By Kelley Kepler
Catholic Herald

Newman Center holds Passover Seder meal

SUPERIOR -- On April 3, college students at the University of Wisconsin-Superior Newman Center gathered for its annual Seder meal in remembrance of the Passover when the Hebrews were freed from Egypt.

Christians often observe a modified version of this Jewish tradition because Jesus has fulfilled many of the prayers, customs and symbols within the ritual.

While participating in the Seder meal, the students ate many symbolic foods in ritual fashion:

Maror: Radish, a bitter herb that serves as a reminder of the bitterness and hardship of slavery.

Haroset: A mixture of chopped apples, nuts, cinnamon and wine; the Newman students substituted applesauce in its place. The Haroset is symbolic of the mortar used by the Hebrew laborers in Egypt. Participants also dipped the bitter radish into the sweet haroset as a sign of hope.

Karpas: Parsley is eaten as a reminder of springtime, the season of Passover. It serves as a sign of gratitude to God for the goodness of earth, for bread and food.

Salt Water: The parsley is dipped into salt water, also symbolic of the bitterness Israel endured in its experience of slavery.

Matzo: Participants also ate three small pieces of unleavened bread, the bread that the Israelites ate in the land of Egypt. The bread was simple for poor Israelites to make because it takes little time to prepare and has no yeast.

Grape juice: Throughout the meal they drank four cups of grape juice, in place of wine, because the biblical account of Exodus outlines four stages by which Israel was delivered from slavery. The red juice is symbolic of the blood the Hebrews sprinkled on their doorposts so that first-born sons would be passed over. Participants in the meal also recalled the ten plagues on Egypt by sprinkling ten drops of juice on their plates.

Lamb and egg: These foods are typically present at a seder meal because they serve as reminders of the lamb and egg that were offered at the Temple of Jerusalem during the Passover festival. After the Newman participants finished the seder meal, they ate a full dinner which included lamb stew and hardboiled eggs.

Elijah's cup: In the Jewish seder meal, a single, large cup and an empty chair are left for the arrival of the prophet Elijah, who is seen as a precursor of the Messiah. It serves as a reminder of those who perished at the Pharaoh's hand in Egypt. Christians believe that John the Baptist has already played the role of Elijah, and in the Christian Seder meal, a seat is left open for Jesus to return. In both cases, the empty chair and extra cup symbolize hope in the coming of the kingdom of God.

Throughout the candle lit meal, the participants engaged in prayer, song and Scripture readings as they ate the ritual foods.

As the Seder meal reached a close, the students finally drank the fourth cup of grape juice.

Paul Birch, the coordinator of the Newman Center, acted as the leader of the meal. He called the fourth cup, "a reminder of freedom, its hopes, struggles and dreams for so many enslaved nations and individuals. As committed children of God, we are called to witness this precious gift and make it known to all peoples of the earth: those who seek justice, those who lack any rights and those who fight for freedom."

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© Superior Catholic Herald, 2003