Springtime Greetings to All!
This year I'm not going to tell of all the whys and wherefores of Passover, I think I covered that pretty well in years past (click on links if you want to see) ...
so today I'm just going to focus more on a few scenes from our abode...
First, I always have to put out my Triumphal Entry figures (sorry for the blur)
I've always loved this celebration, possibly because of the palm branches and me loving all-things tropical.
So, by the looks on the calendar, it's that time again -- the Spring Feasts -- WooHoo! We all take delight in them -- a time of seriousness and celebration! Our family happens to follow the 119 Ministries calendar (online), so we are usually a day or two off from the traditional Jewish calendar (pictured: our calendar from Israel) -- just a little something to make things more confusing, teehe.
We cleaned out our pantry of yeast products & crumbs and stocked it with matzah (unleavened bread).
I don't know why many people complain about matzah, I think it's yummy! (I don't eat that much bread) We eat Matzah (and nothing containing yeast) for 7 days (Exodus 34:18)).
We get quite a few people asking what kind/where we get our matzah;
Whole Foods! (It's from Israel, but not "Kosher")
Our Passover Meal table with Herb-Roasted Lamb Chops (YUM!, one of our favorites).
This year's meal was a bit rushed as we had Bright Lights Bible Study at our house (21 girls here) and they leave at 5 p.m. or so. We broke with tradition a little and ate first and then had our Passover seder afterwards (it's always easier to go into it and not be famished), but next year I'll try to remember that the meal typically happens in the middle of the seder.
This was our dessert! Another Whole Foods purchase!
Matzah covered with caramel, really good chocolate, and almonds.
Matzah covered with caramel, really good chocolate, and almonds.
It was absolutely THE BEST!!!!
My DIY 10-Plagues Table Decor
1. Blood (small glass container with a few drops of red food color) - if you have littles, you can add the food color ahead of time and then pour clear water in the container in front of them and wow them them of turning the water into blood).
2. Frogs (wouldn't ya know it, usually I see toy frogs EVERYWHERE, but when I want one, there isn't any in sight and believe me, I searched! I finally borrowed one from church (it's since been returned), so now I have a whole year to find my own. I know I can get them from Oriental Trading, but I didn't want 144 of them; that truly would be a plague.
3. Lice (I tacky-glued a piece of course sandpaper onto a piece of folded cardstock and then dripped some dots of tacky glue on the sandpaper and sprinkled rice on the dots for lice -- God turned sand to lice.
4. Flies (I found a package of plastic glittery insects in Walmart's easter assortment that happened to have a fly, disproportionately large aside of everything else, but it will do. I hope to paint it in more realistic colors by next year (and yes, glitter everywhere!).
5. Livestock (bought a couple of cute plastic animals from our farm store)
6. Boils (small red/pink pompoms; I later had to put them in a plastic bag as Dorie (cat) thinks all fuzzy balls are her play toys. I initially wanted to use "Red Hots" candy, but they are hard to find this time of year.)
7. Hail (Miniature Marshmallows) - if you have young children, ping pong balls would be fun!
8. Locusts (the package (see #4) also contained a dragonfly which was about as close to a locust as I could come up with (outside of a picture).
9. Darkness (black felt glued onto folded cardstock and a few tiny googly eyes glued on the felt).
10. Death of the firstborn (Lego coffin I bought on eBay)
And on to our Passover Seder
(Seder means "order, arrangement")...
Actually, Scripturally speaking, there are only 3 foodie elements to Passover:
Lamb, Unleavened Bread, and Bitter Herbs (Exodus 12:5-8) and one cannot even Scriptually observe the Passover today because there is no Temple in Jerusalem, but as instructed in Exodus 12, we are to keep this day as a memorial unto the LORD throughout our generations, as a statute FOREVER!
but like everything else, Jewish tradition has added to that so there is even a seder (order) to it all. And although not necessary, the seder is still filled with meaning, and whether our Jewish friends know it or not, they still point to the Messiah...
