Earlier this week Quotidian Grace posted about the experiences of some Churches, including her own, celebrating a Passover Seder in connection with Holy Week. (I know, what every church needs, one more thing to do during Holy Week.) Then, I read an article in USAToday.com about President Obama celebrating a Seder at the White House. I thought it all sounded kind of cool. I've never been to a Seder.
I was not surprised when I typed Christian Seder into Google to discover that there are some Christians who think this is a bad idea. I was somewhat surprised to discover that many Jews aren't too happy about Christians co-opting their traditions (shouldn't that be our traditions?).
So, I thought I would start by asking who has been to a Seder and was it as a guest of a Jewish friend, was it part of a Christian observance, have your churches done Seders? Just curious.
Then, I thought I would put up a few links for those who really want something else to do during Holy Week.
A Guide to a Christian Seder, by Michael Ropeke (online article, good overview);
Introduction to a Christian Seder, Reclaiming Passover for Christians, Dennis Bratcher (online article with tons of good details); and
Not surprisingly, Wikipedia has an entry.
There is tons more stuff available, and none of it is hard to find. If you do decide to try a Seder (probably not this year, of course), do let us know how things go.
JusticeSeeker
JusticeSeekerOK@aol.com
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
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4 comments:
Our Presbyterian church has done a Seder several times in the past, although not this year. It was usually done with some additional educational content to help us Christians get up to speed on this particular Jewish celebration.
Can't resist sharing this joke from one of El Jefe's partners, a devout Jew. As you know, the seder traditionally ends with the words "next year in Jerusalem." He speculated that Obama ended it with "next year in WEST Jerusalem"!
We've celebrated Passover with a seder at home and at church. I attended a Jewish seder once in college; I'd like to do more of that. I do understand how some Jews might be concerned about others co-opting their traditions and think it's important that we're respectful.
In response to Quotidian Grace's political joke, I just want to clarify that we here at the unofficial PC(USA) blog - and as a denomination as a whole - are not of one mind on the complex issue of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories.
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