“A better knowledge of the Jewish people’s faith and religious life as professed and lived even now can help our better understanding of certain aspects of the Christian liturgy.” (Cat.1096)These words certainly ring true in our hearts when it comes to the Pascal Supper, for it was in the backdrop of our L-rd’s Passover that Yeshua (Jesus) initiated our Eucharist by setting this upon the foundation of the Pascal Sacrifice and the exodus. This Pesach (Passover) feast is forever changed by what we know already and thus cannot remain exactly as it was, for as our Church also says in this same passage in the Catechism:“For Jews, it is the Passover of history, tending toward the future; for Christians, it is the Passover fulfilled in the Death and Resurrection of Christ, through always in expectation of its definitive consummation.” (Ibid.)These words are very true, but they also hold a certain amount of irony. This is because Judah doesn’t see their Passover as “tending toward the future”, although we know it did. On the other side, we know what Pesach foreshadowed yet on this day we, our Church, are also waiting for the “expectation of Its definitive consummation” only we know exactly what we are expecting! Thus this feast can also be seen as “tending forward” even though He already died and IS resurrected and by His hands established the Eucharist, our Thanksgiving Sacrifice of praise.When we recite the Sh’mah (the Greatest Commandment) we are to say this as if we were there every day for the first time. Thus we suppose this is the same thing here, we are to take ourselves back and try to relive Pesach as the disciples did, yet how? We begin by stepping into the shoes of Saint John because He thought to write down John 6, which has the root of the Eucharist within it, and He also wrote first hand accounts of Yeshua’s supper and crucifixion. Also when they went to the tomb, Miriam Mag’delene and Peter were confused by what they found, but John was comforted. It is for this reason that we believe Saint John perceived far more, just as we now perceive more.
Some may claim that we should not celebrate our Jewish heritage, but they have yet to prove this in our understanding and as far as we know our Church hasn’t established a ruling in this either. From what we read above we can learn something valuable by reaching out to understand Jewish life, both in the past and present. This yearly service has enhanced our liturgical understanding of His most Holy Eucharist and His Sacrifice that made our faith possible, and we hope we can convey these lessons that we have learned in the pages to follow, not only in celebrating Pesach but also in Chag HaMotzi. Yet there maybe another lesson in keeping this feast and this is bound to not only the command to keep this feast but also promise that this Law will one day change.
The story of the L-rd’s Passover is found in Exodus in chapters 1-15 and the reason we keep the feast of Pesach is given in Exodus (13.8) where we are commanded: “And you shall tell (l’higadeta) your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the L-rd did for me when I came out of Egypt’ ”. Our Catechism (# 1363) also reasserts this truth that this memorial is not just a “recollection of past events” but also to teach of mighty works of “G-d for men”. They are also “in a certain way present and real.” Yet there is a hint in the Tanakh that this isn’t an eternal feast, but rather will one day be forgotten:
“Therefore, behold the days are coming, says YHVH, when it shall not longer be said, ‘As YHVH lives Who brought up His people of Israel out of Egypt,’ but ‘As YHVH lives Who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country where He had driven them.’” Jer.16.14-15This prophetic time cannot reference Babylon because Judah still celebrated Pesach after they returned. Nor can this time reference Eretz Yisrael because Judah still celebrates Pesach even after they have returned again to the Holy Land. Ironically, Yeshua’s Church also celebrates Pesach, though in a different form (see ibid.) for we read the Maggid at the Easter Vigil and the Last Supper is read on Holy Thursday. Yet does this mean we, as a Church will stop celebrating His Last Supper? We believe this is absolutely wrong because Jeremiah isn’t saying we’ll cease to remember the Pascal Sacrifice but rather the event that freed us from the slavery of Egypt- the Exodus. This time hasn’t come to pass because no one, not Judah, not even His Church, celebrates Israel’s return from the Northern country where He had driven them. Yet if the Pascal Sacrifice was fulfilled in Yeshua’s Sacrifice on Mount Calvary and Judah has returned twice from the northern counties than why do both Judah and His Church still celebrate a form of Pesach?The only answer we can figure is that this event hasn’t yet happened. And as our Church still reads the Maggid (parishes can delete this because of time constraints) we as Catholic can still benefit from the telling of the “tale”. Yet why? We think we might have an answer from the words of our Church:
“The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her L-rd in His death and Resurrection. The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historical triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by G-d’s victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause His bride to come down from heaven.” (Cat.677)If we understand this correctly, then the “new Israel” (new as in “renewed” and not “replaced”) will first walk in Yeshua’s shoes for His glory and then He will return from heaven with His bride to Israel. So the return from the “north” is going to be pretty spectacular when viewed this from this lens. It certainly would dwarf the present Maggid in retrospect. Yet our Church hasn’t yet bore her cross and Yeshua hasn’t returned with His bride in hand. Therefore this event still could prefigure if we look backward at her in the Maggid, for then we shall also look ahead.Pesach literally means to “limp over” and the word is used most often to reference a dance of mourning the dead. Thus G-d not only passed over our sins, which we mourn during Good Friday because our sins caused the death of our L-rd and Savior, but also because G-d saved our fathers from slavery, which foreshadows Yeshua’s sacrifice as well His triumphant return with His bride at His side. Thereby understanding the Exodus, we can come to better understand the Cross and His Second Coming. This also is why we suspect Yeshua waited toward the end (after the Meggid) in the telling of the Passover story to make the connection to His soon sacrifice for sins so that the exodus would not be fully lost. We’ll explain this more when we discuss the elements of the Haggadah; however to understand this feast, we first need to look at the holiday that came before.
