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The Charlone Jewish News - May, 199^ Page 2 Why is this night observed by so many Christian organizations? Increasingly, churches in many areas of the country celebrate Passover seders By Melinda Greenberg Reprinted by permission of the Baltimore Jewish Times Editor's Note: In the Charlotte area, members of both Temple Beth El and Temple Israel have increas ingly been invited to lead, or partic ipate in, seder meals every spring at area churches. Last month, I co-led, along with Walter and Elizabeth Klein and Shari Naman, a seder at Covenant Presbyterian Church attended by 190 members of that congregation. The church was grateful for our participation and extremely respec^l of the Jewish traditioru They sought our guidarwe throughout the three-month plan ning process to insure that the seder would thorougly maintain a Jewish, rather than Christian, flavor. As Christians everywhere become more aware of, and willing to recognize and honor, the Jewishness of Jesus, churches have developed a great interest in what we, as Jews, have to offer them in terms of helping them understarul the roots of their own tradition. For the most part, inter faith outreach programs — such as seder-sharing — are positive expe riences and lead to increased mutu al understaruiing and respect. But we must also be mindful that seders that take place at churches, espe cially those churches that don’t seek Jewish guidance, may have little or no impact in terms of educating, or positively impacting, Christians about Judaism in any real sense. For years. Rabbi Seymour Essrog, spiritual leader of Beth Shalom of Carroll County, Maryland, has conducted Passover seders in Baltimore area churches. Rabbi Essrog views the seders as an effort among Christians to discover the Jewish roots of Christianity. The seders are “purely Jewish experi ences,” he said. “It’s a nice thing to do for interfaith relations." Pastor Richard McCullough, of the Wesley/Freedom United Methodist Church, in Eldersburg, Maryland, said he invited Rabbi Essrog to conduct a seder for his congregation this year to show respect for the “living tradition” of the Jewish community. “It is our practice to work ecumenically with others,” said Pastor McCullough, who expects to fill the church’s fel lowship hall with 12S congregants. While the Methodist movement encourages its churches to host Passover seders on an occasional basis, and only under the leadership of a rabbi, churches of many other denominations are hosting seders that have been retooled with images from the life of Jesus. It is particu larly common in Messianic congre gations, such as Jews for Jesus, a worldwide evangelical movement that proclaims Jesus the Messiah of Israel and the savior of the world. Jewish and non-Jewish theolo gians alike find the trend very dis turbing. “Christian seders expropri ate a holiday that doesn’t belong to Christians. It is theologically sus pect and ethically wrong,” said Christopher Leighton, executive director of the Institute for Christian-Jewish Studies, an inde pendent organization that forges new relationships between the two groups. ‘To superimpose Christological meaning on the seder removes Jews from their own story.” Rabbi Essrog views the seders as an effort among Christians to discover the Jewish roots of Christianity. “It’s a nice thing to do for interfaith relations,” he said. In a Christian seder, for instance, the three matzot symbolize the Holy Trinity: the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. The middle matzah or afikomen is broken to represent Christ's crucifixion, wrapped in white linen and hidden, which sym bolizes burial. Afikomen, according to one Christian service, is the only Greek word in the Hebrew service and means “I have come and will come again.” In the Jewish seder, the three pieces of matzot represent the divi sions of the Jewish people: Kohain, Levi and Israel. The afikomen, defined as a Greek word for “dessert” by many Jewish scholars, is eaten at the end of the seder on the first night of Passover, so the taste of matzah might linger in one’s mouth all night. Mark Powers, national director of Jews for Judaism, a full-time anti missionary, anti-cult organization woridng within the Jewish commu nity, said applying a Christian inter pretation to Passover