Welcome to
Sacred Heart School of Theology's
English as a Second Language Program
The ESL Times / Spring, 2005
A Jewish Passover Dinner
By: Lino Martinez Velazquez, SCJ
(Mexico)
To be clear about what Jewish Passover means, I’m
just going to explain some of the specific reasonsfor
this event. Passover is celebrated by the Jewish people;
and it is a time to remember the freedom of all the Jews
from Egypt as it is told it the biblical book of Exodus.
The leader of the liberation was Moses, and he was led
by God the Father. The Jewish freedom from slavery is now
remembered as the “Seder Day”, which means “order”,
and it is referred to in historic events. The Seder day
is a Passover meal that is today celebrated by all Jews.
There are seven main symbolic foods at the Seder table
that remind the Jewish people of their time of slavery
in Egypt. The seven Symbolic foods of Passover are the
following:
Matza: an unleavened bread that symbolizes the Jewish time of slavery in Egypt, and Haroseth, a mixture of crushed nuts, apples, cinnamon, and honey which symbolizes the mortar the Jewish slaves in Egypt used in constructing buildings for the Pharaohs. In addition, every Seder dinner has eggs - a hard boiled egg is used to symbolize life and rebirth, and salt water. The egg is dipped in the salt water which symbolizes both the tears of oppression from slavery as well as the tears of joy in their freedom. In addition, at the Seder table is Maror, a very spicy radish that symbolizes the hardships of slavery. Karpas, a piece of parsley which is dipped in salt water and symbolizes the destruction of the Hebrew slaves is also eaten as it is a symbol of the new spring season. Z’roah; which is a piece of bone that symbolizes the paschal lamb and refers to God who rescued the Jews from the Egyptian slavery, is the main part of the dinner.
The Passover Seder not only symbolizes a feast of freedom from slavery, it also represents a reminder to the Jewish people of the importance of gratitude for maintaining faith.
The Jewish Passover meal was a great experience for me to understand the meaning of the Jewish traditions much better. The Jewish people have a deep faith in God the Father as their savior; but I’m catholic, and I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and he has already come to this world to save us. Nevertheless, it is always good to know and learn about the many traditions of other religions, and the Seder dinner was a very interesting celebration to attend.
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