Holy Week?

Apr 10, 2009 11:34

I participated in my very first Passover celebration on Wednesday. I was invited by applepieisgood who's dad's side of the family is Jewish, more or less practicing. It was quite an interesting experience for a gentile such as myself.

I already knew vaguely the story of the Exodus from Egypt, but the big thing about Passover was the symbolism present. Each food item was supposed to represent some quality or facet of the Hebrew's struggle to get away from Pharaoh, such as:
-Parsley dipped in salt water (Parsley representing the simple foods they ate and salt water representing the tears of the struggle.)
-Flatbread or Matzo bread (representing that the Hebrew people didn't have time to let their bread rise as they fled.)
-Bitter vegetable (representing the bitterness left in the hearts of the Hebrews by their slavery.)

I also learned that the Last Supper of Jesus could have occurred on the first night of Passover (known as the Seder) which is why Passover occurs so close to Good Friday and Easter. A lot of the same symbolism is there, such as breaking of the bread and drinking of the wine, though the definition of the symbolism becomes different ("take this bread, for it is my body, take this wine for it is my blood.") Which means the Catholic communion could likely be just a modified Passover Seder practice. It wouldn't surprise me at all if it were true, since Jesus was a Jew.

All in all, it was quite an experience, and I learned a lot. On top of that, I got a good, big meal for free, so yay for that!

cat, passover, life, holiday

Previous post Next post
Up