled. Part 5 The Four Questions The youngest participant now asks: Why is this day different from all other days? Why do we eat matzoh today? Why do we eat horseradish today? Why do we dip parsley today? Part 6 The Reply The father, in reply, introduces the Passover story: We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Eternal One, our God, brought us out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. Now if our God had not brought our fathers out from Egypt, then even we, our children, and our children s children, might still be there, enslaved to Pharaoh. 4 The bitter herbs are dipped into horseradish and eaten. Everyone takes some matzoh and makes a sandwich with bitter herbs and horseradish and eats it. After this, the meal is eaten. Part 11 The Final Blessing The father says: In every generation, each person must look upon himself as if he personally had come out of Egypt. As the Scriptures say, You shall tell your son on that day: it is because of what the Eternal One did for me when I went forth from Egypt. For it was not our fathers alone whom the Holy One, blessed be he, redeemed. He redeemed us, too, along with them. As it is said, He brought us out from there that he might lead us to, and give us, the land which he pledged to our fathers. All stand and raise their cups: Therefore, it is our duty to thank him, and to praise him in song and prayer, to glorify and extol the One who performed all these wonders for our fathers, and for us. He brought us out from slavery to freedom, from anguish to joy, from sorrow to festivity, from darkness to great light! 9
The father raises the bitter herbs: These bitter herbs which we eat, what is their meaning? They are eaten to recall that the Egyptians embittered the lives of our fathers in Egypt, as it is written: And they embittered their lives with hard work with mortar and bricks, and all kinds of work in the fields; all the work they made them do was vigorous. The father raises the horseradish: This horseradish is not mentioned in the Scripture, but is in the Commentaries. It represents the mortar used with the bricks in Egypt. It reminds us that the freedom we are celebrating is hard work. Part 10 Eating the Ritual Foods The father blesses the cup: Creator of the fruit of the vine! Everyone drinks from the cup and they are refilled. Everyone takes a piece of matzoh and the father blesses it: Blessed are you, Lord, our God Ruler of the universe: you bring forth bread from the earth, and have commanded us to eat the matzoh! Everyone eats their piece of matzoh. Everyone takes a portion of bitter herbs and the father says: you commanded us to eat the bitter herbs. 8 Part 7 The Story Jews celebrate the Passover so that they never forget how God freed them from slavery in Egypt and led them to the Promised Land. The Jews were Egyptian slaves for many, many years. However, God hadn t forgotten about them, He heard their cries for help. God asked Moses to lead his people out of Egypt to the Promised Land the land God had promised to Abraham many, many years previously. Unsurprisingly, Pharaoh (the ruler of the Egyptians) wouldn t let his slaves go. So God sent a whole series of plagues onto the Egyptians. All the water turned to blood; then there were frogs everywhere; then gnats, then flies; then all their animals died; then they all got terrible boils; then there was the biggest hail storm ever; then there were locusts everywhere and then they were in darkness for three days. However, Pharaoh still wouldn t let the Jews (also known as the Israelites) go. Then came the plague to end all plagues! God said that at a designated time every firstborn son in the whole of Egypt would die. However, he had a plan to protect the Jews from this devastation. He told each family to kill a lamb, wipe its blood on their door frames and then have a special meal together the very first Passover meal. When the Lord swept through Egypt striking down every firstborn, he saw the blood on their door frames and passed over their houses. A lamb was sacrificed and because the Israelites houses were marked with its blood, they were saved. [At this point they sprinkle a little wine on their plates to remember the Egyptian dead.] The next day, the whole of Egypt was in mourning and Pharaoh begged the Israelites to leave. After all these years of slavery, the Jews were finally free and on their way to the Promised Land. This is why the Jews celebrate the Passover it s a time for them to recognise how good God is as they remember the lamb that was sacrificed and celebrate their freedom. 5
Part 8 The Litany Had he brought us out of Egypt and not executed judgement against them Had he executed judgement against them and not done justice to their idols Had he done justice to their idols and not slain their firstborn Had he slain their firstborn and not given us their possessions Had he given us their possessions and not divided the sea for us Had he divided the sea for us and not brought us through it with dry feet Had he brought us through it with dry feet and not drowned our oppressors Had he drowned our oppressors in it and not helped us for forty years in the desert Had he helped us for forty years in the desert and not fed us the manna If he fed us the manna, and not given us the Sabbath Had he given us the Sabbath, and not brought us to Mount Sinai 6 Had he brought us to Mount Sinai, and not given us the Law Had he given us the Law, and not brought us to the land of Israel Had he brought us to the land of Israel, and not built us the holy Temple How much more so do we have to be thankful for the manifold and unbounded blessings of the All-present God! Part 9 Explaining the Ritual Foods [The lamb is brought to the table.] The father points to the lamb: What is the reason for this Passover lamb which we eat? It is because the Holy One, blessed be he, passed over the houses of our fathers in Egypt, as it is written in the Scriptures: And you shall say it is the Passover offering for the Eternal One who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when he smote the Egyptians and spared our houses. The father raises the matzoh: What is the reason for the matzoh we eat? It is because there was not enough time for the dough of our ancestors in Egypt to be leavened, before the Ruler of All, the Holy One, blessed be he, revealed himself to them and redeemed them, as it is written in the Scriptures: And the dough which they had brought out from Egypt they baked into cakes of unleavened bread, for it had not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not tarry, nor had they prepared themselves any provisions. 7