Chag HaMotzi (Feast of Unleavened Bread) preceded Pesach and indeed was celebrated according to the Talmud (the Jewish “Catechism”), by our fathers Av’raham (Abraham), Y’tzak (Isaac), and Yacob (Jacob). During this ancient feast all yeast was pulled from the house as well as grounded yeast bearing flours and only unleavened breads were eaten with bitter herbs. The rabbis draw this conclusion from Gen.19.3 where Lot offered the angels unleavened bread, which was not the usual food of this area. These same angels were also the ones that later saved him and his daughters’ lives, thus Sodom and Gomor’rah were destroyed during Chag HaMotzi. So if this is true that our fathers Av’raham, Y’tzak, and Yacob kept the feast, where would they have learned to keep Chag HaMotzi? This and some more questions arose in our minds, such as why does Exodus sound like HaShem (the Name) is creating a new feast? And, if this feast is so ancient, why does it imply this feast has nothing to do with the Exodus after all?
The answer to the second question we suspect is, “no”. This does not imply the feast had nothing to do with the exodus, but rather that Av’raham knew something of this connection and passed it on to those he sojourned with: his sons, his servants and his nephew Lot. Remember, Av’raham was given foreknowledge not only of Yeshua’s coming (his “seed”) but also the Exodus. Avinu (Our Father) told him of the Exodus when He made His covenant with Av’raham and sealed this in fire, Gen.15. Thus the connection between the Exodus and the Passion were both foreshadowed long before either of them actually took place. All we know is that Av’raham knew something of this, but how much is not certain.
Therefore when HaShem was freeing the Israelites from slavery, He resurfaced the feast, probably because the feast was lost during the 400 years of slavery. By attaching an actual event that is highly miraculous, the remembrance of this feast remained intact for Yeshua when He was able to show some of the profoundness of it during His Seder that we call, “The Last Supper”. For the Israelites in their exodus this feast seemed new, but for our patriarchs a hint of a smile came upon them because they saw that a chapter was closing and a new one was about to begin.
Yet if the rabbis are correct and the cities of Sodom and Gomor’rah were destroyed during Chag HaMotzi, what connection can the destruction of those cites have to Yeshua’s sacrifice? In Matt.10.15 we learn that those in Sodom and Gomor’ah will have a better time in judgment than those who reject Yeshua’s words. In 2Pet.2.6 we learn that they were to be an example of the unG-dly and in Jude 7 we learn their destruction is an example of the eternal fire. Maybe the connection isn’t to Yeshua’s sacrifice but rather to His Church’s sacrifice as Sodom and Gomor’ah referenced judgment day. When will the world face her judgment day? Is it not on His return? And if Pesach prefigures our Church’s triumphant return alongside Him, then would not His resurrection be the most likely day of her resurrection, at least spiritually so?
We know that Yeshua was crucified on Pesach (during the day) and He was resurrected three days later, which happens to be the second day of Chag HaMotzi (first day of the week) on a holiday called HaOmer. Yeshua then showed Himself to the brethren on the second day of HaOmer, which was the third day of Chag HaMotzi, Jn.20.19, thus making a completion. However, Chag HaMotzi still goes on for four more days (the number of the letters of the Holy Name, YHVH, as well as the number symbolizing the earth). So, to understand this significance and its connection to judgment day we need first to explain more about the feast and how we prepare for it:
Chag HaMotzi calls us to remove Hamatz (leavening; that includes things that are leavened or can be leavened) from our homes before the Seder (“order”- the festive meal). In Orthodoxy, they do this very early in the day (by the fifth hour) whereas many of us are done when we finally finish cleaning.
