What is a Seder meal and what does it celebrate?

Question

My church is having a Seder Meal. I'm not sure why. What is the purpose and meaning of it? What can I expect? I'm looking for the Jewish perspective on this. Can you help?

Answer 1

Seder means order. It is the order we use to teach the story of the Exodus to our children. God commanded us to "remember" and to "teach our children." The seder meal is devised to teach our children using all of the senses -- smell, vision, feel, etc.
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Answer 2

The Seder meal commemorates and celebrates the Jewish exodus from Egypt, and thus it is an ancient Jewish tradition. It is beyond me why a church would organize such a celebration... The only connection I can think of is the fact that the last meal WAS a Seder.

Answer 3

Interesting. It may have to do with the fact that the Last Supper was a Passover Seder.

The Passover Seder commemorates the events leading to the exodus of Jews from Ancient Egypt.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover_Seder

Answer 4

For a great perspective on being young and Jewish in America check out the book The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen.
While performing the Seder ritual for passover, a young woman goes to open the door for the Prophet Elijah. She turns around and finds herself in Poland just before the Nazis invade.
The book, though the subject is obviously heavy, is aimed at giving a real life perspective on something that can seem so long ago to any modern girl, and why it must never happen again.

It was made into a great movie, too, with Kirsten Dunst in the lead roll.

Answer 5

There are a few good answers here on the Jewish perspective, but please, after you go, when you are told by your church about the "alternate" meanings to things in the seder that jive with your religion, do NOT post asking why we don't see the "obvious" things you just learned. The Passover seder clearly predates your religion, and to us, that sort of proves that there is no secret significance to anything in there regarding jesus..

Answer 6

it particularly is precisely why I enable my daughters to dye eggs and watch for the Bunny, yet they are no longer allowed to call it Easter or make to any extent further ado over it. The final Supper grow to be supposedly on the 14th night of Passover. Passover is a disgusting and bloody fantasy, a fantasy approximately slaughtering little ones. The Israelites weren't in any respect mass-enslaved in Egypt, yet in the previous they worshipped their one god, they invaded and colonized Northern Egypt. Pharaoh Ahmose expelled them. it particularly is the "actual" historic Moses. See my different question on the subject. i don't be attentive to if it grow to be jealous for a mightier u . s . a ., or organic blood lust, that built a tale approximately "God" going around slaughtering Egyptian firstborn little ones, yet my firstborn daughter takes this to heart. it particularly is a DISGUSTING lie. Infanticide ceremonialized? everyone celebrating this ought to have their head checked, or a minimum of be watched via the CIA by using fact they're praising a fantasy approximately KILLING babies. So sure, it would have been a Seder Meal, by using fact they might have been celebrating a fantasy approximately killing little babies. i'm happy Jesus broke removed from that, yet Christianity nonetheless celebrates the LIES approximately Egypt, so how happy am i able to in my opinion be? Even EGYPT celebrates those products, decrease than Islam. it particularly is like working in direction of your enemy's faith. Very unhappy.

Answer 7

It's a meal honoring Passover.
Here is a really good "tutorial" on the seder:

http://www.ou.org/chagim/pesach/pesachguide/maze/basic5.htm

hope it helps!