Have you ever been a part of a Passover dinner, or hosted one? Perhaps, though, I should ask if you have ever even heard of a Seder?
You could say, isn’t that a Jewish holiday? Or isn’t that something Jews did before Jesus died on the cross for our sins?
Those are questions I tend to hear when people talk about Biblical holidays.
These questions though, were not a part of my upbringing. My family growing up was Baptist; we went to my grandpa’s church, where he was a pastor for 30 + years. Along with celebrating Easter and Christmas, my mother also taught us that, God had told His people that His commandments were forever, never ending, an unending sign before Him and us.
Hence, even though we did not keep Sabbath perfect, we tried to remember it every Saturday, while going to church on Sunday. Those festivals, that God gave to His people, we tried to remember and keep.
Although, these were not something we made possible to do every year, they were still done many years while I was young. At least, enough to give me a handful of memories, with my family as a whole, keeping the holy feast of Yahweh. These holidays were something I always found that I enjoyed so much, as a child.
When we kept Sukkot, I remember building a relatively decent booth outside, with my older brother. We spent a week constructing this simple, but nice booth for the “Feast of Tabernacle.” When it was done, we celebrated a dinner in this booth, and my family enjoyed a meal not like anything we normally did.
You can imagine the excitement, that a small child would find in this, most of all, think about what it would show a child. Talk about a literal picture, that would show, and help you comprehend what the ancient people of Israel went through, while they followed Yahweh through the desert.
For Passover, my mother always made a very special and elaborate dinner. She would make certain dishes that she knew that her children loved.
The best way to describe this dinner, in our home would be to say, it resembled our Thanksgiving with all the care and love that went into the food on the table. Except, it wasn’t Thanksgiving; it was something much more special that an American holiday that we all love. It felt much more extraordinary than that dinner; it was an evening that God says is holy.
We would have out our best china, candles, the Seder plate, and most of all God’s blessing on us, for seeking His ordained times of the year. It was a special time in our home, a sweet time, and an imprinted memory by God, in a small child of His might, and His love for me.
In the last few years, our family with my father's leading, has made more of a commitment to keep these festivals and Sabbaths more holy unto God. Last year, being the second year of having a new dedication to honoring them, we went to a state park in Kentucky. There was a large group there keeping Passover and Unleavened Bread. We had never spent a Passover like this before. It had always been something done at our own table, in our own dining room, with the closest people in our lives, and in our country home.
That year we were miles away from home and kin. Though, I know other families enjoy this week immensely, they did not have the empty feeling in their heart that I had lingering that week. Having God's holidays is always special no matter where you are, but this dinner left me missing my older siblings, and our home. This was a Passover spent, in a large metal building, with hundreds of people, I did not know. As I do not enjoy mega churches, I did not feel inclined to like my treasured dinner spent this way. I know though, that God used that time to teach me many things.
One of which I think was to recognize even more my love of a close knit, family Passover,
interwoven with love.
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Again, this current year we had talked about being away for Passover with friends, this however did not work out. Instead, it was what you could almost say, was a spontaneously put together dinner.
Good friends that usually spend their spring months in Florida were home because of an injury in the family. Because of this they were able to come to our home for Passover. The father of this family shared the story of the Passover dinner, and the history of it. He showed how it represented Jesus dying on the cross, how His blood covered us for our sins.
Some of our neighbors were able to come to share this dinner with us, making it a dinner of twenty-eight people.
Miguel and his brother, who work for our family business, and is also our neighbor, were able to come. They are always very helpful to our family, and are good friends. This was the second Seder that Miguel was able to come to our home for Passover.
My younger sibling’s friends, Gigi and Paul were able to attend as well. We were very happy to see them be able to come. They attend our camps in the summer, and train on our horses, with lessons from me during the year. They also live right next to my brother, at the end of our drive way.
When I casually asked Gigi if she might want to come, she lit up, and told me how much she loved Seder dinners. She had attended one with her father’s family.
We were very happy that we had invited them; they were so sweet, respectful and attentive as they listened to the Passover story that evening.
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A close and dear friend of mine, was also able to come, this would be her first Passover dinner.
She spent the night before with us, and helped me do much of the work for this day.
We stayed up till two in the morning baking and cooking, not only for this large dinner we were having, but also for some people that were flying in from Kansas for a meeting with my dad the following morning.
We woke at six thirty, and spent the morning with a visit to our family office, for an important meeting.
Then the rest of the day was spent in major cooking, cleaning, and set-up for the dinner. We also had good friends spending the weekend with us; so she took the project of preparing, and making ready the apartment for them.
We barely ate anything that day in our haste to prepare, so when the meal finally came it was quite the delight, and feast for us.
We stayed up till two in the morning baking and cooking, not only for this large dinner we were having, but also for some people that were flying in from Kansas for a meeting with my dad the following morning.
We woke at six thirty, and spent the morning with a visit to our family office, for an important meeting.
Then the rest of the day was spent in major cooking, cleaning, and set-up for the dinner. We also had good friends spending the weekend with us; so she took the project of preparing, and making ready the apartment for them.
We barely ate anything that day in our haste to prepare, so when the meal finally came it was quite the delight, and feast for us.
As before, the food was cooked and baked with love and care. The menu for our Passover dinner this year was:
• Blackend Salmon
• Roasted Lamb
• Green Bean Casserole
• Blue, Pink and White Potatoes Grown in our Garden
• Chicken and Rice Casserole
• Cheese Cake Dip with Matzo Crackers
• Salad
• Grape Juice
• Peanut Butter Cheese Cake
• Pina Colada Cheese Cake
• Chocolate Dip Strawberries
What we did different this year was that we had it in our family room, instead of in the dining room. We removed most of the furniture from this room, and brought in five gallon grain buckets, and set folding tables on them.
We covered these with table cloths, set candles, and Seder plates at each table. We proceeded to strip every couch of its pillows, and set them on the floor as cushions.
As you can see in the pictures it was a unique dinner.
What made it probably top, in the uniqueness scale of a dinner, was that in my lap, lay a baby lamb.
This lamb, who will get his own post someday, was in our home because of needing a new ram for our herd. Their breed gets surprisingly large, and his own father was the size of a pony. The only way we have been told to tame these rams, and make them safe, is to bring them in your home at three days old and bottle feed them.
This is creatinga bond,
and a tameness
for people
through the rest
of their life. Now I ask you, is that not the cutest thing you have ever seen??
The most special part of the dinner though, was the fact that my entire family was all gathered, in the same room, for the entire evening.
When siblings marry, and have their own families, it continues to be a rarer event than it was in the past to have family get togethers.
It was special to me, and brought back memories of my sweet Passovers in the past, that happen in this unknown farm house to the rest of the world.
Once again it was sweet for me, but, this time it wasn’t as a small child, but as an adult, though still a child of our merciful Creator.
When I asked, at the beginning of this post if you had ever attended one, I would tell you with my whole heart that this dinner is like none other that you might attend in your life.
I know by His holy Word, and by just what He puts on my heart, and shows me at these dinners, that He is with us, blessing you for seeking Him in His ordained holidays.
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you,
nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals,
nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and
the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day.
Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
Deuteronomy 5:6 - 21
