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The Seder – a Denial of
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ADVENTISTS ARE BEGINNING TO OBSERVE THE SEDER — by Vance Ferrell The Seder - a Denial of Christ The Passover Service ended at the
death of Christ. But Jews, denying Christ as their
Saviour, have continued celebrating it down to the present
time. After the Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70,
the Jewish people switched to a family
Passover, held in the home—which eventually acquired the
name, “seder.” As we will learn below, in the middle
of the meal, the father of the home tells
everyone that, since there is no sacrifice of a lamb at the Temple
anymore (since there is no Temple now in Jerusalem), the
family has “no sacrifice to make them righteous.” Thus, everyone who participates in
the seder has rejected the Great Sacrifice—the
death of Christ on Calvary. For this reason, no genuine
Christian should take part in a seder, with its wine
drinking and ceremonial repudiation of Christ as our
Sacrifice and Mediator. In the place of the Passover meal,
Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper just before His
sacrificial death on our behalf. That is the
only commemorative meal we are to attend. While the Jewish seder looks forward
to the first arrival of their messiah, the Lord’s
Supper looks back to the first advent of the Christian
Messiah. Surprisingly, some Seventh-day
Adventist Churches are beginning to have complete seder
services at their churches at Passover time (in April
this year)—at about the same time that Orthodox Jews
will be holding their seders. In view of this fact, you may want
to know more about this ceremonial meal which was
devised by Jewish rabbis over a period of centuries
after A.D. 70, to help comfort their flocks and
encourage them to keep hoping that the promised Messiah
would one day appear. As we will learn below, one of their
predictions is that He will arrive in the evening
while they are sitting at the table during one of their
seders. The Passover Seder (or say-der) (the
Hebrew word literally means “order” or
“arrangement”) is a special Jewish ritual which takes place on
the first evening of the Jewish holiday of Passover (the
15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar) in the
nation of Israel, and on the first and second evenings of
Passover (the 15th and 16th days of Nisan) among Orthodox
Jews outside of Israel (in the Jewish diaspora). Reading from the Haggadah—At a
special meal, portions of the Haggadah are read
and explained to all who are present, about how the Jews
were enslaved in Egypt and then left one night. While the Haggadah is read, those at
the table drink Four Cups of Wine, eat the matzo,
and other symbolic foods placed on the Passover Seder
Plate. The Mitzvah—The seder is an integral
aspect of Jewish faith and identity; it is
part of their ceremonial laws, as given in the Haggadah,
which is a heavily revised and changed Biblical Passover
service. It is considered a mitzvah to
embellish one’s retelling of the Exodus on this night, telling
many imagined details of what happened during the
Exodus. Often the seder lasts into the early hours of
the morning of the next day, as participants continue
to learn Torah, talk about the events of the night, and
sing special Passover songs included in the Haggadah. Where held—Unlike other public
holiday observances that are traditionally held in the
synagogue, the seder is specifically designed to be
conducted by a family at home, with or without guests.
(However, the seder may also be conducted by any group
of Orthodox Jewish believers.) This focus is derived
from the opening words of the Torah verse which is
the source for the mitzvah of retelling the Exodus from
Egypt: Vehegadeta levincha bayom hahu leymor ba’avur
zeh asah Adonay li betzaysi miMitzrayim - “And you
shall tell it to your son on that day, saying ‘Because of
this God did for me when He took me out of Egypt’ ”
(Exodus 13:8). The words and rituals of the seder
are a teaching device for the transmission of the
Jewish faith (as revised during the Dark Ages since Christ)
from parent to child and from one generation to the
next. What happens during a seder? Removing the leaven—Before the
beginning of the Passover, all leaven must be removed
from the Jewish home. First, the house is cleaned
from top to bottom; and anything containing leaven is
removed. Then, the evening before the Passover, the
father of the house takes the traditional cleaning implements:
a feather, a wooden spoon, and a bag, and searches the
house for any specks of leaven which might have been
missed. He may spend an hour or two looking in all the
drawers, etc. Setting the table—The table set for
the beginning of the Passover Seder includes the
Passover Seder Plate (front center), saltwater, three
shmurah matzo (rear center), and two or more bottles of
kosher wine. (As we will learn below, everyone,
including the smallest child, drinks quite a bit of it.) A Hebrew
language Haggadah sits beside each place setting. Washing hands—Once the leaven is
removed, the family sits around the table and
ceremonially washes their hands with a special laver and
towel. Lighting the candles—Once the house
and the participants are ceremonially clean,
the Passover Seder can begin. The woman of the house
asks God to bless the food. Then she lights the
Passover candles. Haggadah—As the lengthy meal begins
and continues, portions from the Jewish Haggadah
are read. The first cup of wine—The seder
begins with a blessing recited over the first of
four cups of wine: “Blessed art thou, Lord our God,
King of the Universe, who hast created the fruit of the
vine.” The second cup of wine—The second
cup of wine is drunk next. It is to remind the
group of the Ten Plagues and the suffering of the Egyptians.
