Thought: "It's
sad that all this had to be. People died so we'd be free. Our drops of
wine fall down like tears as we retell the story every year."
(From "The Ten Plagues" in A Singing Seder). Christians may
change the words slightly to, "It's sad that all this had to be. Jesus
(Y'shua)
died so we'd be free..." While G-d's mighty acts to free Israel from
slavery to Egypt showed his great love for the Jews, they pale when
compared to His love shown to ALL through His mighty act of Jesus's
death on the cross.
Background Information
"G-d" and "L-RD"
are not misprints as mistaken by some believers. In ancient times it
was blasphemous to utter the name of the Supreme Being. In the original
text of the Tenach (Old Covenant/Testament) this is demonstrated by the
following designations: YHWH and two "yoods" (YY), neither of which can
be pronounced. Some Jews today, including Messianic Jews, believe that
removing the vowels from the English words shows respect to our L-RD and helps ensure the Name is not
misused (an easy example of misuse could be that someone would print
out the haggadah and then throw it away; discarding paper with G-d's
name could be deemed disrespectful). I choose to honor this tradition.
When it was first written in 1998, this Haggadah originally
was largely based on Celebrate Passover Haggadah
by Joan R. Lipis. Since then many revisions have been made
over the years. It is a compilation from multiple sources and
contains original material as well.
A Passover Haggadah for Christians
and A Guide to the Celebration of a Christian Passover both
by Bruce J. Lieske of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod's Lutherans
in Jewish Evangelism.
Passover Haggadah for Followers of Yeshua
the Messiah by Daniel Juster of The Messianic Vision (Used by
Congregation Roeh Israel in Denver, CO for congregational seders).
1999/5759 - Lutheran Worship
(liturgy and hymn book used by the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod).
"Feast of Victory" is also found in the Lutheran Book of Worship
(liturgy and hymn book used by multiple Lutheran synods)
Audio Tapes
A Singing Seder -
by Cindy Paley (Traditional Jewish music, kids love
it)
MIDI File for "Shout to the Lord" may be found here.
The Haggadah was first written in 1998/5758. Some years it
has been updated as new insight is gained into the meaning of the
holiday or what works best for our family. Latter years'
updates have been very minor. Though two of the children have
grown and moved on with their lives, we have kept their parts intact to
allow more participation from guests.
Scroll to the bottom of the page for a "different" look at
the 10 plagues, especially for the science fiction fan.
Preparation Information
Meal Planning:
The following books were used in helping to plan the
Passover meal:
Download
a
compilation of matzah
recipes (PDF) - Please note that a certain
skill is needed to make matzah kosher for Passover. This may
be a concern for some people.
To help all in keeping track of where the family is in the
Seder at any given time we tape "mini-posters"
on the wall that lists the major parts of the service
as well as a list of the plagues which helps with
the recitation during the Maggid.
Rather than have several music sources on the Seder table
at once, we decided in 1999/5759 to make up a songbook
for our own use. It is not offered here
to avoid copyright concerns. Since no one in our family is
musically inclined and a recording of the music for the songs is a
great help, we also put all accompaniment on one cassette tape
in the order used in the service. This greatly facilitates the musical
portions of the Seder for our family. In 2009 the family
switched to using a music CD.
Supplies may be found at local synagogues or a Messianic
Jewish congregation with gift shops or from Jews
for Jesus. We got our matzoh cover from a local synagogue and
Seder plate from JfJ.
We have purchased our leg of lamb for the meal from a
health food store. While not technically kosher, we could be assured it
was "cruelty free." Since 2010 we have switched to using goat
since we have started raising it ourselves.
Other Web Resources - Personally
checked and recommended
Look for G-d to act! Words cannot express
the joy, awe, and spiritual growth that I experienced as I wrote and
revised
the Haggadah, and my family as we participate in this celebration! Each
year we try to invite someone new to join us. The
insight the Seder provides into our Saviour's ultimate sacrifice is
incredible. We find it more moving than any traditionally
Christian
holiday. May our L-rd richly bless your Seder should you decide to take
this step in your family's walk.
I put this after the main portion of the page because the topic of this
page is meant to be serious and this portion is a mix of material that
is serious and more modest in import. Those who have studied
the plagues have discovered that each plague sent by G-d was a symbolic
"attack" on one or several of the Egyptian gods or goddesses.
Depending on which study one reads, the list may be
different. However, here is an example of how the Plague of Blood
would have been construed by the Egyptians as an attack on their gods:
Osiris was the god of the underworld and the Nile was
thought to be his bloodstream
Hapi was the spirit of the Nile River itself
Khnum was the guardian of the Nile River
Tauret was the hippopotomus goddess of the river
Nu was the god of life in the Nile
etc.
I found it fascinating to see on DVD the shrine to Hathor, the cow
goddess and obvious target of the livestock plague, in FAITH
LESSONS-GOD HEARD THEIR CRY (DVD MOVIE) (part of Ray
Vander Laan's That the
World May Know series, excellent perspecitve and study of
the Exodus). Anyway, study Bibles, books,
and online resources may be consulted for more information on this
topic.
Now, I am a science fiction fan and "discovered" Stargate SG-1 in
2009. The main enemies in SG-1
are called the
Goa'uld. The history of these powerful aliens is that they
came to earth in the distant past, learned about ancient human
religions, and now personify the gods from these religions.
Most of the gods they chose to copy are Egyptian. I
set out to discover if I could match up at least one Goa'uld with each
of the 10 plagues. I found that I could, for the most part,
successfully match up each plague with a Goa'uld and have created a
poster that illustrates each of the plagues, lists the gods each of the
given plagues attacks, and has a picture of the chosen Goa'uld (if
available) for that plague. It is called A Stargate Fan's
Guide to the 10 Plagues.
Fans of the show will note that the star Goa'uld Apophis is not
found on the poster. Some scholars have suggested that the word
translated as frogs should
more accurately be rendered crocodiles.
If, indeed, the second plague was one of crocodiles, then Apophis
(Apep) would be the object of said plague.
or Sing Shout Clap
(Split Trax)
(part of Ray
Vander Laan's That the
World May Know series, excellent perspecitve and study of
the Exodus). Anyway, study Bibles, books,
and online resources may be consulted for more information on this
topic.