symbols is “patently insulting” to Jews. He hopes to soon have a list debunking the Christian interpretations of the seder on the organization’s web site, http:Wwww.jewsfoijudaism.org. Christian seders are usually held by congregations eager to explore Jesus’ Jewish origins and replicate the Last Supper, which is thought to have been a Passover seder. The Christian Bible teaches that during the Last Supper Jesus foretold his own death and told his disciples that the wine they drank was his blood, the unleavened bread his body. Some of the criticism of Christian seders stems from the debate over whether the Last Supper was, in fact, a Passover seder. Rabbi Michael Cook, a professor of Intertestamental and ^ly Christian Literature at the Hebrew Union College — Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, believes it was not. ‘There is no evidence that the seder existed as early as Jesus’ day,” wrote Rabbi Cook, who is described by the school as possibly the only rabbi in the United States with a doctorate in New Testament. In his position paper on Christian celebrations of Passover, Rabbi Cook continues, “Since Jesus was a Jew, it is, of course, conceivable — or even probable — that he custom arily himself celebrated Passover. But if so, he would have observed it as did other Jews of his day, by bringing a lamb to be sacrificed in the Temple, and then eating it, together with unleavened bread, in the environs of Jerusalem, and recalling in connection with this meal the escape of his ancestors from bondage to Pharaoh, i.e., the exodus from Egypt. ‘This practice would in no way have constituted a seder. The seder itself seems to have been a response to the fall of the Temple and to the consequent cessation of the sacrifi cial cult decades after Jesus’ death. Today’s Christian haggadahs, expanding the Jewish liturgy, thus reflect on historical anachronism." Melinda Greenberg is the Lifestyles Editor for the Baltimore Jewish Times. O (Continued from page I) Friday, May 8, 10:00 AM - 12:00 noon: Interfaith Clergy Institute (for area clergy mem bers only): Dr. Cook will present “The Disputation Between the Church and Synagogue in Medieval and Renaissance Art: Implications for Christian and Jewish Theology Today.” The lec ture, to be held in the JCC’s Gorelick Hall, will be followed by lunch at Temple Beth El. This program is sponsored in coopera tion with the Jewish Chautauqua Society and the Blumenthal Foundation. RSVP to Temple Beth El, 366-1948. Friday, May 8, following Friday evening Shabbat ser* vices, 8:00 PM, Temple Beth El: “Symbols of Judaism in Famous Christian Painting: Why They’ie There and What They Mean.” Dr, Cook will present visuals of Jewish motifs embedded in scenes of the Annunciation, the Nativity, and Adorations by the Mu^i expirsnnc what they convex aK'Ut the reiaiionship between Christianity and Judaism. The evening’s talk is open to the pub lic; no reservations are requir^. Saturday, May 9, 8:30 AM breakfast, 9:00 • 11:00 AM sem inar, Myers Park Baptist Church, 1931 Selwyn Avenue: “Ancient Rabbinic Texts on Jesus: Their Abiding Impact on Christian-Jewish Dialogue Today.” Please RSVP to Myers Park Baptist Church, 334-7232. Sunday, May 10, 9:45 AM - Myers Park Baptist Church: During the church’s “Adult Forum,” Dr. Cook will discuss “Jewish Approaches to the New Testament: A Critique and Defense.” Attendance at the Adult Forum is open to the public. No reservations are requir^. Sunday, May 10, 11: 00 AM - Myers Park Baptist Church Sanctuary: Dr. Cook will deliver a sermon during worship, entitled “Putting Food Where the Lambs Can Get It.” Dr. Co«:»k’s sermon is 0fv*n In the community Reservations arc nr»t necessary Rabbi Michael Cook is the Sol and Arlene Bronstein Professor of Judaeo-Christian Studies at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dr. Cook travels widely, address ing Jewish and Christian audi ences, including academicians and clergy, throughout North America. His numerous publications cover a broad range of topics related to Jewish-Christian relations. He is currently at work on a major book entitled Removing the Veil: Modem Jews and the New Testament. All programs presented by Dr. Cook, except the Interfaith Clergy Institute, arc free and open to the public. For details on any of the weekend’s events, please contact either