Temple B’Nai Israel will celebrate the Passover Sedar Supper at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 30 in the downstairs Temple Vestry Room, accessed from the Washington Street entrance. The dinner and service is open to the public but limited seating requires a reservation made no later than April 25. A donation of $30 per adult is requested to cover the cost and fund building restoration. Joining us for this celebration will be Rabbi Matt Dreffin from the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson.

Please call 601-442-6003 with questions or reservations.

The eight-day festival of Passover is celebrated in the early spring, from the 15th through the 22nd of the Hebrew month of Nissan. It commemorates the emancipatio of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. And, by following the rituals of Passover, we have the ability to relive and experience the true freedom that our ancestors gained.

The highlight of Passover is the Sedar, observed on each of the first two nights of the holiday. We are celebrating the service and meal at the end of the eight-day festival, when Rabbi Matt Dreffin can join us to celebrate.

The book used in this service is called a Haggadah, “the telling.” It explains the foods on the sedar plate, recounts the highlights of the Exodus, and includes songs, prayers, questions and vignettes. The word sedar means “order” and central to this evening is a very exact schedule of steps. The step of reading and discussing the story of the Exodus, which takes up the bulk of the Haggadah, comes before the steps of eating “matzah” and bitter herbs (maror), and it is only after eating these ritual foods that participants enjoy a free-style feast.

Our traditional menu includes matzah ball soup. Matzah balls are a dumpling made, using the meal from unleavened bread. The kosher meal restricts the use of flour or grain (wheat, barley, rye, spelt or oats). Matzah is eaten in place of bread to commemorate the unleavened bread that the Israelites ate when they left Egypt.

The congregation of Temple B’Nai Israel has been celebrating the Passover Sedar Supper and opening it to the public for many, many years. It is traditionally a holiday, celebrated in the home. Our small congregation decided to share this special time with the community in hopes that understanding and fellowship make our community a better place to live.

I hope to see you at our Passover celebration.

 

Elise Rushing is a member of Temple B’Nai Israel.