Reply: Adding an exciting dimension to any Passover Seder or Easter celebration

Rabbi Learner probably knows that the central liturgical ritual among Christians, especially among Catholics, is the Eucharist, just as it is the celebration to Passover for the Jews. And the Eucharist centers on Jesus as the Savior of the World, or Messiah. Therefore, one might say that Jesus celebrated Passover during the Last Supper because of the coincidental dates and circumstances.

However this is historical speculation because there is no data, document or witness accounts that refers to the Last Supper as a Passover meal. The historical fact is that Jesus was crucified at the same time that the Passover lambs were being slaughtered at the Temple for the meal that would follow that evening. Therefore, it is a historical fact as well that the Last Supper did not take place on the same day as Passover. Accordingly, the Christian view is that Jesus is "the lambs of God" who offered Himself in sacrifice.

In other respects, I would agree with Rabbi Learner about the significance of Passover and Easter because since early times Christians saw the Last Supper as the fulfillment of the Passover.

The Apostle Paul, who was a Pharisee in his youth, links Christ’s death and resurrection with the Passover in First Corinthians: “Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor 5:7-.

While Passover for the Jews is a celebration of the Exodus, both Passover and Easter are a feast of liberation, a rejoicing in God's wondrous acts, the fulfillment of God’s promises for complete salvation.

I certainly appreciate Rabbi Learners ecumenical approach and only regret that he referred to Jesus "as our flawed but inspired brother". "Flawed" was not necessary to assert Rabbi Learner's own beliefs.

Both Passover and Easter have a message of liberation and hope for the downtrodden of the earth. Yet too often we fail to see the continuities between the original liberatory messages of these holidays and the contemporary need for liberation and resurrection of the dead parts of our consciousness.

Passover and Easter celebrate the renewal or resurrection of hope. And our Passover Seder supplement should be useful to Christians as well as Jews--in fact, anyone who is going to participate in or shape a celebration of Spring in the coming weeks.

Though it is shaped as a Supplement to the traditional Passover Seder, it can be equally valuable to secular humanists, Christians, and spiritual-but-not-religious people as well! We’re also hoping that those of you who are neither Christian nor Jewish may use the inspiration you get from reading these ideas as a jumping-off point for creating your own rituals or liturgies to highlight the oppression we are facing in the contemporary world in a way that fits with your own secular humanist, spiritual or religious practice.

Many Christians know that "the Last Supper" was actually a Passover Seder, and our version of the Seder will give you a feel for what it might have been like to do a Seder with Jesus--a revolutionary spiritual progressive Jew (no, we are not "Jews for Jesus"--but he was one of our Jewish prophets whom many Jews are now seeking to reclaim as our flawed but inspired brother). Anyway, this Passover supplement is not about Jesus, but it might have important elements that Christians might want to add to their Easter-time celebration, and many elements that Jews could use to make this year's Passover Seder the most memorable and spiritually alive one they ever attended (and if you do use it in whole or part, please contact me afterwards to tell me how it went: RabbiLerner.tikkun@gmail.com)