PSA: Please do not host a Christian seder

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed. And Jews should not celebrate Christmas, either.

Most of us don't!

I know of ZERO Christians who host Seders. BUT, I know of MANY, MANY, MANY Jews how have Christmas trees!!

Whoa. Calm down.

First of all, just because you don’t know any doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.

Second, a Christmas tree is hardly equivalent to a Passover Seder.

Right... Because it doesn’t impact your religion so it doesn’t matter.

Hardly. First of all, most Jewish families don’t have a Christmas tree. Interfaith families do, but hardly any wholly Jewish families.

Second, the Christmas tree is not a religious symbol. It’s not like a nativity scene.

Thank you for clarifying what is a religious symbol for Christians! I’ll follow your lead and clarify what you should consider a religious symbol in Judaism, sounds good?

If a Christmas tree is generally considered a religious symbol, please provide evidence of such, and I’ll gladly admit I was wrong. We’ve provided ample evidence of why it’s inappropriate for Christians to have a Christian Seder.

Your evidence is that Christians should trash half their holy book because many prophets and traditions overlap with Judaism. You keep saying Passover is Easter when it is not. You want to erase half of the Christian tradition because you think the stories in the Old Testament/Torah/Qran belong only to Jews. That’s a nonstarter. I do not accept that Passover that is described in the Bible amounts to appropriation or that it is Easter—a separate holiday.

Dude. Where is the Passover Seder in the bible? Where is the matzoh, the charoset, the bitter herbs dipped in salt water? The Passover seder is a Jewish religious rite. The Christian religious rites centered around the story of Exodus and Jesus’s Last Supper, and the analogy of Jesus to the lamb sacrificed to save the Israelites is Easter. Full stop. In addition you have the Eucharist if you are Catholic or your church has communion. Nobody is saying you cannot celebrate Easter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just from a basic learning standpoint, how/why was the rabbinical Seder created? I’ve gathered there was a prior form of Passover celebration (which Jesus celebrated) and some years later the Seder was established. Can someone let us know the background? Thanks

During Jesus’s time, the Jews had a large temple where we did animal sacrifices, had priests, etc. In 70 CE, the Romans destroyed it (and may have used some of it to build the Colosseum). The remaining wall of the Second Temple is the Western wall, the holiest site for Jews. The Dome of the Rock is currently on the site of the Second Temple.

Anyway, after the Second Temple was destroyed, Jews went into exile, and we’ve been in exile ever since (except for Jews who live in Israel). We started to write our prayers down, since we couldn’t as easily rely on oral traditions, like we did when we had the temple and could all gather there. That’s how we started writing the Torah as an intact document. That’s when we switched from having high priests to having rabbis — hence the term “rabbinical Judaism” for that time period, which extends to this day. The Seder was created as a largely home-based ritual during that time period.

So as you can see, the rabbinical Seder came out of adjustments we had to make because of persecution we faced. It has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus.

Thank you. Another key element is that the seder is intended to teach children (the four questions.) the seder itself is a home-based religious rite. that’s what I think a lot of Christians are not understanding because typically Christian rites happen in Church, not at home.

Very good point. You’re right, of course. Much of Judaism ended up being practiced at home after the destruction of the Temple and particularly as we continued to face discrimination and genocide because we needed to hide our religious practices and ensure we could continue them, despite our places of worship being destroyed.

A huge part of our Seder is teaching our story to our children.

Okay, I understand the Seder is a very Jewish tradition.

Would it be better if Christians just called it a Passover?(no mention of Seder?) I think the biggest piece of contention is the idea that Passover as described in exodus isn’t part of the Christian tradition. (Or more offensively—that Passover is Easter.)

wtf! why is it offensive to point out that Exodus and the Last Supper are part of Easter? I’m starting to think the issue is you don’t know anything about your own religion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed. And Jews should not celebrate Christmas, either.

Most of us don't!

I know of ZERO Christians who host Seders. BUT, I know of MANY, MANY, MANY Jews how have Christmas trees!!

Whoa. Calm down.

First of all, just because you don’t know any doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.

Second, a Christmas tree is hardly equivalent to a Passover Seder.

Right... Because it doesn’t impact your religion so it doesn’t matter.

Hardly. First of all, most Jewish families don’t have a Christmas tree. Interfaith families do, but hardly any wholly Jewish families.

Second, the Christmas tree is not a religious symbol. It’s not like a nativity scene.

