The Seder or Passover meal was more than just a feast. It celebrated what was certainly the seminal and defining event in the history of Israel: death passing over the Jewish firstborns and striking the Egyptians and the Jewish people passing over from slavery to freedom. The events a shaped the Jewish people and made them who they were It is these events and people that they remembered and relived each year at Passover or Seder feast.
Passover was one of three pilgrim feasts when many faithful Jews traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate their religion, history, culture, and harvests with sacrifices and feasting
The Gospel according to St. Luke tells of Jesus’ parents going to Jerusalem for the Passover and that he went with them when he was twelve (Luke 2:41-42). This seems to have been the practice of most of the Jews living in Palestine.
Passover pilgrims traveled in large groups or caravans. Unless they were quite wealthy, the Jews who lived the farthest from Jerusalem could not afford an annual journey to Jerusalem and did not participate in Passover. Tens of thousands of Jews from all over the Mediterranean world and from Babylon streamed into Jerusalem to celebrate these feasts. During festival times the population of Jerusalem would mushroom from somewhere between twenty- five and fifty thousand to more than a hundred thousand, and maybe as many as twice that number.
Many people arrived a week early so they could participate in a ritual cleansing and make neglected sacrifices before going into the temple for Passover. There were many reasons why a person might be considered unclean. Exposure to a dead person of animal caused this impurity and included such common activities as killing and cleaning a fish or a chicken for dinner.
There was a large flat place in the area of the present Damascus gate where many of the pilgrims camped. Many of the wealthiest Jews had second homes in the city for use during the festival seasons
Very few pilgrims brought food and kitchen supplies with them, choosing to purchase what they needed for the Passover feast at the Jerusalem marketplaces. The vast majority of the visitors had just sold part of their recently harvested barley crop—the festivities were in part a harvest celebration with it special harvest ceremony at the temple—or maybe surplus wine or olives from the preceding fall, and they had extra money for the feast. In expectation of the massive crowds, merchants flooded the markets with all the items necessary for Passover, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and thou¬sands of unblemished lambs.
A law in the Book of Deuteronomy required that Israelites set aside a tithe of their harvest for a celebration (Deuteronomy 14:22-27). Not only did they eat and drink much more than usual, but they used the feast as an opportunity to purchase special clothing, luxury items, and household wares to take home with them The ingredients for the Passover were purchased: the unblemished lamb, bitter herbs, unleavened bread, fruit and nuts for the charoset, wine, and all the spices and ingredients to prepare the special feast. Ideally, the Passover feast was held within the precinct of the temple. But as populations grew, families were allowed to celebrate the feast at other locations in Jerusalem.
Finally all the ingredients for the feast were purchased and the women were busily preparing the food. The men who were taking the lamb to the temple had participated in the required rituals for purification. There were new clothes and jewelry. The entire city was electric with excitement All the while a large chorus of the Levites and musicians playing their instruments occupied a corner of the courtyard adding to the tumult by performing the Hallel psalms—psalms 113 through 118. The Hallel psalms are so called because they begin with the word hallelujah.
The sacrifices were likely considered as important an aspect of Passover as the meal itself. Pilgrims made their way to one of the thousands of priests. A male in the family killed the lamb by cutting its throat and a priest helped by collecting the blood in a basin made of gold or silver. Another priest took the basin and threw it on the air as an offering to God. The priest then took the lamb to a hook on the temple wall where it was skinned and the fat removed. Like the basin of blood, the fat was taken to the altar. The skin and animal were returned to the pilgrim The entire process of sacrifice lasted only about ten minutes.
After the sacrifice, the lamb was immediately taken home and roasted whole. A spit was constructed for roasting the lamb using pomegranate branches. In this way a hint of pomegranate flavor was added to the taste of the meat. Because the Passover required that all the meat was to be eaten that night and because of the expense of buying a lamb, families usually joined together with other groups to make a party of at least ten people.
In addition to the special foods and the four cups of wine described above, a special prayer was proclaimed that gave thanks for and sanctified both the day and the feast. That prayer is still called the kiddush. Equally important, the Hallel psalms were Kung or recited and the story of the Exodus was told especially for the benefit of the children at the meal.