So what is leavening and what is leaven-able? This isn’t an easy question to answer. First, the Talmud states that matzo (unleavened bread) can be made from five grains: wheat, barley, spelt, oats, and rye and most Jews abide this because these five grains are the grains of Torah. However, the Ashkenazi Jews (Germanic) and the Sephardic Jews (Eastern) do differ in the approach of other grains, such as rice and legumes (beans). Ashkenazi Jews do not accept these additional grains while Sephardic Jews do because they are grains found in their environment.
At one time we flirted with the gluten-free diet and found that rice does in fact rise like wheat. Therefore we abide in the Ashkenazi ruling with rice, but we draw the line at legumes. As we understand the ruling on beans, it is not because they rise but because the flour might be confused with the other flours; and this echoes too much like throwing away the baby with the bath water (a risk of the legalism that Yeshua so often condemned). Therefore, we approach it as such, beans are acceptable, but the most flours are not. This seems to agree with Scripture, especially when we read that during Chag HaMotzi barley was consumed after the offering to the L-rd in the Temple. And according to at least one source neither barley or oats can be leavened (The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery, Sasquatch Books, Seattle © 1194, pg. 172). Besides, removing all beans would otherwise place a too heavy of a burden on vegetarians.
As to corn, according to the Jewish book of Why, Part II (see our reference section for more information on this book), it was removed because of an interpretation of a word found in Torah, “dragan”. Some claim it means “corn”, while it is argued that corn really did not exist in Biblical Israel (it was discovered with the New World). But then again, the rabbis did not know of rice in Talmudic times either and they have since found it to leaven. So for the same reasons as above, our approach is again to reject corn flour, but this might change if we can prove this can’t rise (if anyone knows please let us know).
We have not found much information on the more exotic flours like amaranth and millet, but we do know that quinoa is allowed because it is not actually a grain at all (neither is wild rice). Again, we do not remove the ungrounded forms of any of the grains, but we do place them in a separate kosher room, which will never be entered unless one day we need to pull some out to grind for more matzo (we still buy it now though this may change). However, we do plant those left over grains when we get to their planting time (but reserve a little in case of a bad year for seed). Although this may sound like a contradiction, it really isn’t because freshly grounded leavenable grains have a limited time period to be used (i.e. 18 minutes for wheat), otherwise it is at high risk of becoming leavened.
We also put away our plastic, silver, non-stick pans, Corning Ware, Pyrex Ware, baking pans (Hamatz gets baked in), wooden utensils and baskets because these cannot be koshered for Pesach (made clean of all Hamatz). Then we wipe down everything with ammonia or submerse it in boiling water. Cooking pans are boiled over and silverware washed and tossed into the boiling water, glasses are washed and wooden cupboards are also cleaned and lined (all but one which we use during the last few days before the holiday). And as each cupboard is completed, the Pesach foods and cleaned dishes are placed in and the cupboards are tied shut with a sign saying this cupboard is Hamatz free.
This is done over several weeks and as Pesach cupboards are filled, Hamatz goes way down. This may seem obsessive but with little kids we find this is the only way to insure their fingers stay out and they get more excited as the numbers of cupboards become “off limits”. Then we move our Pesach dishes down and put them into a newly lined cupboard. In between these jobs we are also doing the large cleaning jobs.
This, by the way, is the root of all spring-cleaning; we just have a specific deadline to complete ours. Rooms where Hamatz is cooked and served are washed top to bottom, including the cathedral ceiling (we have a special tool for this). Floors are swept and washed, appliances are moved and cleaned under and around. Barricades are placed so no more can migrate back under, and the whole house gets a good sweep cleaning but not as thorough as the kitchen because this is where the Hamatz gets in and is cooked. Then as we get the top sections done we clean the appliances leaving one lined shelf in the refrigerator for the little bit of Hamatz we are still eating (like that one cupboard). We tend to eat off paper plates and cups on these last days and limit the use of silver so less needs to be koshered on the last day.
Then on the day of the feast (days start in evening, see G-d’s calendar) all that which is still uneaten but opened is placed into paper bags and brought out to the fire pit or given to some neighbors. Unopened materials are taken to the food shelters. Then we finish what is left, cleaning the last cupboard and packing any dishes, koshering the remaining few utensils and glasses and wiping down the cupboard and covering it (when we remodel the kitchen we will replace our counter top with a Kosher-able one). While this is being done the parent(s) sneak away and hide about 10 pieces of bread on windowsills, in libraries, on shelves, beneath a desk, etc., then they return back to work. If all goes well, we will be finished when it is getting dark and then we can follow the tradition to search for the last of the Hamatz.