Thank you for clarifying what is a religious symbol for Christians! I’ll follow your lead and clarify what you should consider a religious symbol in Judaism, sounds good?

If a Christmas tree is generally considered a religious symbol, please provide evidence of such, and I’ll gladly admit I was wrong. We’ve provided ample evidence of why it’s inappropriate for Christians to have a Christian Seder.

Your evidence is that Christians should trash half their holy book because many prophets and traditions overlap with Judaism. You keep saying Passover is Easter when it is not. You want to erase half of the Christian tradition because you think the stories in the Old Testament/Torah/Qran belong only to Jews. That’s a nonstarter. I do not accept that Passover that is described in the Bible amounts to appropriation or that it is Easter—a separate holiday.

Dude. Where is the Passover Seder in the bible? Where is the matzoh, the charoset, the bitter herbs dipped in salt water? The Passover seder is a Jewish religious rite. The Christian religious rites centered around the story of Exodus and Jesus’s Last Supper, and the analogy of Jesus to the lamb sacrificed to save the Israelites is Easter. Full stop. In addition you have the Eucharist if you are Catholic or your church has communion. Nobody is saying you cannot celebrate Easter.

Right. We’ve explained the difference between rabbinical and pre-rabbinical Judaism SO many times on this thread. Jesus lived in pre-rabbinical times.

The Passover described in the Bible is Jesus going to the Second Temple and sacrificing a lamb, as was commonly done at Feasts at the Temple. He wasn’t doing a Seder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oops! Forgot to include #3 - not sure what you meant by Christians discarding the Tanakh except for the Ten Commandments. I don’t believe this is true, although there are laws, etc. that modern Jews and Christians don’t follow.

I mean, there’s plenty that Christians embrace that are totally antithetical to what Jews believe.

Judaism isn’t some primitive version of Christianity.

Of course not; I wasn’t suggesting it is.

But that’s what you imply when you talk about how Christians should be able to just celebrate Christian Seders, when Jesus wouldn’t have had a Passover Seder, as they didn’t exist then. Passover existed, but not as a Seder.

Why not just acknowledge it as the Last Supper? Maudy Thursday is all about that, right? How is incorporating elements of a rabbinical Passover Seder enhancing or informing Christianity, when those traditions didn’t start until 70-600 years after Jesus died?

Because It is about redemption, God’s love and protection, and the importance of retelling history.

And none of that has anything to do with rabbinical Passover.

To whit: you can claim the Last Supper, and the lamb sacrifice as something Jesus participated in as part of that, but you don’t get to tell us what rabbinical Passover is about. That was hundreds of years after Jesus died and was exclusively a Jewish matter.

No one is trying to tell you what Passover is about. You are trying to tell others why they can’t find meaning in it for themselves. If they believe it informs their religion or enhances their belief in God isn’t that a personal experience? One that doesn’t take away from or erase your practice or beliefs?

We’ve explained many, many times how it’s disrespectful to take a Seder, which is wholly Jewish and was conceived of 70-500 years after Jesus’s death, and making it about Jesus is disrespectful. The Last Supper was not a Seder because Passover wasn’t celebrated that way then.

We’ve told you many times about how it amounts to erasing what is wholly a Jewish experience.

We can’t stop you from doing it. We can only tell you what it is.

NP. Raised Catholic.

I heard about Christian seders in the 70s growing up, and I always felt uncomfortable about them. "Appropriation" didn't have the same weight back then, but that's what it was, and is.

Passover supper? Sure. But "seder" draws on the weight of Jewish history and oppression.

DP. We used to have actual interfaith seders with the Jewish congregation in the 70s/80s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oops! Forgot to include #3 - not sure what you meant by Christians discarding the Tanakh except for the Ten Commandments. I don’t believe this is true, although there are laws, etc. that modern Jews and Christians don’t follow.

I mean, there’s plenty that Christians embrace that are totally antithetical to what Jews believe.

Judaism isn’t some primitive version of Christianity.

Of course not; I wasn’t suggesting it is.

But that’s what you imply when you talk about how Christians should be able to just celebrate Christian Seders, when Jesus wouldn’t have had a Passover Seder, as they didn’t exist then. Passover existed, but not as a Seder.

Why not just acknowledge it as the Last Supper? Maudy Thursday is all about that, right? How is incorporating elements of a rabbinical Passover Seder enhancing or informing Christianity, when those traditions didn’t start until 70-600 years after Jesus died?

Because It is about redemption, God’s love and protection, and the importance of retelling history.

And none of that has anything to do with rabbinical Passover.

