Church-based Passover Seders: Another year, another fight? Please just buy my book.

Although Lent doesn't begin for another couple of weeks, it's not too early to plan a church-based Seder, so here's my annual pitch for Come to the Table: A Passover Seder for Parish Use.

First published in 2004, this labor of love and scholarship has been adopted and used by dozens of parishes over the years. One year I had the honor of leading a Seder at a church that used my haggadah and was deeply moved by how it enhanced participants' appreciation of their Jewish roots. It's available as a paperback and on Kindle.

So what's with the fight reference? {insert Big Exhausted Sigh here}

Every year I get caught up in a near-endless loop of conversations about whether it's appropriate for churches to hold a parish-based Seder. One of my written responses was posted to the Ignatian Spirituality blog, dotMagis. For The Rev. Ann Fontaine's interview at Episcopal Cafe, click here.

I have nothing new to add to my well-documented explanation for why these events have theological and spiritual value for Christians.

But I will reiterate this: Please read those posts and read my book, Why Is There a Menorah on the Altar? Jewish Roots of Christian Worship  before picking this fight with me. Again. You do know that I was raised Jewish, right?

Passover . . . Let My People Eat

Image: Unknown. Making the rounds on the Internet.

Anticipating Passover

According to my calculations, about a week from now I'll be done dipping bitter herbs into salt water, past the plagues, skipping past One Kid and keeping an eye out for Elijah. Not too early to review rest of the story with the help of Google Exodus from aish.com.

Come to the Table: A Passover Seder for Parish Use

Come to the Table:
A Passover Seder for Parish Use

I revised and updated this labor of love in response to requests by those already using it for church-based Passover observance. There were a few other reasons as well, explained in more detail in posts at dotMagis and at The Virtual Abbey.

I'd also like you to know Come to the Table has been reformatted to be easier to read and priced lower. A discount code is available (at CreateSpace) for bulk orders. Yes, a Kindle edition will be online in a few weeks.

At Amazon.com you'll see it's bundled with two other titles. Such a deal!

When Worlds Collide: Pesach Edition (5770)

Behold one view of last night's Seder and no, I did not bring the palm crosses. Those were lovingly placed on the table by someone from the Episcopal frond of my friend's multi-faith family. I had other issues.

Because I've been gluten-free since October, our colloquy went something like this:

Me: "Can't eat the matzoh or matzoh balls."

She: "Oh no! Then you can't have my matzoh kugle."

Me: "Darn, I was really looking forward to being constipated for a month."

She: "Well, there will be brisket."

I didn't even have time to chant dayenu before she continued,

"And, we'll have appetizers ─ chopped liver, herring, and shrimp."

'Tis the Season for Shameless Self-Promotion

Come to the Table: A Catholic Passover Seder was first published in 2004 and I note how with every passing year, more churches contact me about including a Sedar as part of their Holy Week observances.

Some parishes view this as an opportunity to promote family faith formation, others focus on making the Seder an opportunity for specific groups to engage in deeper inquiry about their Jewish heritage.

I treasure the wonderful conversations I'm privileged to have with those in charge of organizing their parish's Seder ─ sometimes at the last possible moment, which then leads to frantic conversations about shipping books really really fast. Most of all, I appreciate spirited follow-up notes about how it went.

This year, I have a pretty good idea of how it'll go at a church in South Carolina, thanks to email received earlier today:

Our pastor told us he wanted a Last Supper Table...set up as Jesus and his disciples would have left it the night after they left Seder. He wanted it hidden behind a curtain and at the end of the Seder, we are to open the curtain showing the empty table and that would be the big ending to our Seder...

Then, the next day, we will place the Tabernacle in the middle of this table (we will still keep all the dishes there) and the Blessed Sacrament will be placed there during the Holy Thursday procession. Adoration will be held there...It will be beautiful! Think of the symbolism!

How could I not? I've requested pictures!!

Balls...Made of Matzo Meal

Sometimes the most innocent question will plunge me into an unexpected amount of pondering. A not-Jewish someone recently asked if I had a good recipe for matzo ball soup. I came to a full stop at the concept of good.

Finding a good recipe for matzo balls is easy. Use whatever recipe is printed on the box of matzo meal. If that seems too prosaic, then by all means search the Internet or crack open a Jewish holiday cookbook. The recipe you find will be like the one printed on the box of matzo meal, with perhaps chopped parsley added for culinary bling.

Making matzo balls that are good? How the Gehenna would I know?

My grandmother's balls were so compact and tough that a serrated knife could hardly hack through them. Were her matzo balls good? Decades passed before I encountered firm yet light matzo balls. Being able to use the side of a soup to slice through them easily was certainly a pleasant relief, but were they good?

When it comes to matzo balls, good is a relative concept and I mean that quite literally. No one raised Jewish would even think to ask anyone other than the family matriarch for a recipe. The word "good" would remain silent as the box of matzo meal was handed over.

Photo: Coconut & Lime/Flickr

Come to the Table: A Catholic Passover Seder

How is this seder different from other Christian seders?

Years ago, I decided to create a seder that would reveal Judaism's legacy to Catholics by highlighting the symbolic (and liturgical) similarities of our faiths. I also wanted Catholics to better understand the history of Jewish-Catholic tensions and to appreciate the challenges of reconciliation. And, I wanted to make all this available in a book that provided practical instructions for creating a seder in either a parish or home setting. Not too ambitious, eh?

I'm happy to report that more parishes adopt Come to the Table each year. During the past three years, I've received lovely notes from people who have used this seder service at home. I'm starting to hear from catechists who are using this little book to teach about the Eucharist throughout the year. Last year, I had the privilege of presiding at a parish-wide seder at the Church of St. Luke (Plainfield, NJ).

This year's liturgical calendar crunch seems to be throwing everyone into a tizzy about whether they can, in fact, put together a seder at this point. I say you can! Why not? The book provides the service -- you just have to pull together the food, the table settings, readers, and a presider. People will show up for this event.

And yes, churches do receive a discount on bulk orders. Please contact me directly: meredith@meredithgould.com. And yes, you can get an autographed copy if you buy directly through Plowshares Publishing.