(All bible verses quoted are from New King James Version, if not otherwise mentioned)
The Passover (Chag HaMatzot, Pesach), the Feast of
Tabernacles (Sukkot) and the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) are three Jewish pilgrimage
festivals (Shalosh R’galim). All Israelite males were required to travel to
Jerusalem to attend the festivals. Usually, the whole family went together.
Deuteronomy
16:16 "Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your
God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Chag
HaMatzot, Pesach), at the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot), and at the Feast of
Tabernacles (Sukkot); and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.
Exodus 23:14-17
Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year: You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread …. and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field. Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread
(Chag HaMatzot, Pesach) commemorates the Israelites' Exodus from Egypt. It is
also known as the Passover, Pesach or Pesah. The feast is a retelling of the
story of the Israelites’ exodus from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the
promised land.
The Passover feast, or seder, is a central part of
the holiday. Passover is the seven-day holiday (eight days outside Israel) of
the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The first and last days are holidays, and they
abstain from work. The intervening days are known as Weekdays of the Festival.
The Midrash (Jewish Biblical exegesis) explains
that although the Jews left Egypt on the first day of Passover, they were
pursued by the Egyptians until the parting of the Red Sea. The crossing of the Red
Sea occurred on the seventh day. Thus, although the Exodus started on the first
day, it was not completed until the seventh day. So they celebrate the Passover
for seven days.
Tradition says that the Israelites ate unleavened
bread for 30 days after the Exodus, until manna was provided in the desert.
Today, the Jewish people eat unleavened bread for seven days during Passover.
The unleavened bread symbolises leaving Egypt's corrupt influences behind. It
is a call to the Israelites to flee from slavery. They are to leave unprepared
and rely on God’s provision throughout their journey to the promised land.
Special religious services will be held in the synagogue
on the first day of the holiday, and Yizkor services held on the last day.
Yizkor is a Jewish memorial prayer service that honours deceased loved ones.
The Feast of Weeks (Shavuot)
is one of the harvest feasts. It starts after seven full weeks, or exactly 50
days, after the “Feast of First Fruits." So, this is also known as
"Pentecost,” which means “fifty.” It is believed that the Mosaic Law was
given to the Israelites on Shavuot. It was the concluding festival of the grain
harvest and a thanksgiving to God.
The “Feast of Weeks” is also called “Feast of
Harvest” in Exodus 23:16 and the “day of the first fruits” in Numbers 28:26. It
is the only Jewish festival that does not have a fixed date. The date of the
festival is always the next day after the seventh sabbath.
Leviticus 23:16
'Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a
new grain offering to the LORD.
The Feast of Tabernacles
(Sukkot) is the seventh and last feast that the Lord commanded Israel to
observe. It is also called the Feast of the Ingathering, or
the Feast of Booths (Exodus 23:16; Deuteronomy 16:13). It is celebrated on the
15th of the seventh month of the Hebrew month Tishrei and usually occurs in
September-October. The feast begins five days after the Day of Atonement and as
the fall harvest is completed.
During the eight days of the feast, all native
Israelites were “to dwell in booths” (Leviticus 23:33–43). This reminds the
Israelites that they once dwelled in makeshift huts during the forty years of
wanderings in the wilderness.
The feast reminds the Israelites the provision and
protection during the years in the wilderness and the continued provision for
them in the current harvest. Thus, the Feast of Tabernacles reminds them of
their deliverance from Egypt. The feast also looks forward to the coming
Messiah who would deliver His people from the bondage of sin.
The fest is associated with many major events that
are recorded in the Bible. Solomon’s Temple was dedicated to the Lord during
this feast. (1 Kings 8:2).
1 Kings 8:2 Therefore
all the men of Israel assembled with King Solomon at the feast in the month of
Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
(Note: Ethanim and Tishri are the same month in the
Hebrew calendar. It is the seventh month counting from the Exodus from Egypt.
It has with 30 days. The word "Ethanim" means "strong". The
name Tishrei is used after the Babylonian exile, which means "beginning of
the year").
The Israelites, who had returned from the exile in
Babylon to rebuild the temple, gathered to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles
under the leadership of Joshua and Zerubbabel (Ezra 3:4). Later, the Jews heard
Ezra read the Word of God to them during the Feast of Tabernacles (Nehemiah
8:18).