To whit: you can claim the Last Supper, and the lamb sacrifice as something Jesus participated in as part of that, but you don’t get to tell us what rabbinical Passover is about. That was hundreds of years after Jesus died and was exclusively a Jewish matter.

No one is trying to tell you what Passover is about. You are trying to tell others why they can’t find meaning in it for themselves. If they believe it informs their religion or enhances their belief in God isn’t that a personal experience? One that doesn’t take away from or erase your practice or beliefs?

We’ve explained many, many times how it’s disrespectful to take a Seder, which is wholly Jewish and was conceived of 70-500 years after Jesus’s death, and making it about Jesus is disrespectful. The Last Supper was not a Seder because Passover wasn’t celebrated that way then.

We’ve told you many times about how it amounts to erasing what is wholly a Jewish experience.

We can’t stop you from doing it. We can only tell you what it is.

NP. Raised Catholic.

I heard about Christian seders in the 70s growing up, and I always felt uncomfortable about them. "Appropriation" didn't have the same weight back then, but that's what it was, and is.

Passover supper? Sure. But "seder" draws on the weight of Jewish history and oppression.

DP. We used to have actual interfaith seders with the Jewish congregation in the 70s/80s.

And that’s lovely! Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed. And Jews should not celebrate Christmas, either.

Most of us don't!

I know of ZERO Christians who host Seders. BUT, I know of MANY, MANY, MANY Jews how have Christmas trees!!

Whoa. Calm down.

First of all, just because you don’t know any doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.

Second, a Christmas tree is hardly equivalent to a Passover Seder.

Right... Because it doesn’t impact your religion so it doesn’t matter.

Hardly. First of all, most Jewish families don’t have a Christmas tree. Interfaith families do, but hardly any wholly Jewish families.

Second, the Christmas tree is not a religious symbol. It’s not like a nativity scene.

Thank you for clarifying what is a religious symbol for Christians! I’ll follow your lead and clarify what you should consider a religious symbol in Judaism, sounds good?

If a Christmas tree is generally considered a religious symbol, please provide evidence of such, and I’ll gladly admit I was wrong. We’ve provided ample evidence of why it’s inappropriate for Christians to have a Christian Seder.

Your evidence is that Christians should trash half their holy book because many prophets and traditions overlap with Judaism. You keep saying Passover is Easter when it is not. You want to erase half of the Christian tradition because you think the stories in the Old Testament/Torah/Qran belong only to Jews. That’s a nonstarter. I do not accept that Passover that is described in the Bible amounts to appropriation or that it is Easter—a separate holiday.

Dude. Where is the Passover Seder in the bible? Where is the matzoh, the charoset, the bitter herbs dipped in salt water? The Passover seder is a Jewish religious rite. The Christian religious rites centered around the story of Exodus and Jesus’s Last Supper, and the analogy of Jesus to the lamb sacrificed to save the Israelites is Easter. Full stop. In addition you have the Eucharist if you are Catholic or your church has communion. Nobody is saying you cannot celebrate Easter.

Right. We’ve explained the difference between rabbinical and pre-rabbinical Judaism SO many times on this thread. Jesus lived in pre-rabbinical times.

The Passover described in the Bible is Jesus going to the Second Temple and sacrificing a lamb, as was commonly done at Feasts at the Temple. He wasn’t doing a Seder.

What I don’t get about these posters is why they can’t grasp that in Christianity Jesus IS the sacrificial lamb. Jesus may have been Jewish; but his role as the Messiah and God’s sacrifice for man is literally what makes Christianity Christianity. There can be no such thing as a Christian seder, not unless you are explicitly or implicitly putting Jesus into it. Which of course is the whole problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oops! Forgot to include #3 - not sure what you meant by Christians discarding the Tanakh except for the Ten Commandments. I don’t believe this is true, although there are laws, etc. that modern Jews and Christians don’t follow.

I mean, there’s plenty that Christians embrace that are totally antithetical to what Jews believe.

Judaism isn’t some primitive version of Christianity.

Of course not; I wasn’t suggesting it is.

But that’s what you imply when you talk about how Christians should be able to just celebrate Christian Seders, when Jesus wouldn’t have had a Passover Seder, as they didn’t exist then. Passover existed, but not as a Seder.

Why not just acknowledge it as the Last Supper? Maudy Thursday is all about that, right? How is incorporating elements of a rabbinical Passover Seder enhancing or informing Christianity, when those traditions didn’t start until 70-600 years after Jesus died?

