The Virtual Passover

Why is this night different than all other nights? On all past Passover nights we gathered as a family and friends in someone’s home to enjoy the festivity, the food and to participate in the Pesach Haggadah together. This year is different! We are like slaves in bondage, confined in our homes and practicing social distancing for fear of the Coronavirus. But it does not have to be this way!

In the past we might have been forced to do the Seder alone, or as a small group … but this year we have technology! There are multiple platforms available so we can do the Passover together. We have never celebrated Passover in this way before … But as an educator, I have led other events, and want to use my experience to maintain the greatness and quality of this festival.

In the spirit of the four questions and Ten things that plague us in the midst of the pandemic this year, I created a list of questions to be answered over the next five days (two per day). The information shared in the answers will help us to have a decent Seder, although not all we dreamed of. The list of questions can be found in yesterday’s blog.

Today’s theme is how to maintain closeness and relationships, even when we are apart.

On all other Passovers we greet each other with hugs and kisses (including those from bubble which are always slobbery) in person or through the cell phone … why on this night only through the cell phone?

In former times, when I was young my family used to gather at my uncle’s home, where my father, his brother,their wives, six children and my grandmother used to spend the afternoon with each other, before sitting down for the teachings of the Seder and a grand meal. As a child, I came to know and appreciate my cousins during this time together.

So what about bubble's slobbery kiss? Well, it can still happen. How so, you ask, when we are required to keep our social distancing. The answer is by cell phone. Using our cell phones, with video on, we can show our faces, and Grandma, on her end can kiss the screen of the phone (make sure she has wipes available). The end result here might be better than what is normal, for the children’s cheeks stay dry, and no infection is passed.

Actually the cell phone or tablet can be used for a variety of socialization activities. There can be games, conversations, and created events as the cousins, and others invited to the Seder socialize and plot together. This year, like all other years can be a time of conversation and relationship building. And in the years to come will be a matter of conversations and story telling due to our creativity in orchestrating a memorable event.


On all other Passovers we sit across the table and fill the room with great conversation, sometimes with increasing volume just to hear and be heard … Why on this night do we need a computer and a cell phone?

Continuing from the thought shared above, we need to realize that our time around the table is not spent strictly focused on the teachings of the Haggadah or what the Seder leader has to say. We carry on side conversations, tell jokes and make comments on the teacher. We should not lose that feature of our evening.

So how can we capture the normal goings on of the evening?

First, there should be a set teacher for the evening. A social media platform should be used on a computer (not a cell phone) because the screen is larger and because the cell phone needs to be available for other purposes. A laptop computer should be made available at each home, on the table, with a view of as many people as possible. This gives visual cues, like members of the family are sitting across the table from each other.

Everything official needs to occur through this media, one the central computer. The reading of the Haggadah should be done as normally as possible. The leader should respond to the story with jokes, stories and anecdotes as usual. This makes for consistency, and the quality of the teaching.

BUT it should be remembered that the teaching is not all that goes on.

Each participant also needs a cell phone. They can call family members at other houses to make side comments, tell jokes, and maintain all manner of banter as normal. This can be by text or talk. It must be done quietly, as an undercurrent, as is normal at the table. If it is too loud, it can be called down. The leader just needs to remember, not every phone call or text needs to be commented on … in fact most should be overlooked, and the story will go on.

The more years we celebrate the Passover, the more familiar we are, so participants will not lose their places. They will continue relationship building. And in an unusual time, some elements of normalcy can continue.

More tomorrow.

Before I go, I need to promote a different Haggadah, one from the book of Psalms. It is a research project of mine, to see what Passover eve looked like in the time of the first Temple. Not surprisingly, it was much the same. That means the kisses of bubble, the banter of the cousins, and the high level discussions of the parents occurred back then, just as it does today. And the Haggadah … well, it was memorized, and told in poetic form, like what is found in the book of Psalms. Look up the Psalmatic Seder on Amazon.com

A New Haggadah with Music from Psalms

Plagued by the Plagues

Are you a creature of habit, or do you have a desire to learn. I have found that in order to learn, we must leave the familiar and normal in order to experience and examine something new. Take the Passover Seder. Is your evening Seder the same every year? Can you recite it from memory? Perhaps it is time to try something new.