Once as the disciples went to Jerusalem to
celebrate the feast of tabernacle, Jesus stayed behind “because the Jews sought
to kill Him” (John 7:1). But later “He also went up to the feast, not openly,
but as it were in secret.” (John 7:10). On the last “great day of the feast”, Jesus
stood in the Temple court and said:
John 7:37-38
On the last
day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If
anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the
Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
Every biblical festival given to the Jewish people has three aspects.
1. Observe
them in the present
2. Remember
what God has done in the past
3. Hope
for a future prophetic fulfilment
The Passover looks back on the great Exodus from
Egypt, and the Pentecost reminds us of the law given at Sinai. Their prophetic
purposes were fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus and the birth of
the Church fifty days later. The Feast of Tabernacles reminds God’s provision
in the wilderness and looks ahead to the promised Messianic age when all
nations will flow to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.
Passover seder
Passover seder (SAY-der) or Passover feast is a
Jewish home or community ritual set around a dinner table. Seder is a
transliteration of the Hebrew word “sēdher” (Plural-English, seders; Hebrew,
sedarim), which means 'order' or 'procedure'. The order is written in the book
called Haggadah. The Haggadah contains the order of the religious rituals, a
narration of the exodus from Egypt, dishes, blessings, songs, and answers to
the traditional questions asked about the feast.
The Passover seder is conducted at the start of the
15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, whereas a Hebrew day begins at
sunset. The day falls in March-April. Passover lasts for seven days in Israel
and eight days in the Jewish diaspora. Where seven days of Passover are
observed, a seder is held on the first evening; where eight days are observed,
seders are often held on the first two evenings, the 15th and 16th of Nisan.
The Passover Seder commemorates the exodus from
Egypt. It is based on God’s commandment to the Israelites to retell the story
of the Exodus from Egypt.
Exodus 13:8
"And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, 'This is done because of
what the LORD did for me when I came up from Egypt.'
Seder customs include telling the exodus story,
drinking four cups of wine, eating matzah (matzah, matzo, or maẓẓah is an
unleavened flatbread), partaking of symbolic foods, and reclining in
celebration of freedom.
For the Passover seder, all family members come to
the table dressed in their holiday clothes. Each participant will have a plate
and a wine glass. At the head of the table is a Seder plate (ke'arah). It is a
partitioned plate containing small amounts of various symbolic foods that will
be eaten or pointed out during the Seder. Each food is symbolic for an aspect
of Passover.
The Seder plate
There will be six items on the Seder plate.
1.
Maror:
(mārôr) Bitter herbs, which symbolise the bitterness and harshness of the
slavery that the Jews endured in Ancient Egypt. Horseradish root is used to
prepare the bitter herbs.
2. Chazeret:
(chaz-eret) The second bitter herb on the seder plate. It is usually the
Romaine lettuce or other varieties of bitter lettuce. Like maror, it also
reminds of the severity of a life lived in slavery.
3. Charoset:
(kharuset) A sweet, brown paste of fruits and nuts, representing the mortar
used by the Jewish slaves to build the storehouses of Egypt.
4. Karpas:
(kahr-pahs) A vegetable other than bitter herbs, sometimes parsley, celery, or
cooked potato, which is dipped into salt water, vinegar, or charoset at the
beginning of the seder.
5. Zeroa:
(ZRO-ah) The roasted lamb or goat bone, symbolising the korban (sacrificial
offerings) Pesach (Pesach sacrifice), which was a lamb offered in the Temple in
Jerusalem and was then roasted and eaten as part of the meal on Seder night.
6. Beitzah:
(bay-TSAH) A roast egg—usually a hard-boiled egg that has been roasted in a
baking pan with a little oil or with a lamb shank—symbolising the korban
chagigah (festival sacrifice) that was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem and
was then eaten as part of the meal on Seder night.
In
addition to the seder plate, other dishes are also placed on the table.
1. Three
matzot (plural of matzah), on a plate with a cloth or napkin cover.
2. Salt
water, a reminder of the tears shed by the Hebrew slaves.
3. Cup
of Elijah (Kos Shel Eliyahu) symbolizes the hope for a redemptive future.