Now we have our Hamatz kit in hand, our special candleholder (it has a handle), a paper bag and a whiskbroom. But before we go searching for our strategically placed Hamatz, we like to begin with the traditional prayer (and the sign of the cross):
Blessed are You, HaShem Our G-d, King of the Universe Who makes us holy with Thy Mitzvoth and calls us to remove the Hamatz from our home.This is the traditional blessing and it does help to be on focus in our task. If one is curious how removing Hamatz makes us “holy” that is helps us abide in Yeshua and our church, it is because Hamatz represents sin and we search to remove all sin from our lives so we can remove the barrier that separates from G-d. In Scripture we find Paul writes:“Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ our Pascal Lamb has been sacrificed. Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” 1Cor.5.6-8However after rereading what was written above, we feel we should make a disclaimer now. Some may feel we are being legalistic, but we feel this is a misunderstanding of grace under the Law. We do not keep any aspect of this holiday in hopes to be saved; we keep the holiday because of the joy and understanding we find in it. All law, including Canon Law is made for our benefit and by keeping these Laws (as some commanded in Torah are everlasting) we are doing some good. Again, we understand that we are saved by faith, but as stated earlier we find great joy in keeping this holiday, not to mention we get to peek into some foreshadowing of HaShem’s plans.When the Pope allowed us Jewish Catholics to return to the spiritual depth of our traditions, we openly embraced the opportunity and the challenges it offered. Although these traditions can be burdensome to those without the background, we ourselves don’t find it a burden. And our Church teaches that these feast (all of them) are to “commemorate the astonishing actions of the Savior G-d, to give Him thanks for them, to perpetuate their remembrance, and to teach new generations to conform their conduct to them” yet they should still “bear the imprint of the newness of the mystery of Christ”, Cat.1164. Thus to say this Law of Chag HaMotzi has no value for Yeshua children is to believe we have no troubles with sin and if so then why do we keep Lent?
Put another way, we write our traditions down for two reasons. The first is for those of our people who may have forgotten some details because they converted when they were younger and although they hunger for the past they cannot go back home or to a local synagogue because they are outsiders now. Then again their immediate family may have been reform or may have converted a couple generations ago and the thread is lost; this is highly likely given that we were only allowed to return rather recently. Then there is those who have a strong burning to return but can’t prove why this is so or those married to a Jewish spouse who want to better understand their spouse’s heritage. Whatever their reason for wanting to know, it belongs to those of the body who know the traditions to re-associate them with these traditions in their fullest without imparting upon them legalistic demands. By the assistance of the Spirit and our Church, our people will decide at what measure they will abide in their heritage.
The second reason is because we love these traditions even if they are sometimes work (anything worth having requires work). Also it’s hard not to talk of what you love with brethren whom you also love. By our dialogue, we may be helping others see why we love these traditions, thus they may accept our keeping them, even if they feel these things are not for them, which is also Kashrus (proper). This tension is not new to our Church for Saint Paul spoke on this often, which he tells us:
“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are only shadows of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.” Col.2.16Shadows are valuable because they tell us from which direction the Light is coming from (but only if we look for the light that created the shadows) and it was for this reason G-d gave us the traditions (“shadows”) to the fathers. As to what light/grace these festivals point to, this is made clear by the festival themselves and how they are kept. The Church knows only too well what Pesach references, but do our very young children? Besides, the Exodus story also carries another important lesson for all as well (more on this in the next section). This is the value of keeping Pesach, although this is not mandatory but optional because our Church teaches these lessons as well in her own traditions.Getting back to the tradition- We now (after saying the blessing) go as a family to find those ten pieces (or more if accidentally missed some). The children are always a step ahead with cries of glee as each piece is found in victory. Even though this is supposed to be a solemn occasion we cannot take the fun out of it because it keeps the interest of the children.
