Passover Foods

 

 

courtesy of Wikimedia

 

 Since January, I’ve been steeped in the Jewish traditions of the Passover feast. My husband and I are the directors and authors of an original Easter drama depicting the Lord’s Last Passover Supper and some of the events surrounding the meal. A condensed version of the Passover meal is the centerpiece of the drama, focused around the part of the celebration that Christians now celebrate as the Lord’s Supper.

While we don’t have the traditional Jewish Seder meal onstage, which lasts for several hours, we do have Jesus and Judas dip the bitter herbs (Romaine lettuce) into the haroset (we use applesauce for the stage food) to portray the fulfillment of Jesus’ statement, “One who has just eaten with me is the betrayer.”

The Passover is filled with rituals, both in worship, eating, and festive celebration of the holiday. Unleavened bread was used in the original Passover meal, and by Jews today, to celebrate the Passover feast. The unleavened bread symbolizes the hasty flight of the Hebrew nation from Egypt after Pharaoh’s decision to let the nation of slaves leave. There was no time for the bread to rise, so they made a flat bread using no yeast. At the Passover meal, the bread is either wrapped in cloth, or covered, and broken and eaten at set points throughout the evening. One of these breads, most likely the third loaf, was the one that Jesus used when proclaiming himself the new sacrificial lamb.

The other ritual foods in the Passover are:

•   Zeroah, a lamb's shankbone symbolizing the ancient Passover sacrifice. An unblemished lamb was slain and the blood wiped on the door lintel so the angel of death would “pass over” the homes of the Hebrews when he came to kill all firstborn living things in Egypt in the final plague that caused Pharaoh to set the Hebrews free
• Beitzah, a roasted egg symbolizing the temple sacrifice and the continuing cycle of life.
• Haroset, a paste of fruit and nuts symbolizing the mortar the Hebrew slaves used to build the pyramid of the pharaohs.
•  Mar'or, a bitter herb (like horseradish) to represent the bitterness of slavery in Egypt.
• Karpas, a green vegetable (usually parsley) representing spring.
• A bowl of salt water, symbolizing the slaves' tears shed during their bondage in Egypt, to dip the karpas into.

Some traditions also include chazeret, a second bitter herb, usually the roots of romaine lettuce.

My research on unleavened bread and haroset  (also spelled charoset) brought me to some interesting recipes that I decided to make for the cast party next week, held after our last performance. You can find the recipes I used at the links below.

 Soft unleavened  bread

 

Charoset (the Chunky Charoset with wine)

 

Non-alcoholic Charoset

 

Why don’t you try making some haroset, for your family this Easter season.

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About the Author

Multi-award-winning author Catherine Castle loves writing, reading, traveling, singing, theatre, and quilting. She’s a passionate gardener whose garden won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club. She writes sweet and inspirational romances. You can find her books The Nun and the Narc, A Groom for Mama, Bidding on the Bouquet  and Trying Out for Love boxed set on Amazon.

 

 

Abi of Cyrene

Abi of Cyrene 

by Mary Lou Cheatham

This novel is Biblical fiction, sort of. Abi (a completely fictional character) is the wife of Simon of Cyrene, the man who carried Jesus’ cross. It begins with Abi as a young woman whose father negotiates a husband for her. She leaves everything she’s ever known and travels far to the land of her new spouse. She must learn a new language, and figure out her place in the world with very little help.

She takes her internal struggles to the God of the Jewish nation. She is part of the diaspora, raised in Africa, and committed to Adonai. The story follows her coming of age, her family, and intersects Biblical events in a very sweet way. The Biblical scenes bring a fresh perspective which truly enable the reader to see those events in a new way.

While the romance starts out as the main focus, as the novel progresses, it turns to the deep thoughts and struggles of Abi, and how God answered (and didn't answer) her prayers. Her feelings and attitudes change as she ages, but her one desire in life remains the same. The book was a gift for Christmas. I'm not sure I would have picked it up on my own, but I'm glad I was encouraged to read Abi of Cyrene. It reads quickly and it's worth the effort.

Are you a fan of Biblical fiction? What is your favorite era of the Bible to read about?