Seder Meal

We took the kids and met our friends for the Seder Meal Celebration they have each year at our church. It is the best $5 meal we get all year. The kids and I studied up on the Jewish traditions for the Passover meal and really enjoyed this. We were already familiar with what we saw on the table:
Matzah: The unleavened bread the Israelites ate because they had to leave in such a hurry.
Parsley (Karpas): representing life , created and sustained by the Lord our God
Salt Water: representing our tears. Reminds us that the struggle for freedom begins in suffering.
Horseradish (Maror): The bitter herbs. Represents the bitterness of slavery.
Charoset: the sweet mixture of apples, honey and nuts that symbolizes the mixture of clay and straw that the Israelites used to make bricks for the cities of Pharaoh. It reminds us of the sweetness God can bring into the most bitter of our circumstances. It represents hope.

Here is David having is hands washed to symbolize the sacredness of this occasion, and the purity of heart and hands that we are called to exhibit as God's people.

The grownups got to drink wine. The kids got sparkling grape juice. Lia liked her little wine glass. I liked the kisses.

Our cups were filled many times throughout the meal and we were asked to finish our cup each time. The kids liked this too.

There was a really fun song called Dayahnu that had everyone singing and clapping.

The most visual part of the meal was when we were to dip our fingers into the wine and leave red drops on our plates for each of the ten plagues: blood, frogs, lice, swarms, cattle disease, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and last Death of the First Born. I would have taken a picture of this but Lia got very upset with my little red drops on my plate. I guess she thought it looked a little too much like blood!

When we finally got to eat, we were treated to enormous helpings of roasted lamb, corn, salad... it was delicious.