The feast doubled as a classroom. Teaching the children about the exodus from Egypt was an essential aspect of the feast (see Exodus 12:26). Children were encouraged to ask questions about the meal and what it meant.
On that special night, the entire family ate, drank, asked questions, heard stories about their history and heritage and celebrated. The past became for them a present reality because the story of the saving deeds of God was once again told and appropriated. Because of this annual feast and the retelling of the story of the Exodus, the children of each generation participated in the event that formed their people and nation.
Not only was that night different than all others, the meal was different as well. Three foods were required: lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. By the first century, a dip called charoset, made with fruit, nuts, and sweet wine, was also served, but was not considered a required element of the feast
The Passover lamb was the primary food. Because meat was a luxury it was typically used to supplement and add flavor to others foods. But Passover, a large helping of roasted meat was the main course for everyone rich and poor alike. Regulations even developed so that family member who fell asleep while eating the Passover feast could be awakened and be| eating lamb again. The lamb had to be roasted whole with none of its bones broken and all of its organs in place. After roasting, the internal organs we removed and eaten as appetizers before the beginning of the feast.
Lamb was the most important symbol for the Passover feast. The lamb was a sign of God’s presence and redemptive purpose. After all, it was the animal that gave its life so that the last plague would pass over the people of Israel.
In essence, the lambs died so that Israel’s firstborn would live and the brews could pass from slavery to freedom. At the first Passover, the lamb gave its life in sacrifice and its blood was painted on the door posts and lintels, the first century, blood was no longer used to mark the house. Instead it was given as a gift to God, symbolically including God in both the sacrifice a the meal. The lifeblood of all creatures was a gift from God and, as such, belonged to God and must be given back.
Lamb was not the only food. Unleavened bread and bitter herbs also had to be provided to the children present at the meal: “Unleavened bread" because fathers were redeemed from Egypt… and bitter herbs, because the Egypt made bitter the lives of their fathers.
Bitter herbs were dipped in salt water. Bitter lettuces such as chicory and dandelion were commonly part of the dinner. These lettuces and other herbs were eaten at Passover to remind the Jews of the bitterness of slavery in Egypt. They were dipped in salted water, a condiment especially among the Romans, which reminded celebrants of the tears of their ancestors in Egypt. Charoset was another dip found the table. It was made from dried fruit because the harvest of fresh fruit months away. Charoset came to symbolize the mortar used by the Israel when they were slaves. Additional appetizers might have included foods such .is almonds, figs, and the intestines from the lamb.
Unleavened bread was another essential element of the feast. Along with the lamb, it was a part of the meal that was required by scripture and tradition. It was the bread of people that did not have the luxury of the time or means to let their bread rise. Bedouins, nomads, shepherds, and other people who were constantly moving had historically eaten unleavened head. The leavening of bread takes many hours, especially in days before instant rise yeast.
The same was true of the Israelites during their time in the wilderness. Eating unleavened bread at Passover was a symbol that the Jews were a people who were unexpectedly leaving their homes to travel through (the wilderness with no time to let their bread rise Everyone was required to stop eating regular leavened bread at noon. Earlier that day all the leavened foods in the house were hidden. Later Jews began the practice of destroying all leavened foods, searching the house for breadcrumbs and even scouring warehouses and workshops for loaves of leavened bread. All the leavened foods were then burned in a public place or sold and given to the Gentiles. However this was not the practice during the life of Jesus. Most people simply removed leavened foods from their homes and retrieved them again after the festival. The unleavened bread was dipped in the salt water, charoset, and possibly a dip made with vinegar and herbs.
There were the requisite four glasses of wine. Other items likely were found on the table at a Passover feast. Spring Vegetables, olives, and additional dried fruits and nuts were probably added to the table along with the bitter herbs. Hard-boiled eggs eventually became a standard element of the Passover feast and certainly could have been eaten at the time of Jesus. Eggs were a common food at that time and tasted good dipped in salt water or vinegar.