Because It is about redemption, God’s love and protection, and the importance of retelling history.

And none of that has anything to do with rabbinical Passover.

To whit: you can claim the Last Supper, and the lamb sacrifice as something Jesus participated in as part of that, but you don’t get to tell us what rabbinical Passover is about. That was hundreds of years after Jesus died and was exclusively a Jewish matter.

No one is trying to tell you what Passover is about. You are trying to tell others why they can’t find meaning in it for themselves. If they believe it informs their religion or enhances their belief in God isn’t that a personal experience? One that doesn’t take away from or erase your practice or beliefs?

We’ve explained many, many times how it’s disrespectful to take a Seder, which is wholly Jewish and was conceived of 70-500 years after Jesus’s death, and making it about Jesus is disrespectful. The Last Supper was not a Seder because Passover wasn’t celebrated that way then.

We’ve told you many times about how it amounts to erasing what is wholly a Jewish experience.

We can’t stop you from doing it. We can only tell you what it is.

NP. Raised Catholic.

I heard about Christian seders in the 70s growing up, and I always felt uncomfortable about them. "Appropriation" didn't have the same weight back then, but that's what it was, and is.

Passover supper? Sure. But "seder" draws on the weight of Jewish history and oppression.

DP. We used to have actual interfaith seders with the Jewish congregation in the 70s/80s.

And that’s lovely! Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

If nothing else, this thread should inspire more interfaith seders because clearly people are very interested! I also don’t think the average, well-meaning Christian, even if less educated, would have any difficulty grasping the concept that Jews and Christians share a common text but with very different meanings.

[Anonymous]

I also want to point out that most of the specifications around how we do the Seder aren’t in the Torah at all (the only overlap we have, textually, between us and Christians). They’re in the Talmud, the primary text of Rabbinical Judaism, which specifies traditional Jewish laws.

So by taking those specifications and putting Jesus in it, you’re literally drawing from a completely *Jewish* legal text. You’re not even taking from the Bible at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oops! Forgot to include #3 - not sure what you meant by Christians discarding the Tanakh except for the Ten Commandments. I don’t believe this is true, although there are laws, etc. that modern Jews and Christians don’t follow.

I mean, there’s plenty that Christians embrace that are totally antithetical to what Jews believe.

Judaism isn’t some primitive version of Christianity.

Of course not; I wasn’t suggesting it is.

But that’s what you imply when you talk about how Christians should be able to just celebrate Christian Seders, when Jesus wouldn’t have had a Passover Seder, as they didn’t exist then. Passover existed, but not as a Seder.

Why not just acknowledge it as the Last Supper? Maudy Thursday is all about that, right? How is incorporating elements of a rabbinical Passover Seder enhancing or informing Christianity, when those traditions didn’t start until 70-600 years after Jesus died?

Because It is about redemption, God’s love and protection, and the importance of retelling history.

And none of that has anything to do with rabbinical Passover.

To whit: you can claim the Last Supper, and the lamb sacrifice as something Jesus participated in as part of that, but you don’t get to tell us what rabbinical Passover is about. That was hundreds of years after Jesus died and was exclusively a Jewish matter.

No one is trying to tell you what Passover is about. You are trying to tell others why they can’t find meaning in it for themselves. If they believe it informs their religion or enhances their belief in God isn’t that a personal experience? One that doesn’t take away from or erase your practice or beliefs?

We’ve explained many, many times how it’s disrespectful to take a Seder, which is wholly Jewish and was conceived of 70-500 years after Jesus’s death, and making it about Jesus is disrespectful. The Last Supper was not a Seder because Passover wasn’t celebrated that way then.

We’ve told you many times about how it amounts to erasing what is wholly a Jewish experience.

We can’t stop you from doing it. We can only tell you what it is.

NP. Raised Catholic.

I heard about Christian seders in the 70s growing up, and I always felt uncomfortable about them. "Appropriation" didn't have the same weight back then, but that's what it was, and is.

Passover supper? Sure. But "seder" draws on the weight of Jewish history and oppression.

DP. We used to have actual interfaith seders with the Jewish congregation in the 70s/80s.

And that’s lovely! Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

If nothing else, this thread should inspire more interfaith seders because clearly people are very interested! I also don’t think the average, well-meaning Christian, even if less educated, would have any difficulty grasping the concept that Jews and Christians share a common text but with very different meanings.

I’m all for that! In college, I took a class on the Bible, taught by a Rabbi, Jesuit priest, and an Imam. It was amazing to hear them talk about the same passages, from different perspectives.

