The service A5 Booklet in ODT format Passover meal and PDF format Passover meal.
This was used for our Messy Church congregation. I do not know where it originated from, but it is highly adapted and modernised from the original.
Some people would say that if you are not Jewish, and not going to “do it right” you should not do a passover meal. We saw this as a teaching opportunity, to learn about our Jewish brothers and sisters, and to learn about part of our heritage.
We chose different family pairings to read parts. Mum and Sons, Mums and daughters, Dads and sons, Dads and Daughters. We used the grape juice “squirter” to re-fill the little communion grape juice glasses.
We used an introduction, so people knew what we were doing and why. The majority of people had never experienced anything close to a passover meal.
Introduction
Many years ago the Egyptians took the Jewish people from their home country
into captivity in Egypt, so they could be their slaves.
God promised to free them.
When the time was right, Moses led them out of Egypt and into the promised land.
The festival or celebration of passover
reminds us of their last meal in Egypt before they escaped
into God’s promise of a new life.
As their final meal in Egypt,
they drunk wine, and ate lamb and flat bread without yeast.
Today we remember that final meal,
it is the celebration day,
when we remember passover.
Welcome
Welcome, as we come into Holy week we remember the passover like Jesus’ disciples did.
Many years ago the Egyptians took the Jewish people from their home country into captivity in Egypt, so they could be their slaves.
God promised to free them.
When the time was right, Moses led them out of Egypt and into the promised land.
The festival or celebration of passover reminds us of their last meal in Egypt before they escaped into Gods promise of a new life.
As their final meal in Egypt, they drunk wine, and ate lamb and flat bread without yeast.
Today we remember that final meal,
it is the celebration day, when we remember passover.
Mark 14:12-16
It was the first day of the Festival of Thin Bread, and the Passover lambs were being killed. Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal?”
Jesus said to two of the disciples, “Go into the city, where you will meet a man carrying a jar of water. Follow him, and when he goes into a house, say to the owner, ‘Our teacher wants to know if you have a room where he can eat the Passover meal with his disciples.’ The owner will take you upstairs and show you a large room furnished and ready for you to use. Prepare the meal there.”
The two disciples went into the city and found everything just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover meal.
Following the custom of the Jewish people at their Celebration Meal, the women will light the celebration candles.
Opening prayer
Blessed are you, O Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe,
who has made us right with you through your words,
and who has instructed us to light the lights of celebration.
Blessed are you, O Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe,
who has kept us alive and sustained us, and brought us here today,
may our gathering be set aside for your work in our lives O God,
by your light and favour shining upon us,
bless us and bring us peace. Amen.
Traditional Passover Prayers
In the first act of the Jewish Passover, we take a cup of wine as the head of the household prays the traditional blessing (benediction). It’s called the Kiddush:
Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe,
Creator of the fruit of the vine,
Blessed are you O Lord our God, King of the Universe
who has chosen us among all your peoples and made us right,
with you, through your words.
In love you have given us, O Lord our God, days of joy,
and celebration days of gladness.
On this day of the feast of flat bread,
we gather together as your people,
to remember the departure from Egypt.
You have chosen us for your service and share with us your blessing and celebration on this day.
Blessed are you O Lord our God, who has preserved us,
sustained us and brought us to this celebration day.
Hand around the grape juice trays, each person takes a sip.
In the next act of the Jewish passover we eat greens, a symbol that nature comes to life in spring.
Following Jewish tradition, we dip the greens into salt water and pray.
Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe,
Creator of the fruit of Earth.
We all dip the parsley in salt water and eat it.
Another action of the Jewish passover is the breaking of the flat bread,
the Jewish people called this Matzah.
The leader lifts the bread saying:
Look this is the bread of affection which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt.
Let all who are hungry come and eat.
Let all who are in need come and celebrate the passover with us.
May it be God’s will to save us from all trouble,
and from being slaves.
Next year at this time may all the Jewish people be free.
Place the bread on its plate
Questions
An Adult
At the ancient passover meal, the son asked the Father four traditional questions about the passover. In time, in order to carry on a discussion about the symbolic foods other questions were asked about their meanings, the father replied in such a way that the son could understand, so if he was young, the answer was simple, as he grew, the answers became more detailed.
A young person
Why is this night more different to all the others?
An Adult
The Isralites, who we now know as the Jewish people, had been in Egypt as slaves for 430 years, at the end of 430 years, on this night, all the tribes of the Lord came out of Egypt.
This was a night of waiting (vigil) as the Lord waited to bring them out of Egypt.
It is God’s night.
All Israelites keep this vigil and wait, on this night,
generation after generation.
This is recorded in Exodus 12, verses 40 to 42.
The Lord’s people left Egypt exactly four hundred thirty years after they had arrived. On that night the Lord kept watch for them, and on this same night each year Israel will always keep watch in honour of the Lord.
A Young Person
On all other nights we eat bread either with yeast, or without yeast.
Why on this night do we eat only thin bread without yeast?
An Adult
Hold up the bread showing it to everyone
It is because the Israelites left Egypt in such a hurry that there was no time for the bread to rise.
As the book of Exodus tells us: “The dough which they brought from Egypt was used to make loaves of flat bread. The dough had no yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt, and did not have time to prepare food for themselves for the entire journey.” (Ex 12:39)
Let us then share in the custom of the Israelites.
They did this “way back then” and still do this today,
together let us eat this flat bread.
Everyone eats bread
A Young Person
On all other nights we eat any kind of herbs,
on this night why do we eat only bitter herbs.
An Adult
Hold up the pesto mixture in a glass bowl
They are eaten to remember how horrible the lives were of the Israelites while they were in captivity in Egypt.
As it says in the book of Exodus:
The Egyptians put tough slave bosses in charge of the people of Israel and tried to wear them down with hard work. … The Israelites were mistreated, their families grew larger, and they took over more land. Because (they grew in number), the Egyptians hated them even more than before and made them work so hard that their lives were miserable. The Egyptians were cruel to the people of Israel and forced them to make bricks and to mix mortar and to work in the fields.
Let us now eat the sour and bitter herbs, remembering the terrible life the Israelites had in Egypt.
Everyone dips the bread into the bitter herbs (pesto, with lots of lemon in it)
A Young Person Asks
Why on this night when we remember sadness do we drink nice sweet grape juice?
Another Adult
Lift up the tray of grape juice
The Bible speaks of wine and grape juice that makes the hearts of people thankful,
and we are filled with joy, as we remember God’s loving kindness to us,
the good life he gives us,
the land full with richness,
our good food, our good drink, and good friends.
Let us join in the joy of the Israelites
who celebrate their rescue by God from the Egyptians,
by drinking with them the ancient Hebrew toast.
A toast is when we all raise our glasses together.
The word L `Haiyim means “To Life!”
We raise our cups to make the ancient Hebrew toast together,
and we say:
L Haiyim! – To life!