Each of the Ten Plagues is recited; and, as each one
is mentioned, a drop of wine is spilled on the plate by
each person present. Afikomen—A very curious ceremonial
tradition occurs next. At the table is a bag
with three compartments and three pieces of motza. The
middle piece of motza is taken out, broken, and half
is put back into the bag. The other half is wrapped
in a linen napkin and hidden, to be taken out later,
after the meal. (Matzo—also matzoh, matzah, matza,
motza— is a Jewish food item made of plain flour
and water, which is not allowed to ferment or rise
before it is baked. The result is a flat, crispy,
cracker-like bread, with no leaven in it.) The seder plate—Over the centuries,
the rabbis devised a series of object lessons
to keep the attention of the little ones during the
Passover Seder. These items are tasted by each person, as each is
instructed to feel as if they themselves had taken part
in the flight from Egypt. Here they are: • Karpas (greens)—The first item
taken is the karpas, or greens (usually parsley),
which is a symbol of life. The parsley is dipped in
saltwater, a symbol of tears, and eaten, to remind us that
life for our Jewish ancestors was immersed in tears. • Beitzah (egg)—A roasted egg is on
the seder plate, to bring to mind the roasted daily
temple sacrifice that no longer can be offered because the
Temple no longer stands. In the very midst of the
Passover Seder, the Jewish people are reminded, by the one
leading out at the seder, that they have no sacrifice
to make them righteous before God. That is a significant admission! It
also means that everyone who takes part in the seder
agrees that he has no sacrifice or mediator between him
and God. We know that, after the death of Christ, the
earthly Passover no longer has any significance.
Therefore, to take part in the seder is to deny Christ our
Lord. • Maror (bitter herb)—Maror is
usually ground horseradish; and enough is eaten
(with Motza) to bring a tear to the eyes. It is to remind
those at the table of the bitterness of slavery, which
their Jewish ancestors experienced in Egypt. • Charoset—Charoset is a sweet
mixture of chopped Waymarks apples, chopped nuts, honey,
cinnamon, and a little Manischewitz grape wine (kosher for
Passover) just for color! This sweet, pasty, brown
mixture is symbolic of the mortar that our Jewish ancestors
used to build bricks in the land of Egypt. The
question is asked, Why do we remember an experience so
bitter with something so sweet? The leader at the table
then explains that the rabbis say it is to remind all Jews
that the promised Jewish Messiah is yet to appear. Shankbone of the lamb—In every
Jewish home, on every seder plate, is a bare
shankbone of a lamb, stripped of meat. That is to remind
those at the table of the blood of the lamb which was placed
on the doorpost and lintel of the home. The meal—Next comes the meal:
steaming hot chicken soup with huge, fluffy motza
balls; other motza, in the form of crackers; slices of
pungent, homemade gefilte fish with just-ground
make-you-cry horseradish; more motza; chopped liver (with lots
of schmaltz and crunchy fried onions) on a bed of
lettuce; more motza; enough delectable green salad to
feed a colony of hungry rabbits; more motza; more crispy
fried onions on the side; more motza—and that was just
the appetizer! Next comes the meal! Tender, sweet
brisket with cabbage; more motza; homemade
flanken; stewed chicken, roasted chicken, broiled
chicken, boiled chicken, sautéed chicken, baked chicken; more
motza; a whole roasted turkey; more motza;
fresh-cut green beans with onions; more motza; carrot and prune
tzimmes; more motza; sweet potato and raisin
tzimmes; more motza; homemade mashed potatoes swimming in
butter; more motza—and on it goes! Remember that
this meal lasts for hours; and the celebration often
continues until early the next morning. (Schmaltz or schmalz is rendered
chicken or goose fat used for frying or as a spread
on bread. Schmaltz, rendered from a kosher-slaughtered
chicken or goose, is popular in Jewish cuisine; it was
used by Northwestern and Eastern European Jews who were
forbidden, by dietary laws, to fry their meats
in butter or lard, the common forms of cooking
fat in Europe.) (Tzimmes or tsimmes is a traditional
Jewish casserole. It is a sweet dish, a combination of
fruit, meat, and vegetables cooked slowly over
very low heat, flavored with honey and sometimes cinnamon.) The Search for the afikomen—After
the meal is finished, and most are too stuffed
to get up from the table, the leader of the seder lets
the children loose to hunt for the afikomen, which was
wrapped in a napkin and hidden somewhere in the house.
