Celebrating the Passover

The Kippah was a little big for Adam...

Yesterday evening we went to the club on base for a Pesach Seder, a Jewish ritual feast to mark the beginning of the Passover. Neither my hubby or I had been to one before, and we were excited to learn and experience the tradition. Upon entering, the men were given a Kippah (Kippa, Kipa, or Yarmulke) and prayer shawls.

We seated ourselves at one of the tables and were soon joined by two other families from study groups we are in. One of the base Chaplains (who was fully robbed), stood at the front of the room and spoke to the crowd, walking us through the dinner. 

We are seated in the middle there,
in matching maroon and me taking pictures with my iPhone.

Our table, with the wine and symbolic plate in view.
The bowl in front of my plate is the salt water bowl for dipping. 

        First he gave an overview of the evening and explained the Passover Seder Plate, which was set with symbolic foods representing parts of the story from Exodus when the Israelites were liberated from slavery.

         Starting the dinner, he first said a blessing with wine in honor of the holiday. (I got to have grape juice) 

        Then we passed a bowl of water around the table and washed our hands. (All washing in the same bowl? Are our hands really getting cleaner? Seems to me like the last person to wash isn’t getting much out of that… but hey, it was symbolic)

Washing our hands in the bowl of water. 

Then we took a vegetable (Parsley is the common vegetable used) from our Passover plate, dipped it in the salt-water bowl, held it while a blessing was said, and then ate the vegetable together. (I believe the salt water was symbolic of the tears shed by their enslaved ancestors) 

Next we broke the bread, or Matzah, that was placed in a bowl in the center of the table, saving a large piece and hiding the smaller piece under a cloth. Two blessings were said before we were permitted to eat a piece. 

A child then rose in the audience, asking why this night was so special and different compared to the nights. This was not a random question, but premeditated, as part of the importance of the tradition is to educate the children on Jewish history. At this point the story from Exodus is shared, and how the Angel of Death passed over the homes of the Israelites whom had painted their door frames with lambs blood, and spared their first-born child. It was after this that they were released from Egypt. 

After the explanation/story, two blessings were recited, and we ate some of the matzah. Then we ate some of the maror, (or bitter herbs) which is usually horseradish and symbolizes the harshness endured by the enslaved Jews. These herbs were quite bitter and I proceeded to chug my glass of water after consuming them. Then we eat the remaining bitter herbs combined with the apple and nut mixture from our plate on a piece of matzah. Combined with this sweeter mixture, the flavor of the “bitter herbs” was unnoticeable. (Thankfully!)

The final thing we ate was a piece of onion, which was in place of a roasted lamb bone, which symbolizes the Pesach sacrifice, a lamb offering in the temple in Jerusalem. 

If you are observing the plate of food below, you may notice there is also a hard boiled egg. This was to be eaten at any time of our choosing during the meal and symbolized the festival sacrifice. 

Our plate of symbolic foods

Finally it was time to eat! I had originally been concerned that this small plate of symbolic foods was all there was to be had for dinner, and my growling stomach was rather distressed at this idea. However, after the symbolic plate and blessings have been accomplished, a large feast is had! And my oh my did we eat! You may observe the picture below to see some of what we had. (There was more, I simply didn’t have the room, despite my ravenous appetite!)  

There was a large buffet line and from it I choose the mushroom soup, salad, two different meat mixtures, and some rice. The chicken mixture was in a delicious sauce and tossed with grilled veggies. My hubby and I both had second helpings of that one!

     

After the festivities and feast, the Chaplain rose once more to complete the meal. The final part of the meal is the eating of the matzah that we had hid underneath the cloth at the beginning of the meal. This is supposed to be the very last morsel that one consumes from the Passover meal.  

          Then a blessing is said, another cup of wine consumed, and a child runs to open the front door in order to welcome the return of Elijah. As a group we recited some passages, the fourth and final cup of wine was drunk, and the meal was then concluded. 

       They had so much leftover food from the meal, that the staff brought out aluminum take-away plates so we could fill it with the leftovers and take it home. We filled our plates with our favorite chicken entrée along with some rice, which provided us with two lunches AND dinners the following days. (What a blessing! hooray for free food!)

The meal was an excellent experience and we're both very thankful for the opportunity we had to learn of the Jewish tradition, symbolisms, and festival of the Passover.