A new Haggadah looks at Pesach through a different lens
 published in 2020

What can you learn? Have you ever really looked at the progression of ‘miracles’ God sent to visit the land of Egypt? The order in the book of Exodus, and the Passover Haggadah is pretty straight forward: blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness and the killing of firstborn children.

During the evening of Passover, as we go through the story of the Exodus according to the Haggadah, we recite the ten plagues in order, doling out a drop of wine on our plates for each of the ten plagues. (Our cups can not be full and the joy in our hearts can not be complete during this part of the seder because of the suffering visited upon the Egyptians through the ten plagues). Through repetition, I have committed the ten plagues to memory in order because we recite them every year.

Until I began to compare the standard Haggadah with the Seder as found in Psalms, I thought the order was straightforward and standard. I discovered it was not. Compare three lists of plagues:

Exodus                 Psalm 78               Psalm 105

Blood                   Blood                    Darkness
Frogs                    Flies                     Blood
Lice                     Frogs                     Fish
Flies                    Grasshopper           Frogs
Cattle                  Locust                    Flies
Boils                   Hail                       Gnats
Hail                     Sleet                      Hail
Locusts                Cattle                    Fruit
Darkness              Lightning              Locusts
Death                  Death                    Death

Why the difference? It could be poetic license. It could be that the order was not standard. It could be what was important in the mind of the author. It could be influenced by historical crises at the time of writing. It could be there were different lists. It is worth wondering about and studying. The three lists show that the authors did not collaborate, and that each portion of scripture was composed independently.

The important thing is that God did use His strength to display miracles which brought about our freedom. The actions of God were direct assaults on the gods of Egypt. Perhaps this is the reason some of the plagues are different. Curiosity causes learning.

In the Psalmatic Haggadah, I have chosen to follow the standard format of the traditional Passover. Verses are listed next to each Plague, because they are not in order. But they are all there, nothing is left out. And we are left at the end celebrating the miracles of God.

I invite you to join me for a different look at Passover this year. The difference will bring learning by looking at the Seder through a different lens. Consider how the Psalmist thought about Pesach long ago, possibly as early as the days the descendants of King David reigned in Jerusalem.

Learning to Love God

I am a Christian Educator. My life’s work was to help people learn and live the words of the Bible. I prepared lessons and trained teachers to lead classes for all ages, from the youngest babies to the most elderly adults. Along the way I substituted, taught and worked alongside the teachers in each age group. Through my life’s work I fell in love with people and the end result of Bible lessons being incorporated into their lives.

Leading a Passover Seder at Fairview Baptist Church, Statesville

From a very young age I learned to listen to the words of scripture and love it’s stories. This did not happen in a church, for I did not go to church, I was raised in a Jewish home. My most memorable times of Bible learning occurred in the home. When I was young my mother would read to me from a book of Bible stories. Our family also celebrated the Jewish holidays and learned the traditions that go with each event.

Dressed up for our Purim Celebration

This month we will celebrate the festival called Purim. When I was young, my family would go to the Synagogue, where we would hear stories from the Megillah, the book of Esther. We dressed in costumes, played carnival type games, ate food (including hamantaschen), and heard a presentation from the book of Esther every half hour. These recitations could be story reading, puppet plays or dramas. Each telling was “child friendly,” and enabled me to remember the reason for the event.

My Passover Family

Next month we will celebrate Passover (or Pesach), the Jewish feast which remembers how God enabled my people to escape slavery in Egypt. During this festival we would go to Uncle Stuart and Aunt Betty’s home, for Uncle Stuart was the eldest son in the family. I would see my grandmother and spend the afternoon playing with my cousins. We were family.

Passover at Salem Baptist Church in Apex, NC

At the appointed time on Passover eve, we would all sit down at the long table to enjoy a feast. But before we ate, we participated in and heard the story of the Exodus from Egypt. The memorable words repeated year after year from the Haggadah for the American Family. My Uncle Stuart would lead and each of us would read our parts, as broken out in the book. After much more than a decade of following this tradition, some of the lines we read are etched on my memory from simple repetition.

Breaking Matzoh at Central Methodist Church, Mooresville, NC

During the evening we would spend at least an hour saying the blessings, reading the scripture, tasting the foods (like karpas, matzoh, morror and charosis), singing the songs, and reciting the story. A huge feast would come near the end of the book, once the story was told and the plagues of Egypt recited.

