Our Family Passover Seder Night 2010

So, last week we celebrated Passover and it was the first time for us.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, we have begun to really explore the Hebraic roots of our Lord, Yeshua - Jesus, and have been learning so much about how the Christian faith is deeply rooted in the early beginnings of Judaism.  It is something that we cannot get away from even if we attempt to close our eyes and ignore it.  For us, they are intertwined.

Lately I have been feeling the pull to draw closer to this aspect of our faith and to really search the scriptures and become more knowledgeable about this area , and really making certain my beliefs and convictions are backed up with Truth...

Here is what we did to prepare for Passover and how we integrated this into our school lessons: (keep in mind this is a somewhat loose Messianic version of the traditional orthodox seder...so not all elements were in place, but it was a wonderful experience nonetheless!!)

Again, as in my previous post about how we celebrated Purim, we used Robin Sampson's Biblical Holidays book to jumpstart us:

We started by getting our tablecloth prepared. I hunted all over town for a nice, lacy tablecloth and finally found some material at Walmart which I simply hemmed the corners, and voila- a tablecloth! NyGirl helped me with the hemming process.

NyGirl helps me prepare the meal for the matzah bread with no yeast. In order to keep it kosher we had to make sure to get it in the oven before 18 minutes so that the dough wouldn't naturally rise.

The dough is formed and ready to roll...

Time to prick the dough and form stripes. We are reminded that Jesus was pierced and received stripes for us.

When done our Matzah looked like this:

Next we make Charoset. This will remind us of the mortar used by the Hebrews, , and also the sweetness will serve to remind us later that Jesus takes away our bitterness. To make charoset, we need apples, which I cooked until a bit soft. Then I added the following ingredients (minus the raisins):

I blended the cooked apples in the blender with all ingredients, and lastly added the whole walnuts. Refrigerated.
Done.



 

Next, I cooked the turnip greens. I put some raw turnips greens aside for the Seder plate later. Horseradish would have been a good choice, but I couldn't find that at the grocery store this time...so turnip greens were next best choice.




Finally the food is all cooked, and I set the table.




Each plate receives a Hagaddah (a small booklet taking us through the ceremony). Each plate also receives a kiddush cup for the grape juice. In the middle is the seder plate – one shank bone of lamb, matzah, bitter herb, and charoset (added later).

Ny reads the four questions:

I keep BabyZ busy while my husband assists in leading the Seder:

Time for fun- I hide the “afikomen”- a piece of matzah bread wrapped in a linen cloth- for the kids to find. Whoever finds it redeems a prize. We are reminded that Jesus’ body was wrapped in a linen cloth, and when we find Him we find eternal life, our True Prize. He died as a ransom for our sins and has redeemed us…

Of course, NyGirl finds the afikomen first so she got a prize.