Printer Friendly

Email to A Friend

Friday April 21, 2000

Interfaith seders aim to rebut 'Messianics'

BRIANNE KORN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

NEWYORK -- Jews in Cincinnati spent the past several weeks doing more than preparing for their own seders. They also took the time to explain to their Christian neighbors why seders are different from all other meals.

It's part of an effort to fight the answers offered to Christians by self-described "Messianic Jews" who have sponsored "model seders," explaining the Passover symbols as evidence of their belief that Jesus was the promised Jewish messiah.

Cincinnati's Jewish Community Relations Council recently performed model seders for area churches in a venture dubbed "The Passover Project." Nearly 60 seders took place, and their popularity forced leaders to place some congregations on a waiting list until next year.

"This was a chance for the Jewish community to do community relations," said Rabbi Robert Barr, who conceived the idea for the project.

Barr, who leads Cincinnati's humanist-oriented Congregation Beth Adam, views the project as an opportunity to dispel misconceptions some Christians have about Passover because of the spin Messianic Jews have put on the holiday.

Messianic Jews, for example, claim that the ridges on matzah represent Jesus' wounds during the crucifixion and that the three matzot of the seder symbolize the trinity.

"Increased outreach of the Messianic community made us realize we had to be a little more pro-active," said Alice Abrams, associate director of the JCRC. "We felt it was important to let the Christian community know about Pesach from a Jewish perspective."

Experts trained seder leaders to handle topics including the origins, history and rituals of the seder and to answer such questions as "Was the Last Supper a seder?"

"The idea of community outreach from someone who knows the history and traditions of a seder appealed to me," said David Feldstein, a financial planner for American Express who co-chaired two seders after participating in the 10-hour training program.

A member of a Reform congregation, Feldstein said participants felt the program was "entertaining and educational," but many "didn't know enough to ask" questions. The questions that did surface mostly surrounded issues of kashrut and chametz, or leavened products.

Feldstein also broached the issue of the Last Supper, referring to recent scholarship that dismisses the notion of it being a seder.

"They didn't seem offended," he said, but noted that he lectured to religiously liberal groups.

"I don't think there's nearly enough dialogue between people who have different outlooks and perspectives on the world," said Shelley Cowan, a member of Barr's congregation who helped run seders.

Cowan, a writer, conducted seders for two predominantly black fundamentalist churches. Calling Cincinnati "diversity challenged," she said feedback from church congregants was "terrific" in light of the fact that it was probably the first conscious interaction between those church members and Jews.

"Themes of slavery and freedom really resonate there," she said. "I think people found the words to be very moving."

Cowan said her seders emphasized Jewish symbolism and made clear that Christian references were not considered part of the Passover story. When asked by the church leader if Judaism considers Messianic Jews to be Jews, Cowan and her co-leader answered that they were not.

"I don't think we were there to change anyone's beliefs," she said. "Just to share."

Did you find this article interesting? Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and you'll be notified each week when "J." goes online. We'll tell you about the most important stories of the week and give you a link to each one.

This page contains a BETA version of Amazon contextual links. They are marked by the dashed underline.  Your purchases support our site. At times they point to items which are not related to the actual link. Please alert us by email if you discover objectionable links.