Passover Each year all over the world Jews celebrate the way God helped them escape from slavery in Egypt. They call this celebration Passover. A few days before Jesus was crucified, he journeyed to Jerusalem for the Passover celebrations where He ate a Passover meal with his disciples.

From the Gospel of Mark The scripture tells us Jesus celebrated his Passover in Jerusalem: Mark 14: On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?" So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, 'The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there." The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

Pesach A member of the Jewish Faith speaks…. Pesach (Passover) begins on the night of the fifteenth day of the month of Nisan and lasts for eight days. This holiday commemorates the departure of the nation of Israel from Egypt. Pesach marks the birth of the Jewish people as a nation led by Moshe (Moses) over 3000 years ago. This is as much a celebration of our spiritual freedom as the physical liberation from slavery. The highlight of Pesach is the observance of the Seder, a unique ceremony performed on the first two evenings of Passover. At the Seder, we eat different special foods, we tell the story of our departure from Egypt, we sing songs and praises, and say special prayers.Seder

The Passover( Pesach) Ritual The following are the traditional parts of the Passover meal: The lighting of two candles The drinking of four cups of wine The eating of symbolic foods The retelling of the Passover story The main meal The reciting of Psalms of praise.

A Modern Passover Table setting

The Passover( Pesach) Ritual During the course of the meal four cups of red wine (or grape juice) are drunk. These are: the Cup of Sanctification the Cup of Judgment the Cup of Hope the Cup of Redemption These cups recall the seven promises the Lord made to the Jews: I am the Lord your God I will bring you out from wider the yoke of the Egyptians I will free you from being slaves to them I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment I will take you as my own people I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD." (Exodus 6:6-8)

The Pesach Ritual These four cups are taken at different points in the meal. The third cup of Redemption is understood to be the moment when Jesus and His disciples shared the first Communion (1 Cor 11:23-27). The main meal is usually a roasted lamb dish with vegetables. Dessert and sweets also have important symbolic value, representing the land of milk and honey to which God took His people. Many Jews no longer eat lamb at Passover because the Temple sacrifices are no longer offered. Instead they substitute a symbolic shankbone of lamb (Zeroah).

The Seder Meal At every Seder Meal, an additional setting is made with an empty chair, and the main door is left ajar. Tradition has it that this seat is reserved for Elijah - who is expected to return during this period and so the door is left open for him: "I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes" (Malachi 4:5). e/Israel/israel_1.htm#passover ( a very detailed seder meal and how it is relevant to Christians is described on this site) e/Israel/israel_1.htm#passover

A seder plate( part of the ritual)

Matzah Refers to pieces of unleavened bread – symbolising Gods gift of manna in the desert during the Exodus

Content of the Seder The content of the seder can be summed up by the following Hebrew rhyme: Kaddesh, Urechatz, –Karpas, Yachatz, Maggid, Rachtzah, –Motzi, Matzah, Maror, Korech, –Shulchan Orech, Tzafun, Barech, –Hallel, Nirtzah

The first item on the Seder Plate is Karpas, a green vegetable to remind us of Spring. Pesach comes in the springtime, when the earth is becoming green with new life. This vegetable, the karpas, represents new growth as the earth awakens from the long winter. Some vegetables that may be used for Karpas include celery, parsley and potatoes. Karpas

Zroah At the time of the Beit Hamikdash, or Holy Temple in Jerusalem, two sacrifices were offered and their meat was eaten at the Seder meal. To remind us of the first sacrifice, we put a Z'roah, or roasted meat bone on the Seder Plate.

Beitzah The Beitzah, or roasted egg, reminds us of the second of the sacrifices offered in the Beit Hamikdash. An egg is used in place of another meat bone to remind us of the destruction of the Temple and the hope that it may be speedily rebuilt in our time. Beit Hamikdash The Temple of the Jews The first Beit HaMikdash was built by King Solomon and stood for 410 years until it was destroyed by the Babylonians. Seventy years later the second bet mikdash was built under the guidance of Ezra and according to tradition it stood for 420 years until it was razed to the ground by Titus and his Roman legions. The Beit HaMikdash was a unique and sacred structure where people experienced a proximity to God.

Charoset Charoset is a mixture of grated apples, cinnamon, nuts, sugar and wine. Its brown color reminds us of the mortar the Jewish People used to hold the bricks together while building cities for Pharaoh.

Maror Maror is a vegetable (sometimes called an herb) with a very bitter taste, to remind us how the Egyptians made the lives of the Jewish People very bitter. Most people use horseradish root for Maror. We eat the Maror with a little bit of Charoset.

Chazeret Chazeret is another type of Maror. Most people use Romaine Lettuce for the Chazeret. Chazeret is used when we eat the Maror between two pieces of Matzo as a sandwich.

Salt Water There is also Salt water as part of the Seder Ritual The salt water is to remind the Jews of the tears of the Israelites during their suffering For some Passover meal recipes – check out

For more information….Investigate the full order of the Passover