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‘Over the period of time between the Temple and the Mishnah, the Seder was a novelty which signaled a new phase in the religion of those who claimed the Hebrew Bible as the basis of their religious beliefs, but required mechanisms to cope with the new realities of the third century.

Mishnah mandates the ritual of what we recognize as the modern day seder

Mishnah is from the early third century’

There was no Seder in the Biblical period. The Torah instructs us to eat the paschal lamb with matzot and marror and that the father should teach his son about the Exodus from Egypt.  Similarly, the Seder is not mentioned in Second Temple sources such as Philo and Josephus. It is first mentioned in the Mishnah and Tosefta (Pesahim Chapter 10), which date from shortly before or after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. What is the source of the elaborate rituals and literary forms of the Seder? What is the origin of the Seder and the Haggadah?

Siegfried Stein proved conclusively (The Journal of Jewish Studies, 1957) that many of the Seder rituals and literary forms were borrowed from the Hellenistic banquet or symposium. Let us first compare the rituals.

The Torah instructs us to slaughter the Korban Pesah , the paschal lamb, to eat it with matzot and marror , and to sprinkle some blood on the lintel and the two doorposts (Exodus 12:22 ff.) It also instructs the father to teach his son about the Exodus on Pesah (Exodus 12:26; 13:6, 14; Deut. 6:12 and cf. Exodus 10:2) (For a summary of the biblical passages about Pesah, see Siegfried Stein, The Journal of Jewish Studies 8 (1957), pp. 13-15 and Baruch Bokser, The Origins of the Seder , Berkeley etc. 1984, pp. 14-19). These mitzvot , however, are a far cry from the many rituals which we do at the Seder and from the literary forms which we recite in the Haggadah.

Furthermore, the Seder and the Haggadah are also missing from the Second Temple period descriptions of Pesah, including a papyrus from Elephantine (419 B.C.E.), the book of Jubilees (late second century B.C.E.), Philo (20 B.C.E.-50 C.E.), and Josephus (A. E. Cowley, Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C ., 1923, pp. 60-65 quoted by Chaim Rapael, A Feast of History , London etc., 1972, p. 128 and Franz Kobler, A Treasury of Jewish Letters , Vol. 1, Philadelphia, 1953, p. 22; Book of Jubilees , Chapter 49; Philo, The Special Laws, II, 145 ff.;The modern ritual of the Passover seder is formatted primarily by the Mishnah, which was compiled in the early 3^rd century by Judah the Prince.

 
Rabbi Professor David Golinkin, President of The Schechter Institutes, April 24, 2019

David Golinkin is President of The Schechter Institutes, Inc. and President Emeritus of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies. For twenty years he served as Chair of the Va’ad Halakhah (Law Committee) of the Rabbinical Assembly which gives halakhic guidance to the Masorti Movement in Israel. He is the founder and director of the Institute of Applied Halakhah at Schechter and also directs the Center for Women in Jewish Law. Rabbi Professor Golinkin made aliyah in 1972, earning a BA in Jewish History and two teaching certificates from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He received an MA in Rabbinics and a PhD in Talmud from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America where he was also ordained as Rabbi.

This article was first published in Jpost.

It is worth noting that scholars of Rabbinic Literature do not date Mishnah Pesachim chapter 10 to the period of Jesus. Rather, it was codified c.200CE. In fact, Philo of Alexandria’s (C.20 BCE – 50 CE), description of the passover ritual does not include the four cups. The ritual of the four cups was probably introduced years after the life of Jesus.

Philo does not associate drinking wine with the passover ritual. Neither does Josephus(It is also not mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls or in any part of the Hebrew Bible). It seems that the ritual of the four cups of wine originated after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70CE. Therefore, I would not try and read the four cups into the Gospel’s descriptions of the Last Supper.

The two cups mentioned in Matthew 22 probably refer to the Jewish custom of blessing and drinking wine at the beginning and conclusion of meals.

At the time of Jesus, wine was blessed at the start of the meal – this was not unique for Passover. They probably did not have a “passover cup” the way that Jews today have a special “Elijah’s Cup” at the Passover meal.

A good introduction to the development of the development Passover rituals is:
The Origins of the Seder: The Passover Rite and Early Rabbinic Judaism By Baruch M Bokser.