Leavened
foods are prohibited in during the Passover festival for eight days.
Traditional Jews will completely remove all leavened foods from their homes.
Each
participant will have a copy of the Haggadah. Pillows will be placed on the
chair behind them for comfort. At several points during the Seder, they lean to
the left—when drinking the four cups of wine, eating the Afikoman, and eating
the korech sandwich, symbolising freedom and rest.
The
Four Cups
The participants drink four cups of wine during the
seder at specific points. The first is for "Kiddush," a prayer
and blessing over wine, performed by the head of a Jewish family at the meal.
The second is for 'Maggid', the storytelling portion of the ritual. The third
is for Birkat Hamazon, the blessing after the meal. And the fourth is for
Hallel, a prayer of praise, which is comprised of six psalms (Psalms 113–118).
The Four Cups represent the four expressions of
deliverance promised by God in Exodus 6:6-7: "I will bring out,"
"I will deliver," "I will redeem," and "I will
take."
Exodus 6:6-7
(NKJV)
Therefore say
to the children of Israel: 'I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the
burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will
redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 'I will take you
as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD
your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
A fifth cup is poured and placed on the Seder
table, but not drunk. It is known as Kos Shel Eliyahu or Eliyahu's Cup. It is
believed that the spirit of the prophet Elijah visits on Passover. The cup is
about the final redemption.
They may choose to include a cup
of Miriam (Kos Miriam), filled with water. This symbol honours Miriam, the
sister of Moses, who played a vital role in the history of the Israelites.
Themes of the Seder
The Passover feast evokes the twin themes of
slavery and freedom. In Haggadah it is said that "In every generation,
everyone is obligated to see themselves as if they themselves came out of
Egypt." A Jewish day begins at sunset and ends at sunset. According to the
Exodus narrative, at the beginning of the evening of the 15th of the month of
Nisan, the Israelites were salves in Egypt but set free by the second half of
the night. So they were slaves and free on the same day.
Exodus
12:3, 6
3
'On the tenth day of this month every man
shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for
a household.
6
'Now you shall keep it until the
fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation
of Israel shall kill it at twilight.
Exodus
12:30, 31,
41, 42, 51
30
So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his
servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there
was not a house where there was not one dead.
31
Then he called for Moses and Aaron by
night, and said, "Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the
children of Israel. And go, serve the LORD as you have said.
41
And it came to pass at the end of the
four hundred and thirty years-on that very same day-it came to pass that all the
armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.
42
It is a night of solemn observance to the
LORD for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the
LORD, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their
generations.
51
And it came to pass, on that very same
day, that the LORD brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt
according to their armies.
The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke)
describe the Last Supper of Christ as a Passover meal. It included all
traditional elements like unleavened bread and wine. Jesus used these elements
as symbols of a new covenant, with the unleavened bread representing his broken
body and the wine representing his blood. His body was broken, and blood was
shed as a sacrifice for human sin.
15 steps in Passover
seder
1. Kadeish
Kadeish (KAY-dehsh) is the recital of Kiddush
blessing (kee-doosh or kid-ish). Kiddush is a ceremony of prayer and blessing
over wine, performed by the head of a Jewish household at the meal. All Seder
participants join the prayer. It acknowledges the sanctity of the day that has
just begun. The first cup of wine is drunk after the prayer of blessing.
2. Ur'chatz
Ur'chatz (ur-chatz) is the ceremonial washing of
the hands without a blessing in preparation for eating the Karpas. According to
Jewish law, whenever one partakes of fruits or vegetables dipped in liquid, one
must wash hands if the fruit or vegetable remains wet. However, at other times
of the year, if one has already washed their hands before eating bread or dry
fruit or vegetables, one need not wash their hands before eating the fruit or
vegetable.
3. Karpas
Karpas (CAR-pahs) is a vegetable (usually parsley) which
is dipped in salt water and eaten. The vegetable symbolizes the lowly origins
of the Jewish people. The salt water symbolizes their tears during the slavery
in Egypt.
Parsley symbolises springtime, a time of rebirth
and hope. The Exodus from Egypt was a rebirth of the Israelites after four
hundred years of slavery.
