Returning On Palm Sunday—

Interfaith Passover Seder Will Again

Draw Congregations Together

By Nancy K. Crevier

Celebrants and congregations of Newtown’s religious communities will join together for an Interfaith Passover Seder meal, at the invitation of Congregation Adath Israel on Huntingtown Road. The second annual event is being planned for Sunday, April 1, at 4:30 pm.

Rev Kathleen Adams-Shepherd of Trinity Episcopal Church, Monsignor Robert Weiss of St Rose of Lima, Rev Mel Kawakami of Newtown United Methodist Church, Rev Janice Touloukian and Rev Matthew Crebbin of Newtown Congregational Church, Rev Leo McIlrath, and Rabbi Shaul Praver of Congregation Adath Israel will lead friends and families through the story of Israel’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt, symbolized by foods that make up the Seder dinner.

The Seder is a time for families and communities to give thanks, at a table elegantly set, and with symbolic foods laid out. These foods include bitter herbs, a sweet mixture of fruit and nuts, salt water, matzo bread, a lamb shank, a vegetable, and a hard boiled egg, as well as four cups of wine drunk at specific times during the reading of the Haggadah, the special script for the Seder celebration.

Games for the children, songs, and blessings are all part of the Seder meal.

“We have done interfaith Seder meals on an informal basis over the years,” said Rabbi Praver, “mostly with schools. But one of our members, Donna Randle, had seen it done on a grander level where she had formerly lived, and inspired us last year to open it up further.”

The Newtown clergy welcomed the idea for an interfaith Passover Seder hosted by Congregation Adath Israel, he said. “The clergy here has a great interfaith group. People were eager to do it,” said Rabbi Praver.

Members of participating religious institutions and community members were also eager to embrace the tradition. Last year’s Interfaith Passover Seder sold out “in just a short time,” he recalled.

The program for the Seder is carefully scripted, he said, with each clergy member reading and taking part in the service.

“We have it a little more planned out than last year,” said the Rabbi, although the ad-libbing by Newtown Congregational Church minister Rev Matthew Crebbin as Elijah was very much appreciated — as was the dancing by Monsignor Robert Weiss of St Rose.

“They are good guys and gals, the clergy of our town,” Rabbi Praver, and he is appreciative of the participation that helps an event like this to cut across interfaith lines.

“The Christian Bible is a combination of the Old and New Testaments, of course,” said Rabbi Praver, “but I often share that I believe in order to be a complete and knowledgeable Christian, you need to know the Old Testament. The more you can understand the Old Testament, the more you can understand the main character of the New Testament — Jesus. To get a full picture of the New Testament, you need to know about Jewish traditions an how Jesus lived his life as a Hebrew.” What Christians know as the Last Supper was the Passover Seder dinner, he said, and that is the wide appeal of the Interfaith Passover Seder.

St Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, a participant in last year’s first Interfaith Passover Seder, will take part, said Monsignor Weiss.

“We had a significant number of people from St Rose attend last year. It was very well done, and people enjoyed it,” Monsignor Weiss said.

Because Judaism is the root of Christianity, events like the Seder meal are valuable lessons for people of all faiths, he said. “The Seder is a historical representation and a foreshadowing of our Eucharist celebration,” said Monsignor Weiss.

Attendance at the Interfaith Seder meal is a way to help people understand the passing of the people of Israel from slavery into freedom, with the foods served representing the bitter and sweet of those times. The intergenerational event is a nonthreatening way to bring the religious communities together, he said, and one that he looks forward to being a part of once again.

Rev Mel Kawakami and members of Newtown United Methodist Church are also looking forward to a second year of attendance at the Passover Seder.

“Last year, we brought our confirmation class and a lot of families attended,” said Rev Kawakami.

In terms of faith, the Seder “is part of our heritage,” he said. “It relates directly to the Last Supper and our communion. Communion has deep roots in the Seder meal,” Rev Kawakami said.

Last year’s first Interfaith Seder was a moment of growth for the town’s religious community, he said.

“It was a wonderful interfaith moment that doesn’t happen often enough. It is important, in this day and age, to learn about each other and who we are as a people of God,” Rev Kawakami said.

He was pleased to see an interfaith Thanksgiving service develop in the fall; it grew out of last year’s Seder event. In addition, he said, talks have begun in the religious community of developing a group for interfaith dialogue.

Rabbi Praver agreed that the Interfaith Passover Seder has added to the broadening of interfaith events.

“We hope to see an interfaith Bible study. I’m passionately interested in this myself,” he said. One lecture in that series may focus on “Can Judaism and Christianity Both Be Right?” said Rabbi Praver. This program is anticipated to launch by autumn 2012.

“I’m looking forward to [the Seder],” Rev Kawakami said. “It’s a wonderful celebration.”

The Interfaith Passover Seder will take place Sunday, April 1 (Palm Sunday), at 4:30 pm, at Congregation Adath Israel, 115 Huntingtown Road. The $5 per person cost must be submitted in check form, no later than Sunday, March 25, to Congregation Adath Israel, PO Box 623, Newtown, CT 06470. Seating is limited. For more information, call the Synagogue at 203-426-5188.