The guests arrived for the feast. Their feet were washed and they were anointed with perfumed oil. Lamps were lit and hands were washed. Every one reclined on special couches. The posture of reclining was one of luxury and honor, usually reserved for special banquets. It was also the posture of a free person. Slaves and servants were not allowed to recline. By eating while reclining, those at the feast were again reminded that, because of God, they were delivered from slavery.
The host prayed the blessing, giving thanks for the Passover, and then the first cup of wine was blessed. First the appetizers were served. At this point in the evening, an additional prayer was probably offered for the food by blessing the unleavened bread. Then the lamb and all the other foods were presented to the guests.
The second cup of wine was blessed and consumed before the questions and answers. The children who were present were usually twelve or thirteen years old, though sometimes families took their younger children to Jerusalem for the celebration. They were encouraged to ask questions about the entire experience of Passover. This gave the adults at the table the opportunity to retell and relive the Exodus stories about the liberation of their ancestors. These stories also offered hope to people whose country was occupied by the Romans that someday God would deliver them again.
Unlike a modern Passover feast, where a set of formalized questions are asked and answered before the meal is served, first-century children asked questions and were told stories throughout the evening. Some of the questions asked by the children may have been standardized, such as “Why is this night different from all others?” Most of the questions were less formal than the ones in the modern Seder and were likely based on the food that was served and the experience of participating in the feast: “Why are We eating lamb tonight and eating it roasted instead of boiled or in a stews “Why do we have two dips and we usually have just one?” “Why do we have to recline while we eat?” “Why are we eating unleavened bread tonight ?”
After the meal, a third cup of wine was blessed. Then a benediction, concluding prayer of thanksgiving, was said for the feast. Usually dessert such as sweet breads, fruits, and salty foods were served at this point in a banquet, but not at the Passover. The flavor of the Passover lamb was be the last taste all Jews had in their mouths when the feast ended.
At this point in the evening, the celebrants began singing songs and psalms, likely to include the Hallel psalms. Regardless, the rest of the Hallel psalms were sung after the last glass of wine and a final blessing was prayed for the songs that were sung.
The Israelites were instructed not to wander from party to party, eating lamb and drinking wine. Even with its nationalistic and community themes, the Passover was still first and foremost a family feast, to be enjoyed with friends and relatives. Besides, after eating a large amount of meat for the first time in months and drinking a minimum of four glasses of wine, most of the people in Jerusalem were probably ready for a good night’s rest. Could this be one of the reasons why Jesus’ disciples kept falling asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane?
The Feast of Unleavened Bread
By the time of Jesus, the Feast of Unleavened Bread was, to some degree, a continuation of the celebration of Passover. Many celebrants remained in and around Jerusalem to shop, eat, and drink. Scholars believe that this weeklong celebration began strictly as a celebration of the barley harvest. And certainly that aspect continued down to the first century. On the fifth day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, sheaves of barley were presented in the temple as a symbol of their thankfulness for the new barley harvest. The ritual acknowledged that God was truly the owner of the land and the source of its fruitfulness. This ceremony of the sheaf was called a wave offering because the offering was not actually burned on the altar but presented to God by waving it in front of the altar and then giving it to the temple priests.
After the wave offering of the barley sheaves, the markets were filled with fresh and parched grain. People flooded to the market to buy the fresh barley for their bread, soups, and stews. The parched grains, like our bulgur, could then be made into salads, steamed like rice or added to soups and stews. Those who were unable to travel to Jerusalem for Passover waited until noon to begin eating from the new harvest because the wave offering of the barley sheaves would be timed to take place at noon. In that way Jews all over the known world celebrated the harvest together by enjoying the fruits of the new harvest at the same time.
It is not certain that the Last Supper was a Passover meal. What we can say was that the Passover provided the theme and setting for their final dinner together. The meal took place in Jerusalem, in the midst of pilgrims from all over the known world who were there to celebrate the Passover. Everyone was preparing for the big night, by cleaning, buying food, and cooking. There is no doubt that the festive atmosphere of the feast was in the air. If not a Passover feast, then it was certainly a large meal with friends on the eve of the Passover.