4. Yachatz
Yachatz (YAH-chahts) is breaking the middle one of
the three matzot (singular, matzah) into two pieces. There would be three
matzot on the seder table, placed one over the other, covered with a napkin. At
this stage, the matzot are uncovered and called the "bread of
affliction." The middle one is broken into two pieces. The larger piece is
hidden for the Afikoman or to be used as the dessert after the meal. The
smaller piece is returned to its place between the other two matzot.
5. Magid
Magid (mah-gid) is retelling the Passover story,
the exodus from slavery to freedom. The youngest person among the participants
asks the traditional four questions, and answers are recited from Haggadah. At
the end of the Magid, a blessing is recited over the second cup of wine, and it
is drunk.
The Mishna (the written Jewish oral traditions,
also known as the Oral Torah) details the questions to ask on the night of the
Passover seder. Traditionally, the youngest child present will recite the four
questions. If a person has no children capable of asking, the spouse or another
participant will ask the questions. If a person is alone at the seder, he will
recite the questions and the answers. The four questions in Hebrew are known as
Mah Nishtanah. The question in Hebrew is: Mah nishtanah halailah hazeh mikol
haleilot? meaning, "Why is this night different from all other nights?”
The four questions are:
1. Why
is it that on all other nights during the year we eat either leavened bread or
matza, but on this night, we eat only matza?
2. Why
is it that on all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables, but on this
night we eat bitter herbs?
3. Why
is it that on all other nights we do not dip (our food) even once, but on this
night we dip them twice?
4. Why
is it that on all other nights we dine either sitting upright or reclining, but
on this night we all recline?
Before the destruction of the Temple, the fourth
question, as described in Talmud Pesachim 116a, was “Why is it that on all
other nights we eat meat either roasted, marinated, or cooked, but on this
night, it is entirely roasted?”. But after the destruction of the Temple the
question was substituted by the question about reclining. Roasted sacrifices
were no longer possible after the destruction of the temple. So roasted meat
was disallowed on seder night after that.
In some mediaeval manuscripts of the Mishnah and
Haggadah, there are only three questions. And there are variants of the
Haggadah with two and five questions. The Haggadah used these days has four
questions.
The questions are answered in the following manner:
1. We
eat only matzah because our ancestors could not wait for their bread to rise
when they were fleeing from slavery in Egypt.
2. Bitter
herb reminds us of the bitterness of slavery that our ancestors endured in
Egypt.
3. The
first dip, green vegetables in salt water, symbolises our tears in Egypt, and
the second dip symbolises the sweetening of our burden of bitterness and
suffering.
4. We
recline at the Seder table because in ancient times, a person who reclined at a
meal was a free person, while slaves and servants stood.
6. Rachtzah
Rach'tzah is the second ritual washing of hands
with a blessing in preparation for eating the matzah.
7. Motzi
Motzi or Hamotzi (ha-MOE-tzee) is the blessing for
God enabling bread or grain products used as meal to come forth from the earth.
The word in Hebrew literally means "who brings forth." It is recited
over the matzah. The full text of Hamotzi is: “Blessed are you, Lord our God,
ruler of the universe who brings forth bread from the earth.” Some people then
choose either to lay hands on the bread or to lift the loaves together in the
air to recite the blessing.
8. Matzah
Matzah (matza-h, plural: matzot) is a cracker-like
unleavened flatbread that represents the bread the Israelites took with them
when they fled Egypt. A blessing specific to matzah is recited, and a bit of
matzah is eaten while reclining to the left.
At a Passover seder we say an additional blessing,
holding the top two matzot, before eating the matzah. The text of the prayer
is: “Blessed are You, Adonai (God), our God, Sovereign of all (King of the
universe), who hallows us with mitzvot, commanding us regarding the eating of
Matzah.”
9. Maror
Maror: (mārôr) is bitter herbs, usually raw
horseradish or romaine lettuce. A blessing is recited over the bitter
vegetable, and it is eaten. This symbolises the bitterness of slavery. The
maror is dipped in charoset, which symbolises the mortar used by the Jews
during their slavery to build the storehouses of Egypt. Charoset (kharuset) is
a sweet, brown, pebbly paste of fruits and nuts.
There are two bitter herbs on the seder plate: the
maror and the chazeret (chaz-eret). The maror should be used for the ritual of maror
and chazeret should be used for the ritual called Koreich.