Temple Beth El, 366-1948, or Myers Park Baptist Church, 334-7232. This program is a cooperative effort made possible by the gen erosity of Temple Beth El, Myers Park Baptist Church. the Blumenthal Foundation, and the i^Kish Chautauqua Society. O Point of View Each issue of the CJN features an article written by one of the rabbis active in the Charlotte Community. litis Month: R.ibbi KobtM'l S. K.i'^man It'Ml Jilt* IsriU'l What defines an “enemy”? When you find your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering, return it. Return it to him! (Exodus 23:4) Does this text imply that if you find your frierui’s ox or donkey straying you can keep it? Manners are for your ene mies more than they are for your friends. The fact that you do not like people does not justify treating them poorly. “Enemy” is the term we use for the people making war on our country. It is also the word we use for the competition. It is even the word we use for people within our own com munity with whom we dis agree. During World War n, stud ies of human psychology were used to develop tools to dehu manize the enemy. Soldiers did not shoot at “people,” they destroyed “targets.” Their behavior was not only crimi nal; it was barbarism, which needed to be erased. The war machine of the firee world needed to move to end some true horrors. The killing machine of the other side needed to move people to per petrate real horrors. Dehumanization was key to the successful body count on both sides. We should not dehumanize the non-military enemies. Remember when politicians said, “I can’t talk about my worthy opponent, but I can speak to the issue”? Advertisements referred to “Brand X.” Ball players were sportsmen, not athletes. We are better off when competi tors remember that they are. not Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat. They can shake hands without thinking about blood. A house in which there is dissension will be destroyed in the end (Derekh Eretz Zuta 9) I am a product of the divid ed Jewish Theological Seminary. The school was split on tfie issue of ordination of women. We had two sepa rate minyanim under one roof. One service was egalitarian, encouraging full participation by women. The other was tra ditional, with separate seating and prayer led by men. Feelings about the issue were hot, but everyone tried to be polite. We were encouraged to remember that both sides of the issue were the side of heaven. At one meeting, Saul Leiberman (z"l) stood up and said, “I oppose the ordination of women, but if I were in favor, I could think of the fol lowing text, that would be an excellent support for that posi tion,” “Enemies” used in a com munity sense should not be the same as “enemies” in a mili tary sense. An ability to remember that the person with whom I disagree is not a target but a Jew is the core of a healthy Shalom Park. R. Eliezer ben Jacob said, “When an admirable and refined man allows a vulgar word to issue from his mouth, he is like a banker’s hall with a tanner’s drainpipe running through its middle.” (Derekh Eretz Rabbah 3) 0 The Charlotte Jewish News 5007 Providence Road - Charlotte, NC 28226 Office Hours Monday, Tuesday & Thursday 11:00AM - 3:00PM Phone (voice mail after olfice hours) Office 366-5007 ext 268 FAX 704-365-4507 e-mail: scannon^netnet A Publication of the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte IMarvin Goldberg, Executive Director Suzanne Cannon, Interim Editor Advertising Coor(finator/Saies Rep: Rita Mend, 366-6632 AdvtrtMng Salts Rsp: Shari Naman, 841*1674 CJN Execute Board CoOtain • Bob Abel - Bob Davis Members: Evelyn Berger, Ann Langman, Linda Levy, Dr. Setvvyn Spangenthal The CJN doM not assume rMponatjurry tor the quality or kashrulti c4 try product or servtc9 advel>s«d. PubWwg at a patd pohfeal s(}ver8ssfnent does not con^tuta an •fwtor»wn«r«* o any cendietets. poiit'ca! party positiof' by th>s neawpaper the Faderation or a«y amptoyees. Layout Design by Erin H. Bronltw Pub^shed monthly •xc«pt July Copy tfaedline is the 1st ^ the month prscecfing month of ^sue “On Jews and Christians” - A weekend of Christian-Jewish Dialogue
The Charlotte Jewish News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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May 1, 1998, edition 1
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