It also occurred to me that most Christians probably don’t know about the Talmud and the difference between the Talmud and the Torah. Explaining that might make it clearer why it’s odd to us that Christians would have a Seder, with Talmudic specifications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oops! Forgot to include #3 - not sure what you meant by Christians discarding the Tanakh except for the Ten Commandments. I don’t believe this is true, although there are laws, etc. that modern Jews and Christians don’t follow.

I mean, there’s plenty that Christians embrace that are totally antithetical to what Jews believe.

Judaism isn’t some primitive version of Christianity.

Of course not; I wasn’t suggesting it is.

But that’s what you imply when you talk about how Christians should be able to just celebrate Christian Seders, when Jesus wouldn’t have had a Passover Seder, as they didn’t exist then. Passover existed, but not as a Seder.

Why not just acknowledge it as the Last Supper? Maudy Thursday is all about that, right? How is incorporating elements of a rabbinical Passover Seder enhancing or informing Christianity, when those traditions didn’t start until 70-600 years after Jesus died?

Because It is about redemption, God’s love and protection, and the importance of retelling history.

And none of that has anything to do with rabbinical Passover.

To whit: you can claim the Last Supper, and the lamb sacrifice as something Jesus participated in as part of that, but you don’t get to tell us what rabbinical Passover is about. That was hundreds of years after Jesus died and was exclusively a Jewish matter.

No one is trying to tell you what Passover is about. You are trying to tell others why they can’t find meaning in it for themselves. If they believe it informs their religion or enhances their belief in God isn’t that a personal experience? One that doesn’t take away from or erase your practice or beliefs?

We’ve explained many, many times how it’s disrespectful to take a Seder, which is wholly Jewish and was conceived of 70-500 years after Jesus’s death, and making it about Jesus is disrespectful. The Last Supper was not a Seder because Passover wasn’t celebrated that way then.

We’ve told you many times about how it amounts to erasing what is wholly a Jewish experience.

We can’t stop you from doing it. We can only tell you what it is.

NP. Raised Catholic.

I heard about Christian seders in the 70s growing up, and I always felt uncomfortable about them. "Appropriation" didn't have the same weight back then, but that's what it was, and is.

Passover supper? Sure. But "seder" draws on the weight of Jewish history and oppression.

DP. We used to have actual interfaith seders with the Jewish congregation in the 70s/80s.

And that’s lovely! Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

If nothing else, this thread should inspire more interfaith seders because clearly people are very interested! I also don’t think the average, well-meaning Christian, even if less educated, would have any difficulty grasping the concept that Jews and Christians share a common text but with very different meanings.

I’m all for that! In college, I took a class on the Bible, taught by a Rabbi, Jesuit priest, and an Imam. It was amazing to hear them talk about the same passages, from different perspectives.

It also occurred to me that most Christians probably don’t know about the Talmud and the difference between the Talmud and the Torah. Explaining that might make it clearer why it’s odd to us that Christians would have a Seder, with Talmudic specifications.

On a totally different note, I would love to attend an interfaith Muslim event. I have zero connections to Islam in my daily life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oops! Forgot to include #3 - not sure what you meant by Christians discarding the Tanakh except for the Ten Commandments. I don’t believe this is true, although there are laws, etc. that modern Jews and Christians don’t follow.

I mean, there’s plenty that Christians embrace that are totally antithetical to what Jews believe.

Judaism isn’t some primitive version of Christianity.

Of course not; I wasn’t suggesting it is.

But that’s what you imply when you talk about how Christians should be able to just celebrate Christian Seders, when Jesus wouldn’t have had a Passover Seder, as they didn’t exist then. Passover existed, but not as a Seder.

Why not just acknowledge it as the Last Supper? Maudy Thursday is all about that, right? How is incorporating elements of a rabbinical Passover Seder enhancing or informing Christianity, when those traditions didn’t start until 70-600 years after Jesus died?

Because It is about redemption, God’s love and protection, and the importance of retelling history.

And none of that has anything to do with rabbinical Passover.

To whit: you can claim the Last Supper, and the lamb sacrifice as something Jesus participated in as part of that, but you don’t get to tell us what rabbinical Passover is about. That was hundreds of years after Jesus died and was exclusively a Jewish matter.

No one is trying to tell you what Passover is about. You are trying to tell others why they can’t find meaning in it for themselves. If they believe it informs their religion or enhances their belief in God isn’t that a personal experience? One that doesn’t take away from or erase your practice or beliefs?