When we have completed this search we then say aloud:
All leaven and anything made of leavening that we possess which we have not seen or removed and which we are not aware of, shall be nullified and ownerless as the dust of the earth and we ask this in the Name of Yeshua HaMoshiach.Thus we don’t have to be perfect, just do our best and the Ruach (Spirit) will cover the rest. This is close to the traditional blessing (minus the last 10 words), thus proving Judah does recognize grace; they just don’t understand the extent of the grace G-d will yield for those He loves.According to the Talmud, this is to be done on the fourteenth of Nissan in the fifth hour of the day, but under grace this is only a benchmark. Once all the leavening is found, we take this out to our fire pit and burn this ceremoniously. As the pile burns we say the following blessing:
May it be Your Will, HaShem Our G-d, and G-d of our fathers that just as we have removed Hamatz from our house and from our possession, so You Shall remove all sins from our hearts and lives.To share an experience that might help explain this sin connection, we bought a refrigerator several years ago without even thinking about Chag HaMotzi. When it came time to clean it, we found a grill in the freezer section that made it impossible too fully clean and prepare for the feast. It was in this hopeless task that we were able to see a deep lesson. We began to see clearly that many of the venial sins that plague us are part of our make up and are molded into our lives in early childhood. This is because our parents share our same original sins and may have never overcome them themselves. Thus the sin(s) of the parents are then passed on to the children to the third or fourth generation. The molding of the freezer section then represents original sin and the Hamatz is the sin that gets through to us despite our best attempts because we are more prone to not see it as sin due to conditioning from our childhood.Remove through Thy Grace the spirit of the flesh and create within us a new heart and a new Spirit of obedience so that we may always serve You in truth and love.
May all the evil thoughts and curses and wickedness be consumed in the smoke and remove evil from our earth completely. Remove the spirit of destruction, hasatan, and the spirit of judgment, just as You have destroyed Egypt and its idols in those days and just as You have destroyed all sin if they just believe. You shall wash away all our sin with Your most precious Blood, Amen. Selah
This is why we find that the new traditions of the Church are good, but “the old is better than the new”, even though the traditions of the Catholic Church are in fact an “old wine” in their right of excellent vintage as well. Both teach similar lessons, which fits Scripture when YHVH said that He would make a new covenant with the House of Israel and put the Law upon their hearts. Both teach that that removing venial sins is hard work, but through the Jewish tradition we can see that sometimes we must reach higher (in prayer) than we feel we can and sometimes stretch down low (humility) to reach the sin and get it out. Sin can be baked in by abuse and if it is, we need to remove the scars of this abuse (often through counseling) entirely before we can grow properly. And of course sometimes we need to get into hot water (persecution) before we get perfectly clean.
And the reason Chag HaMotzi precedes Yeshua’s return to us by three days is that it takes a complete turn of repentance (emptying of self) before the Ruach HaKadosh (Holy Spirit) can enter our hearts. Yet even when reborn we need more time within the earth (4), devoted to the Holy Name of G-d and be humbled by His refining fire so that we may become the purest gold. Yet from our rebirth, we count 49 days to Shavout/Pentecost when we reach the pinnacle of perfection (7x7) in our faith, thus we can now go forth and spread the Good News throughout all the earth.
For us, Lent is the time we prepare for Pesach and Chag HaMotzi. Yes, we seek repentance during this time, but when the feast hits so does the full impact of Yeshua’s sacrifice and what humility really means. We get to step once more into the shoes of the twelve apostles and start seeing the horror and wonders of that fateful week far more clearly. It was this clearing vision that led to so many of our Christian discoveries as well to the Haggadah (“to tell”) for Easter, The Hunt for the Risen Christ Game and our desire to write all these pages. We only request that those who use our work from this web page to please use it for personal edification and not for profit.
It is not our desire to try and imply that all must keep these traditions to be holy. The RCC has enough saints to show that we can come to grace and have great fruit by the new traditions of Church alone. But for us, we do enjoy following the traditions of our fathers, which have brought forth fruit that is good as well. Therefore we should listen to the wise counsel of Saint Paul and not argue about what each other is doing, so long as they are doing what they do for the edification of our faith and not to be saved. After all, the church at Corinth was mostly a Gentile congregation and yet Paul wrote to them about a very Jewish feast as if they were keeping it. This was because many of those he was writing to did keep it, and even those who chose not to were aware of the choices of their brothers in Christ. Those that kept Pesach would then give their unused Hamatz to those who do not follow the same traditions. And through their love and friendship, questions were asked and traditions explained and in the end all knew what it meant to clean out Hamatz, whether they embraced the feast or not.
An experience showed us that this goes both ways. Some friends have a disabled daughter and they were trying to explain death (her grandfather just passed away) and resurrection (Easter is just around the corner). Because we have spent so much time on these studies (on holidays) we shared several ways to help teach the lesson, which was a gift to them. In turn, their gift to us was an excellent idea to enhance our Easter Seder. This isn’t the first time this has happened because the inspiration for The Hunt for the Risen Christ Game came from just such a tabletop conversation long ago during a work break. Thus, insights can go both ways if we only stop arguing over unnecessary differences; and this, by the way, was the main thrust of the first chapter of 1 Corinthians.
Shalom v Yom Tov (Happy Holidays),
C & C
Copyright (c)2001
