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38
Friday, April 10, 1987
2063 Walnut Lake Road
(1/2 Mile N. of Maple & Inkster)
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
to service all the interested
churches and still keep up
with their own busy life at
this time of year." •
"It made sense to centralize
the effort," says Steinger.
Five years ago, he suggested
that the Jewish Community
Council, Emanu-El and its
sisterhood sponsor an annual
Passover workshop and model
Seder for clergy, educators
and lay leaders.
"The workshop has been
well attended, well received
and very much appreciated,"
says Schey. "It's one of my
favorite programs because it's
so universally accepted and
such a positive way to edu-
cate the community."
Each year there are 130
Christian participants from
all over the Detroit area, re-
presenting a variety of de-
nominations. "This year, we
had people from as far away
as Virginia and southwest
Ontario," says Steinger.
Held a month before
Passover, the workshop is a
two-hour program that begins
in Temple Emanu-El's
sanctuary to familiarize par-
ticipants with the Torah and
synagogue ritual features.
The remaining time is spent
at the seder table, reading
together from an English
Haggadah.
"Rabbi Steinger does a
wonderful job of weaving into
his presentation the histori-
cal and religious underpin-
nings of the holiday," says
Schey. "He uses supplemental
readings to focus on Pesach
as a festival of freedom and a
celebration that has rele-
vance today. We remember
the Jews in the Soviet Union,
those who perished in the
Holocaust and the hungry all
over the world."
"After the Seder, we al-
ways leave time for questions
and discussion," says
Steinger. "Sometimes, this
will be a time to dispel mis-
conceptions. One year, a par-
ticipant asked me, 'When do
you offer the paschal lamb
sacrifice?" I explained to him
that this hasn't been done in
close to 2,000 years!"
Most participants leave
with a greater feeling of
Jewish-Christian harmony
and cooperation. Steinger of-
fers this thank you note ex-
cerpt from a First Congrega-
tional Church minister as an
example of the workshop's
success: "The Passover work-
shop helped us understand
our Hebrew heritage ... We
understood the many
similarities of worship and
ceremony . . . The benefits
will reach into the future for
the glory of God."
Both Steinger and Schey
carefully explain that the
purpose of their workshop is
to teach Christians how to
lead a Jewish Seder, as op-
posed to a Christian Seder or
Paschal dinner. Schey ex-
plains, "We are not interested
in mixing the two religions.
That would undermine each
set of beliefs. We don't advo-
cate teaching Passover as the
`Jewish Easter,' and likewise
would hope that our partici-
pants would enjoy the Seder
as a Jewish event that speaks
to their own roots and his-
tory."
Reverend James Lyons, a
Congregational minister and
director of the Ecumenical
Institute, also sees this as a
danger. Whenever possible,
he tries to find someone
Jewish to lead church Seders.
Or he recommends The
Passover Celebration, a sensi
tively written pamphlet pro-
Anti-
duced
by
the
Defamation League, which
gives complete information
on the holiday, as well as
Seder preparations and cere-
mony.
"There is a well-meaning
tendency on the part of
Christian clergy to see the
Seder as part of the Easter
celebration," Rev. Lyons ex-
plains. "Often, the clergy will
hold it on Maundy Thursday,
the day traditionally set
aside for reflection before
Good Friday. This is fine if it
is kept a Jewish celebration.
I like to stress that this is a
Jewish ceremony that Jesus
participated in as a•Jew."
"The one time I led a Seder
on Maundy Thursday, I asked
the congregation to wait and
clear everything away before
we celebrated' communion. I —
wanted to be sure they would
not mix the two celebrations.
"Every year at this time,
Jews for Jesus groups send
out information and lead
Seders that play with the
traditional Passover symbols,
giving them a Christological
meaning," says Lyons. They
call their Seder "Christ in the
Passover," and its essential
theme is "Christ as the sacri-
ficial lamb of God," purpor-
tedly predicting Jesus as the
Messiah.
"It's important for the
community to recognize the
difference between our
legitimate desire to under-
stand our Jewish roots and
build a bridge to better
understanding, and the Jews
for Jesus' desire to encourage
Jews to accept Jesus."
"Every time I lead a Seder,
people tell me how amazed
they are at how 'normal' ev-
erything seems," says Lyons.
"Whenever we think about
the ceremonies in other reli-
gions, they seem exotic and
mysterious. The beauty of
Passover speaks to anyone
willing to listen. It speaks to
the human condition. It holds
great meaning for both Jews
and Christians."
❑
N