The Elements of a Traditional Seder Plate (used in the Haggadah (Hebrew for "the Telling"):
- Maror (horseradish) - bitter herbs, life was harsh for Israel in Egypt (celery is good with/after the horseradish);
- Z'roa (lamb shank bone) - Passover Lamb (we had lamb chops);
- Karpas (parsley) for "life";
- Charoset (chopped apples & nut mixture) - Mortar for bricks;
- Chazeret (bitter vegetable/lettuce) - Life was bitter for Israel in Egypt;
- Baytzah (roasted egg for Eternal life, mourning for the temple) - (I waited to late and didn't get that done).
This year we used this Haggadah (Hebrew for "the telling")
I LOVED this Haggadah! It's from Doorposts - gushing with Scripture, it gave me goosebumps and I had to fight back the tears by the end -- so beautiful! (recommendation: if you are interested in using this particular Haggadah, it is recommended (and I agree) to get one copy per person (or at least every 2 people) that are old enough to read as everyone has a part in it).
Jeff takes the leading of our Passover Seder very seriously and enjoys doing it
... and we love him doing it!!!
♥
Anna, being the youngest, stands and asks the 4 Questions.
Amber reading some of the Scripture portions.
The girls opening the door to see if Elijah has come.
(of course, we know that Elijah is our Messiah Yeshua Hamashiach (Jesus Christ))
Jeff being silly after the Seder was over and roasting a miniature marshmallow (hail) over a candle, and you know what happened!
Passover is basically a Holy Day meal, just the one night; a memorial of deliverance and of Jesus Christ being our Passover Lamb, and the Passover meal ushers in and is a part of the Feast of Unleavened Bread which goes for 7 nights/days. Sometimes one may hear that Passover is for seven days, but actually, Passover is just one (very important) part of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Then Christ was raised on Firstfruits (I Corinthians 15) (celebrated as easter by most Christians). In addition to not eating yeast products that week, I try to make our suppers special each night of Unleavened Bread;
... however, in keeping with our family tradition -- things never go as smoothly as I envision and we had to do the best we could with limited family time -- with Amber's work schedule and Awana of course, but unfortunately we had an added life-changer when I received a call just before 1 a.m. on Sunday morning from ER that my widowed 86 yr. old mother (whom we were planning on spending lunch with that day) was there. Long story short, Mom had a "Cardiogenic Pulmonary Edema" (sudden fluid on the lungs due to the heart being too weak to keep up) and a small heart attack. So I ended up making a middle-of-the-night trip to the hospital (an hour away) and back & forth thereafter until I could bring her to her home again Tuesday afternoon. Like Mom said, that heart attack took a lot out of her and she has been quite weak & feeble since. Despite her having her first bout with congestive heart failure last November, she was doing well; although she refuses to believe that she has heart failure since she has always enjoyed unbelievably good health and it was thought that she had the same long-life gene as several of her extended family members who lived well into their mid-90's or so. So my thoughts this week have been focused more on her and what to do next. For now, she wants to & thinks she can still live on her own where she's at, but I have been busy researching other options for when the time comes.
So, getting back to the topic of our celebrations, it has understandably detoured my focus this time around, but we did the best we could. Now we are counting the Omer!
And using my snazzy, dazzy Omer Flip Calendar that I made last year.
Counting the Days to Shavu'ot (Feast of Weeks/Pentecost)
A Devotional Flip Calendar
The evening after our Passover Seder I was already making notes while it was yet fresh in my mind of changes I want to make for next year -- my "Don't Forget List". Every time we celebrate the Feasts of the LORD, they just get better and better. The spring mo'edim (appointed times) are a memorial of what the LORD has already done and the fall mo'edim look to things soon to come. They are a delight and glorious in His sight when focused on Him. Praise Yah!
I guess that about wraps it up for Passover 2015.
Have a Blessed Spring my Friends!
Thanks for Stopping ~ jane
What lovely photos, and I am interested to see what happens with your family come next year if something eventful always tends to take place :)
ReplyDeleteHaha, well, hopefully something happier, but remember, we still have the fall feast to get through too... it doesn't matter what the feast is, there is ALWAYS something...
DeleteI'm behind on visiting blogs but wanted to say, "Happy Mother's Day!" May your day be filled with joy as you celebrate with your gifted blessings.
ReplyDelete