The home is in a ruckus as everyone rushes around to
be the first to find the afikomen and claim the prize
(usually about $5.00); and Grandpa redeems the afikomen
from the lucky locator. Once the leader has retrieved the
afikomen, he breaks it up into pieces and
distributes a small piece to everyone seated around the table.
Jewish people don’t really understand either the origin
or meaning of this ceremonial tradition, but they
happily enjoy it. However, it is widely believed that these
pieces of Afikomen bring a good, long life to those who eat
them. Elijah’s cup—A place setting at the
table remains empty for Elijah the prophet, the
honored guest at every Passover table. The Jewish people
expect Elijah to come during the Passover Seder and
announce the coming of the Messiah (Malachi 4:5). So a place
is set, a cup is filled with wine, and hearts are
expectant for Elijah to come and announce the good news that
the Messiah has come to deliver them, by
conquering their enemies. At the end of the seder meal, a
child is sent to the door to open it and see if Elijah is
there. Every year, the child returns, disappointed; and the
wine is poured out without being touched. Third Cup—With everyone once again
settled at the table, the meal is now officially
ended; it is now time to drink the third cup of wine. This is
the cup; everyone is reminded by the leader that,
although the Messiah did not come this time, He will soon
come and redeem them. Fourth Cup—As if that is not enough
wine, it is now time for the fourth cup: the Cup
of Hallel. The word, hallel, in Hebrew means “praise.”
After four cups of wine inside every man, woman, and child
at the table, they must surely feel in a happy mood! What is the origin of the
Haggadah?—Where did this Haggadah come from, which is
read to everyone in attendance at the seder? The
Haggadah, which includes the order of the Passover Seder, is
very important in the home of every Orthodox Jew. This is
because it contains a promise that the Messiah is soon
to come. It is this promise that the faithful rely
on. It also helps them resist suggestions, by Christians,
that they should accept Christ as their Saviour. —For has
not the Haggadah promised them a future
Messiah? According to Jewish tradition, the
Haggadah was compiled during the Mishnaic and
Talmudic periods; but the exact time is not known. The Haggadah could not have been
written earlier than the time of Rabbi Yehudah bar
Elaay (around 170 B.C.), who is the latest tanna
(expert) to be quoted in the Haggadah. According to most
Talmudic commentaries, Rav and Shmuel argued about the
compilation of the Haggadah; and hence it was
not completed by that time. However the Malbim, along with a
minority of Jewish rabbis, believed that Rav and Shmuel
were not arguing about its compilation, but its
interpretation; and hence it was completed by then.
According to this explanation, the Haggadah was written during the
lifetime of Rav Yehudah haNasi, the compiler
of the Mishna. The Malbim theorizes that the
Haggadah was written by Rav Yehudah haNasi himself. —We
will stay out of that controversy! Nevertheless all commentators agree
that it was completed by the time of Rav Nachman
(mentioned in Pesachim 116a). But there is a
dispute as to which Rav Nachman the Talmud was referring to.
According to some commentators, this was Rav
Nachman bar Yaakov (around A.D. 280), while others
maintain this was Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak (A.D. 360). Now you know the story behind the
seder; so you will be prepared when the leaders at
your local church want to have a seder in the spring
of the year. —vf |
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