Two of my Passions
1. All Israel be saved
2. CHRISTIANS WHO DON”T WITNESS TO JEWS
“a Christian who doesn’t witness to a Jew is a Hitler waiting to be born, because while having the Hope for ALL Israel, He chooses instead to send my people to Hell”
-michael james stone
Christian seders draw concern
Messianic Jews relate Jewish ritual to Jesus.
By MELISSA NANN BURKE
Daily Record/Sunday News
Updated: 03/24/2010 01:31:11 PM EDT
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At a traditional Passover seder, you'll find the broken matzo, taste the bitter herbs and listen to a retelling of the Exodus story.
You won't hear a mention of Jesus. But some churches -- including an East Manchester Township congregation -- are now hosting Christian seders, adding Christian symbolism to a 3,000-year-old Jewish ritual of remembrance.
At these seders, the stripes and holes in the matzo are said to represent Jesus' whipped and pierced body. The matzo is broken and wrapped in a white cloth, as was Jesus' body for burial.
Some Jews consider such seders to be offensive and a trespassing of sorts. They fear that Christians -- however well-meaning -- are infringing on Jewish liturgical territory.
"It registers as a certain hostile takeover from a Jewish perspective, as well as a betrayal of Jewish history and the Jewish community," said the Rev. Christopher Leighton, executive director of the Institute for Christian and Jewish Studies in Baltimore.
Jews also say churches are using the Christian seder to proselytize among them. They note such seders are often led by Messianic Jews, who believe Jesus was the Messiah, or groups such as Jews for Jesus that work to bring Jews into the Christian church.
Rabbi Jeffrey Astrachan of Temple Beth Israel in York Township pointed out that religions have borrowed and adopted rituals and ideas from one another before; however, they usually incorporate them into the context of their own faith. In this case, the church has borrowed a Jewish ritual and "manipulated" its symbolism without detaching it from Judaism, he said.
"I wouldn't go so far as to say I am offended by the borrowing," Astrachan said by e-mail. "I am, however, disturbed that some fringe groups can't leave others alone to select a faith of their own choosing. If the Messianics want to be true at all to their Jewish roots, they would understand that Jews do not proselytize."
The Rev. Chuck Sprenkle of St. Paul United Methodist Church in East Manchester Township said Jews are invited to his church's Messiah in the Passover seder on Tuesday, but the aim isn't an evangelistic one.
"The purpose is not to convert them -- although that would be a nice thing -- but to show how our faiths do connect," Sprenkle said. "I also think it's a very good opportunity for Christians to deepen the history of their faith. . . . They're seeing the presence of Christ's life in the seder."
Several Christian seders led by Messianic groups are planned at midstate churches this week.
The Rev. Israel Cohen, who will lead the seder demonstration at Sprenkle's church on Tuesday, serves as a missionary for the Messianic organization Chosen People Ministries. His presentation at 100 churches a year explains how each part of the Passover seder "points to the Messiah," he said.
"I'm challenging the churches to be praying for the salvation of the Jewish people and encouraging them to witness to the Jewish people," said Cohen, who lives in Kissimmee, Fla., but has nine seder events in Pennsylvania this week.
Passover, which begins Monday night, commemorates the freedom of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt under the leadership of Moses, who was directed by God.
The Jewish seder (which means "order" in Hebrew) has a set structure, and its symbols (such as the foods on the seder plate) hold great meaning for Jews. For example, the matzo recalls the unleavened bread the Israelites ate in their flight from Egypt. The roasted shank bone is a reminder of the sacrificial lamb offered to God at Passover.
"The story of the Exodus from Egypt is particularly important because that is when the Jewish people became a nation," said Rabbi Elazar Green of the Chabad Jewish Enrichment Center of Lancaster and York. "We're commanded in the Torah to celebrate and retell the story of the Exodus every year."
Sprenkle acknowledged that some Jews might be turned off by the idea of a Christian seder but said it could at least start a conversation about the differences between the faiths.
"In many ways, every religion is offensive to someone else," he said. "That won't stop me from trying to share with them something that they might not have seen before."
For decades, Catholics, Presbyterians and other churches have held seders as a tool of interfaith dialogue.
"Those intentions were noble at first and continue to be if they were inviting a rabbi or other knowledgable Jew to explain a Jewish practice, for example," said Leighton, a Presbyterian minister.
"It becomes an altogether different phenomenon when the purpose is not to understand or appreciate our Jewish neighbors better, but to say 'We really know what's going on in the ritual or practice, and Jews would, too, if they only understood the symbolism is pointing to (Jesus).'"
Astrachan of Temple Beth Israel noted that Passover is a celebration of freedom.
"As Jews the world-over recall the freedoms granted them by God, let us also pray for the freedom to be true to our own religious beliefs, free from the desires and wishes of those who can't seem to leave others alone," he said.
Messianic Jews
Messianic Jews believe that Jesus is the messiah and savior of the world.
They are active in groups such as Jews for Jesus and the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America, which is headquartered in Springfield, Delaware County, and is a network of synagogues that proclaim faith in Yeshua (Jesus of Nazareth) while maintaining their Jewish identity.
The synagogues are not recognized as Jewish by mainstream Jewish bodies -- many of whom consider Messianic Judaism deceptive and do not want such converts to call themselves Jews.
Messianic Jews generally teach that God is a compound entity that exists in three forms (father, son and Holy Spirit).
They also believe in God's eternal covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and so follow the traditional Jewish calendar and religious observances (as Jesus did).
Sources: The Religion Stylebook and "Handbook of Denominations in the United States"
About Passover
Passover, or Pesach, begins at sundown Monday and lasts for eight days.
"Passover" refers to the fact that God "passed over" the homes of the Jews when he slayed the first-born sons of the Egyptians.
The seder plate
Each item on the seder plate has meaning:
Maror: bitter herbs
A reminder of the bitterness of slavery, the maror is dipped in the haroset.
Haroset: a dish of chopped apples, nuts, wine and spices.
A reminder of the mortar used by the Jews to build during their slavery.
Zeroa: roasted shank bone
Isn't eaten. Represents the lamb that was sacrificed on the eve of the Jews' exodus from Egypt.
Karpas: a vegetable
Dipped in salt water and eaten. Symbolizes the lowly origins of the Jewish people or the back-breaking work of slaves.
Beitzah: hard-boiled egg
A reminder of the festival offering whose meat was eaten as the main course of the seder meal.
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