10. Koreich
Koreich (KaoR-EH-SH) is eating a sandwich made of
matzo and maror with charoset. According to the tradition of Hillel, the
Paschal sacrifice, matzo, and maror were eaten together like a sandwich. Since
there is no sacrifice of lambs after the destruction of the Temple, the lamb is
not included now in Koreich.
11. Shulchan
Oreich
Shulchan Orech (SHOOL-khan AH-ruch) is the festive
meal. There is no regulation regarding what to eat at this meal, except that
chametz cannot be eaten. Chametz (also spelled hametz or chometz; khah-mets) is
any food product made from wheat, barley, rye, oats, or spelt that has been
mixed with water and fermented. No leavened food is allowed during the Passover
days.
They eat the roasted egg on the seder plate, dipped
in salt water. No special blessing is recited.
12. Tzafun
Tzafun (tza-fun) is eating of the Afikoman (ah-fee-koh-muhn,
or afikomen, ah-fee-KOH-min) while leaning. The Afikoman is half of the matzah
(unleavened bread) that is broken in the fourth step of the seder and set
aside. It is eaten as “dessert,” or as the last food of the meal.
Before the destruction of the temple, a small
(olive-sized) piece of the paschal lamb was the last food eaten. But after the
cessation of the paschal sacrifice in the temple, matzah is the last food.
Thus, the Afikoman has become a symbolic reminder of the Paschal sacrifice.
Each participant receives an olive-sized portion of
matzo to be eaten as Afikoman. After the consumption of the Afikoman, no other
food may be eaten for the rest of the night. No intoxicating beverages may be
consumed, with the exception of the remaining two cups of wine.
On a deeper level, the Afikoman represents the
liberation from Egyptian exile. But that redemption was not complete. The final
redemption will happen only when the Messiah comes. Setting aside the larger
half of the matzah reminds us that the best, the real redemption, is yet to
come, still hidden in the future.
When Jesus celebrated His last Passover with His
disciples, He gave them the Afikoman as the symbol of His body.
13. Barech
Barach (Barekh/Barech/Baruch-baw-rakh) is a
blessing after the meal, including gratitude for the Passover holiday. The third
cup of wine is poured before the Grace after Meals is recited and drunk after
the blessing while reclining. The fourth cup and another cup set aside for the
prophet Elijah are filled with wine.
At this point in the seder, the door of the house
is opened for the prophet Elijah. The prophet, by tradition, is the forerunner
of the Messiah. Many have the custom of taking a lit candle from the table
while opening the door.
Malachi 4:5-6
Behold, I will
send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of
the LORD. And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the
hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with
a curse."
14. Hallel
Hallel (hal-lel) is songs of praise. The first two
psalms, 113 and 114, are recited before the meal. The remaining psalms 115–118
are recited at this point. Psalm 136 (the Great Hallel) is then recited,
followed by Nishmat. Nishmat (‘The breath of’) is the opening word of an
ancient hymn, after which the hymn itself is called. It is a Thanksgiving hymn
for God’s mercies. Nishmat is recited in all rites during the morning service
on Sabbaths and festivals.
Afterwards, the Fourth Cup of Wine is drunk, and a
brief blessing for the "fruit of the vine" is said.
15. Nirtzah
Nirtzah (nirtza-h) is the final step of the
Passover seder. The word "nirtzah" literally means
"accepted." The Seder have been integrated into their consciousness
and accepted.
Nirtzah is the last song of the seder that states
that the seder has been completed, with a wish that next year, they may
celebrate Pesach in Jerusalem. It expresses the hope that the Messiah will come
within the next year.
Jerusalem is the holiest city, a symbol of
spiritual perfection. Though they live in an imperfect world outside of
Jerusalem this year, they are hopefully waiting for a time, may be “next year,”
in which they live in spiritual perfection.
The closing may be followed by various traditional
songs, hymns, and stories. These songs retell the miracles that occurred on the
Passover night in Egypt as well as throughout their history. Some songs express
a prayer that the Temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt in the coming year.
Following the Seder, those who are awake may recite
the Song of Songs, engage in Torah learning, or continue talking about the
events of the Exodus until sleep overtakes them.
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