Date for Passover 2026 – the evening of April 3rd.
6:30pm; doors open at 6:00pm
Holiday Inn Express
Seating limited – RSVP needed asap by March 26

Bible Study & Discussion, Prayer, Ministry, Praise & Worship
Sat March 21st, 2:00pm Hampton Inn Danville
Potluck afterwards – Note the time change

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Is Our Compass Broken, Or Are We Just Failing To Use It?

Recently, a denominational minister and professor (name withheld) has publicly described her own abortions and has stated in sermons that “abortion is a blessing, an act of love, and a moral good”.  Unbelievable.

Another minister (of the same unnamed denomination), a male chaplain for Planned Parenthood, made this statement  –  ‘women terminate pregnancies because . . . of their high regard for new life’.  Seriously?

On the other side of the coin, a pastor in our very own (not local) HR camp recently implied that a person might be a ‘Christian’ but not necessarily saved/born again if not ‘keeping Torah’.  What does that even mean?

For almost 25 years now, Rhonda and I have been tasked with teaching and promoting the pure and simply profound Gospel of Messiah Yeshua/Jesus the Christ from a Biblical, non-denominational perspective.

During those years, we have been referred to as ‘too churchy’, ‘too jewish’, too simple, too shallow and basic, unteachable, not apt to teach, as well as too complicated and confusing ?!?! And in the face of that scrutiny, we have striven to remain focused on this fundamental question – What’s The Word Say?’, allowing the Bible to interpret the Bible, rather than allowing societal and cultural trends or theological misapplications interpret The Word,  as do the examples given at the outset of this short rant.

The Apostolic Writings (New Testament) speak of ‘not becoming bogged down’ with ‘disputable matters’, endless genealogies, fictional religious narratives or the ‘commandments of men’. The Bible also makes it crystal clear that there are certain truths that are fundamental and nonnegotiable, and upon those Truths we are to stand firm without equivocation.

There is a short list of practices The Word refers to as ‘abominable’. The shedding of innocent blood – of which abortion is a type – is one of those practices, according to Proverbs 6:16-19, Jeremiah 32:34-35, and other passages. To say that abortion – the killing of the innocents – is somehow  ‘a blessing, an act of love, and a moral good’ . . . to believe that ‘terminating pregnancies shows high regard for new life’ . . . to promote and support these abhorrent  doctrines as somehow ‘Biblical’ is as far from the Truth of God and His Word as the east is from the west.

And as important as it is to fully understand there are certain practices we absolutely are NOT to  be involved in, it is equally important to know there are certain changes and transformations  that we canNOT accomplish and bring about by our efforts, no matter how hard we try. And ‘Salvation’ is the most important and everlasting of those transformations.

Salvation – reconciliation, redemption and atonement – are gifts of the Father’s Grace and Mercy, paid for by the shed Blood and broken Body of Messiah on the cross, and received through surrendering to the drawing, convicting and convincing power of the Holy Spirit, and not by any works we do. And this Truth was fully and simply exemplified when Yeshua/Jesus spoke these words to the thief on the cross in response to his heartfelt cry to be remembered – ‘Today, (Yeshua said) you will be with Me . . .’

There was no list of qualifying practices, no expounding of theological or doctrinal treatises, no jumping through manmade hoops. The only thing required, the only thing that would be deemed acceptable, was this thief’s desperate, repentant and surrendered heart cry from the very depths of his soul and being that the Savior of the world would not forget him.

And that longing, that dry and thirsting outcry from this broken and contrite heart is what The Savior heard and answered.

For either we are saved by grace, or we are not. Either we can call upon the Name of the Lord and we will be saved, or we are not. IF anything is added to either of those statements, we have declared ‘another gospel’.

Is there obedience mandated for God’s people? Absolutely! But we do not become God’s people by obedience. We obey because we have become God’s people, and we become God’s people through Messiah Yeshua/Jesus the Christ, and no other way. For no one comes to the Father except through the Son. John 14:6

So what’s the purpose of this little rant? Just to say this –

Just because someone (who says they are speaking for God) says something that sounds warm and fuzzy and ‘loving’ or authoritative and religious – if that something that is being said does not line up with The Word of God, it is at best a distraction, and at worst it is a lie . . . both of which are of the enemy.  Shalom

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