We’ve explained many, many times how it’s disrespectful to take a Seder, which is wholly Jewish and was conceived of 70-500 years after Jesus’s death, and making it about Jesus is disrespectful. The Last Supper was not a Seder because Passover wasn’t celebrated that way then.

We’ve told you many times about how it amounts to erasing what is wholly a Jewish experience.

We can’t stop you from doing it. We can only tell you what it is.

NP. Raised Catholic.

I heard about Christian seders in the 70s growing up, and I always felt uncomfortable about them. "Appropriation" didn't have the same weight back then, but that's what it was, and is.

Passover supper? Sure. But "seder" draws on the weight of Jewish history and oppression.

DP. We used to have actual interfaith seders with the Jewish congregation in the 70s/80s.

And that’s lovely! Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

If nothing else, this thread should inspire more interfaith seders because clearly people are very interested! I also don’t think the average, well-meaning Christian, even if less educated, would have any difficulty grasping the concept that Jews and Christians share a common text but with very different meanings.

I’m all for that! In college, I took a class on the Bible, taught by a Rabbi, Jesuit priest, and an Imam. It was amazing to hear them talk about the same passages, from different perspectives.

It also occurred to me that most Christians probably don’t know about the Talmud and the difference between the Talmud and the Torah. Explaining that might make it clearer why it’s odd to us that Christians would have a Seder, with Talmudic specifications.

On a totally different note, I would love to attend an interfaith Muslim event. I have zero connections to Islam in my daily life.

Same! I would be so honored to be invited to something like that.

[Anonymous]

Jews need to stop “centering” themselves in Judaism clearly. This policing of Christian anger will not stand. Michah, row the sirah ashore to my “Passover Seder.” We have replaced the maror with boiled thorns in rose water reduction - it’s perfect, or rather perfected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jews need to stop “centering” themselves in Judaism clearly. This policing of Christian anger will not stand. Michah, row the sirah ashore to my “Passover Seder.” We have replaced the maror with boiled thorns in rose water reduction - it’s perfect, or rather perfected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed. And Jews should not celebrate Christmas, either.

Most of us don't!

I know of ZERO Christians who host Seders. BUT, I know of MANY, MANY, MANY Jews how have Christmas trees!!

Whoa. Calm down.

First of all, just because you don’t know any doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.

Second, a Christmas tree is hardly equivalent to a Passover Seder.

Right... Because it doesn’t impact your religion so it doesn’t matter.

Hardly. First of all, most Jewish families don’t have a Christmas tree. Interfaith families do, but hardly any wholly Jewish families.

Second, the Christmas tree is not a religious symbol. It’s not like a nativity scene.

Thank you for clarifying what is a religious symbol for Christians! I’ll follow your lead and clarify what you should consider a religious symbol in Judaism, sounds good?

If a Christmas tree is generally considered a religious symbol, please provide evidence of such, and I’ll gladly admit I was wrong. We’ve provided ample evidence of why it’s inappropriate for Christians to have a Christian Seder.

Your evidence is that Christians should trash half their holy book because many prophets and traditions overlap with Judaism. You keep saying Passover is Easter when it is not. You want to erase half of the Christian tradition because you think the stories in the Old Testament/Torah/Qran belong only to Jews. That’s a nonstarter. I do not accept that Passover that is described in the Bible amounts to appropriation or that it is Easter—a separate holiday.

Dude. Where is the Passover Seder in the bible? Where is the matzoh, the charoset, the bitter herbs dipped in salt water? The Passover seder is a Jewish religious rite. The Christian religious rites centered around the story of Exodus and Jesus’s Last Supper, and the analogy of Jesus to the lamb sacrificed to save the Israelites is Easter. Full stop. In addition you have the Eucharist if you are Catholic or your church has communion. Nobody is saying you cannot celebrate Easter.

Here are some of the ways some Christians see Jesus in the Seder. Yes, they interpret it in terms of Jesus because they believe everything in the Old Testament /Tanakh is leading up to Jesus. You don’t have to agree with them or participate.

https://www.gotquestions.org/Passover-Seder.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Passover that is described in the Bible is not the rabbinical Seder. It is, at best, Passover as it was celebrated at the Second Temple, which had no resemblance to how Jews celebrated it post 70 CE.

If you want to acknowledge the pre-rabbinical Seder and the Last Supper, eat lamb. Wait — you do that!

Why are you telling people how to celebrate their religious beliefs?