CELEBRATING PASSOVER IN COMMUNITY GROUPS LEADERS RESOURCE THE WELL SHEFFIELD Introduction What is Passover? Passover is the oldest and most important religious festival in Judaism, commemorating God’s deliverance of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt and his creation of the Israelite people. Passover is actually composed of two festivals, The Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover (which is sometimes used to refer to the single day and sometimes to the entire span of both festivals). The festival of Passover, known as Pesach, begins at sunset on the 14th of Nisan (usually in March or April) and marks the beginning of a seven day celebration that includes the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The focal point of Passover is a communal meal, called the Seder. Unlike the most Holy days of Christianity that are observed in Church, since the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in AD 70 Passover has been celebrated in the home with family and friends as they eat a meal together. The actual Seder meal in most Jewish homes is an elaborate feast, with food, games for the children, and plenty of time to tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt. It is not unusual for a Seder to last three to four hours! The Seder involves everyone present since they all have a Haggadah (Hebrew: "telling," the printed order of service, reading, and songs) and are called to share in reading and singing the story. In preparation for Passover, all chametz or leavened food (food with yeast) is removed from the house and cannot be eaten during the seven days of the Festival. The unleavened bread symbolizes the haste with which the Israelites had to flee from Egypt. Since they did not have time for the bread to rise in order to have provisions for the journey, they had to bake it without yeast (Ex 12:11, Deut 16:3). Passover is really more than a festival. It is an elaborate teaching experience, especially for the children, intended to call people to their identity as the People of God. By using all of the senses, the Passover Seder tells the story of God’s grace in history and calls the participants to experience and share in the story as their own story. Passover becomes more than simply a service or a time; it becomes a way to confess faith in the One who has acted in history, and for Christians it points clearly and poignantly to Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and brings redemption to all His followers. Why celebrate the Passover today? God commanded His people to remember these events so no one should forget the way God has saved His people. Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples the night before He was killed. Both the Passover and Communion are celebrated to remember the ways God has acted to save His people. For us as Christians, as we celebrate the Passover we are reminded of the extraordinary way that God acted through Jesus to save His people from a slavery much worse than Egypt; from slavery to sin and all that separates us from God. For those of us who choose to celebrate the Passover, we are rewarded with deep insights into the history behind the death of Jesus and why it was so significant. For our community groups this meal can be a time of celebration in which all ages can get involved through the meal, readings and songs. This resource will enable you to celebrate Passover within your group: • The background information (p.2) will help you understand the tradition of Passover. • The practical information (p.3-4) will help you to prepare and organise all of the aspects. • The Passover meal script (p.5-16) will help you to lead the meal and celebration itself. 1 Background Information Before leading the Passover meal, you may find it helpful to re-familiarise yourself with the remarkable events of the exodus from Egypt which can be read in Exodus chapters 1-12. The key points are summarised below. • Exodus 1 – Joseph & his family (Jacob’s sons) all move to Egypt and multiply, but their numbers as foreigners threaten the Egyptians who put them into slavery in order to subdue their potential threat of rebellion. • Exodus 2 – Moses is born, surviving against the odds with the order to kill all boys under the age of 2. He is adopted into the family of Pharaoh’s daughter. Later (verse 23) the King of Egypt dies. The Israelites groan to God who hears their cry and remembers His covenant with them. • Exodus 3 – God tells Moses that He has heard the cries of His people and has come down to rescue them and bring them from the Egyptians into a good and spacious land. He sends Moses to Pharaoh to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses is unsure, but God promises to be with Him. • Exodus 4 – Moses returns to Egypt on a mission with instructions from God to perform wonders and to declare that Pharaoh lets God’s people go by speaking of God’s covenant with Israel. • Exodus 5 – There is more oppression from Pharaoh who refuses to let the people go and refuses to acknowledge God. He sets the Israelites to work harder, making the same number of bricks but having to collect their own straw, to break the will of the Israelites. Moses speaks to God about it. • Exodus 6 – The Lord speaks to Moses about what He will do to Pharaoh and how He will take the Israelites as His own people and will be their God (verse 7), as He has established His covenant with them. • Exodus 7-11 – Pharaoh needs convincing to let God’s people go and so there are 10 plagues. The Jewish people in Goshen area were exempt from the first of these 9 plagues but not the 10th plague, the death of the first born. • Exodus 12 – The first Passover is celebrated on the night of the 10th plague. By the time of Jesus and His disciples, Passover was an established tradition within Jewish homes. It was a time for general house cleaning including cleansing leaven from around the house. The Mother would hide the leaven around the house and the Father would search the night before for any that is left, taking a feather and scraping the crumbs into a napkin, marching it off to the synagogue where it is thrown into the bonfire and the house is declared clean. Paul refers to this cleansing in 1 Corinthians 5:6, and in the Bible leaven is a symbol for sin. The Matzvah (unleavened bread) is a symbol of purity and righteousness. The Passover meal is therefore rich in symbolism – for the Israelites, for Jesus’ Jewish peers, and for us today. 2 Practical Information Things to do in advance In order for this Passover meal to run well, you will need to read through this resource thoroughly and prepare a number of items. • As a group you will need to decide how to do the meal – a bring and share would be an easy option. It is helpful to note for those preparing the meal that we don’t eat until 45-50 minutes into the Passover so food will need to be ready at the appropriate time. • Encourage people to bring their own wine (or soft drink equivalent). • Whilst you will act as leader, there are a number of roles that need to be appointed in advance: o Father – for certain readings o Mother – to light the candles o Youngest child – to ask questions o Readers 1 and 2 – to take their cue from the leader for instructions on when to read • Decide in advance how you want to sing – unaccompanied, to pre-recorded music, or led by someone in the group. • Print copies of the following: o Haggadah (Participant’s Handout) – 1 each o Song sheets – 1 each o Questions – 1 copy for the youngest child • Suggest that people don’t need to literally ‘fill’ their wine glasses in each time! Shopping List • Matzah bread (buy a week or two in__ Items to gather advance and keep, or freeze pitta)____ A seder plate for one of each of the • Small Easter/chocolate prize to redeem • symbolic foods the Afikomen_______________________ • Pillow for leader • Eggs______________________________ • Hand towels or paper towels • Parsley____________________________ • Basin and jug for washing hands • Horseradish________________________ • Candles • Lettuce____________________________ • Matzah bag • Haroseth__________________________ • White napkins • Anything and everything you’ll need for • Decanter and wine glasses your meal feast – we’d recommend • Dry lamb bone for the seder plate keeping it simple with roast lamb and • Bowl for wine vegetables. For the more adventurous, • Small bowl for salt water you could try one of these recipes: • Plates and side plates https://www.foodandwine.com/holidays- • Cutlery (knife, fork, spoon) events/passover/8-delicious-lamb- • Jug for water recipes-passover-seder 3 Setting Up Lay the table with place settings for every person, including a place setting for Elijah if space allows. Place a bowl of wine at the Father’s place, and a pillow for the leader. Each person will need: • Wine glass • Side plate • Knife, fork and spoon • Napkin The table will need: • Seder plate with one of each of the symbolic foods: o Horseradish o Haroseth o Parsley o Dry lamb bone o Hard-boiled egg o Lettuce • Plate with hard boiled eggs – allow 1 egg for 2 or 3 people • Medium-sized plate with parsley, dessert spoonful of haroseth • Servings of lettuce for the ‘greens’ • 2 slivers of horseradish per person • Jug of water • Wine or equivalent • 1 box of matzah • Small bowl with salt water in it and a towel, or paper towels.