A Passover lesson at Lighthouse Church, Mooresville, NC 

My Uncle had a fantastic sense of humor, and made our visits to his home fun. Many stories could be told about what happened at our Passover table, but to recite them would get us off topic. The point is, my religious training was a family event, supported by the Synagogue. My family did a good job, and when my children were born I continued the tradition of sharing the story of the Bible through fun festivals and events so they could learn to love my God and my faith.

Buying a goat in Israel for two zuzim

Today, even as my children are grown, I continue to share the Jewish festivals with Christians across the country. I have taken time to study the holidays to see how they were celebrated during the first century in Israel. Jesus, himself, with his parents, participated in all of the Jewish holidays. There are many references to him going to Jerusalem to participate in the Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles and Chanukah. To miss the connection is to erase a portion of the New Testament.

My book celebrating Passover as a Relationship with God

To miss sharing the faith with our children in the same manner as Jesus’ parents shared the Jewish traditions with their children is to ignore the teachings of the Bible handed down since the days of Moses.

A Passover Haggadah with complete explanations and leader hints

My daughters and I have written several books (Spring: Connecting with God, A Christian Passover in the Jewish Tradition, two Kindle Haggadahs, and Advent Journeys) to help Christians understand the Jewish and early Christian traditions of Passover. We lead these services in churches to help people understand these traditions within their context, hoping the next generation will grow up with the same love of God I have enjoyed through life. I guide church Seder services for any who desire to know more. For more information, contact me through my e-mail address.

The Passover Seder

The festive meal called by some Passover and by others Pesach was instituted when Moses wrote, “Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family.” (Exodus 12:3) Many who read this blog are familiar with the story: each family selected a lamb, prepared it for supper, and dined in a manner fully prepared to escape 430 years of slavery to Egypt. During the night after the dinner. The angel of death passed through the land of Egypt taking the lives of firstborn males who resided in homes with clean (blood-free) doorposts.

Backyard Sheep on the road in Jordan

Following mederoic events which preceded and followed the first Pesach, the meal with all of its festivities and its history changing story, has been celebrated in Jewish homes across 3,500 years of history. The celebration of Passover has grown from a simple meal shared by a tribe of desert wanderers to an event acclaimed and esteemed around the world. Participation in Passover festivities is popular today. According to Pew Research 70% of Jews participate in the Seder dinner. Passover expanded beyond people of Jewish descent and today is honored in a truncated form by followers of Jesus.

Preparation for the Passover Seder

The power of the Passover was inbred in the fabric of the feast from its very beginning. Moses wrote, “On that day tell your son, ‘I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that this law of the Lord is to be on your lips.” (Exodus 13:8-9) Passover is a family celebration. It is celebrated in the home and led by the head of the household. In today’s Jewish world there is a book called the Haggadah that helps the untrained leader to guide his family through the plan for the evening.

Explanation of each part of the Passover Seder

Through history activities have been included in the Seder to hold the interest of children. These include tasting various foods, four questions which are asked by the eldest child, a lesson on four sons, the singing of Dayenu, the finding of the Matzah and a visit by Elijah. The activities of the evening are presented in a laid back style with lots of laughter and and stories produced by both the ancient Rabbis and and members of the household who retell memorable events from past holidays.

Book telling how Passover is about our Relationship with God

Passover is a beloved event in Jewish families because it connects ancient religious tradition with today’s family. Moses said it was “like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead,” bringing to mind his words of Deuteronomy 6, “Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deut 6:4-9) Passover is to be made as purposeful, meaningful and fun as the tradition of bedtime stories when children are young.

Large group celebrating the Passover

Religious events like Passover, filled with meaning, fun, and inclusive of children, are an important element that helps faith communities to grow and continue from generation to generation. One of the things that brings me joy in life is to lead and see others lead Passover Seders that tell the stories of faith in a fun way in order to instruct the next generation. If you live in central North Carolina or in South Carolina and would enjoy a Passover Seder in your church, please contact me.

Large group celebrating the Passover

If you would like to know how to lead a Passover Seder for your group, please take a look at my book for leaders: A Christian Passover in the Jewish Tradition. This book contains preparations for the Seder, recipes, leader instructions, the words to be spoken and leader instructions. It also has a large section explaining every part of the Passover.

Kindle Passover Seder

I have also put together a kindle book that contains the service (but not the leader guide or commentary) for participants. The participant guide has been revised this year and is available for under $1 on Amazon.com.