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Passover
The Nasorean Sect of Judaism like its counterparts, the Karaites, are celebrating Passover today. I thought I would reflect on one of the most significant parts of the tradition surrounding Passover.
The Four Questions raise interesting issues not because of the questions which center on the Seder itself, but because of the explanations about the four sons who might ask the questions: the wise, the wicked, the simple, and the one who has not the capacity to inquire. It is for this last son that the entire Seder is constructed. G-d ordered us to speak to our children about the Passover. Exodus 12:24-27. The ritual speaks of the wicked son and says:
The wicked son says: What is this work to you? -- to you not to him, and because he takes himself out of the collective body, he denies the essential thing; you should, therefore, blunt his teeth by saying: This is done because of that, which the Lord did for me when I went forth from Egypt: i.e. for me, but not for him; for had he been there, he would not have been thought worthy to be redeemed.
Later during the Seder, it says:
It is therefore incumbent on every Israelite, in every generation, to look upon himself, as if he had actually gone forth from Egypt; as is said: And you shall declare unto your son, on that day, saying, "This is done because of that, which the Lord did for me, when I came forth from Egypt. It was not our ancestors only that the Most Holy, blessed be he, redeemed from Egypt, but us also did he redeem with them as is said: And he brought us from thence, that he might bring us to the land which he swore to give unto our fathers.
The Jewish concept of l'zikaron, to remember, involves an idea foreign from Christian and Muslim thought. It is essential to the very concept of holy days, and of sacrifice. For a Jew, a true Jew, to keep the Passover, means that he must immerse himself in the experience of the Passover. He must become present at the first Passover. He must experience the feelings and thoughts of a slave who is about to be freed. He must consider that G-d Himself is going to free us. The Greek word, anamnesin, approximates this Hebrew concept. The Kabbalists and most orthodox Jews believe in reincarnation because they believe that we as a people, all of our souls, were present at the first Passover and at Pentecost when the Torah was proclaimed. So in remembering the events of the first Passover, we are not recalling something told to us by our forebears, but recalling something which as a soul we experienced originally. Our feasts and our fasts are recallings of events that actually happened to each of us, although not in this body, still to our souls and we in experiencing the event recall our past life, the one which actually experienced the event.
So the wicked son by saying what are you doing shows that he does not recall from his past life the event. He is not redeemed. He must not really be a son of Ya'akov or he would remember the event.
The Christians fight over a concept that is inherent in the Passover discussion. Yeshua is at the Seder Meal, a meal celebrated in accordance with Essene regulations, on a Wednesday. He broke bread as is done at the beginning of the meal. He says: "Take and eat; this is my body." This is done not as an experience of his last supper, but as an experience of the first Passover. He is proclaiming that he is Pascha, the Lamb that is slain and whose blood is on the door posts and lintel in the shape of a cross. He does not mean that he is a sheep, but that he is the symbol of the Lamb, the l'zikaron of the Lamb. The Pascha protects the household within from death by the only one who can extinguish a soul. It is required that each person present at the Passover must eat of this lamb. Symbolically, he uses this symbol of bread at the beginning of this Passover experience and recalls the bread of Melchizedek. He proclaims an end to animal sacrifice and substitutes an experience that every Jew knew by heart. The bread does not become a Lamb. It remains bread. But the experience of eating the Lamb and the bread are inextricably combined. The bread and the Lamb become one concept. There is neither transubstantiation nor consubstantiation nor symbolism, because if you are not part of the experience it is not a symbol of that experience. The bread is part of the experience; it is not the experience, merely part of it.
Likewise, Matthew says: " Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, 'Drink from it, all of you, this is is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.'" The cup which he took is the third cup, the one just after the meal. Many would say the bread is the piece put away at the beginning of the meal and then this cup would come right after the eating of the bread. This cup is called the Cup of Salvation or Redemption. Yeshua proclaims that we do not need blood anymore. He says that this wine, like the wine of Melchizedek, is the new blood. He connects the blood of the door post with the wine of Salvation. Then, he proclaims that just as all covenants with G-d must be made in blood, that he is going to make a new covenant with G-d. He will provide the blood in his body. It will cause the Torah to be changed. All the acts in the Torah remain as they were, but now instead of bloody sacrifices, we will substitute the wine of Melchizedek, the blood of salvation. Unless we eat of this bread and drink of this cup experiencing the change that has occurred we shall not have life within us.
By changing the sacrifice, Yeshua establishes a sure way to salvation from our sinfulness. Not only are we free from the concern that the priest of the sacrifice is not holy enough, because Yeshua arose from the dead and ascended to become the Priest, but in addition we do not have to worry about whether the lamb was pure enough as the same Lamb, the Pascha, is eternally in this sacrifice.
Knowing that there has been one sacrifice, which continues to this very day, for sin, that being the sacrifice of the Cross, we know that the True High Priest, Yeshua ha Cohen, continues to offer a pure sacrifice. We must experience putting our sins on the back of that Lamb, just as all sacrifices require the experience of transferring our sins to the victim. We must then in faith offer up a Thanksgiving sacrifice of bread and wine in thanksgiving for the forgiveness of our sins. Thus, the Pseudo-Clementines declare that the old sacrifice has been replaced by the Eucharist, that is, the Thanksgiving offering.
The Cross of Yeshua is then symbolic of the blood on the door post. In all these things, it only has power if we experience the event. Now, magical theory puts it best -- our intention must be pure. We must focus our thought on the experience. Then and only then are we free from sin.
Because this particular day is so important for Nasorean Jews, it is appropriate that G-d commands us to keep a day of absolute rest so that we can experience the Passover again.
Today, I am free. The Lord has Passed Over Me.
The Nasorean Sect of Judaism like its counterparts, the Karaites, are celebrating Passover today. I thought I would reflect on one of the most significant parts of the tradition surrounding Passover.
The Four Questions raise interesting issues not because of the questions which center on the Seder itself, but because of the explanations about the four sons who might ask the questions: the wise, the wicked, the simple, and the one who has not the capacity to inquire. It is for this last son that the entire Seder is constructed. G-d ordered us to speak to our children about the Passover. Exodus 12:24-27. The ritual speaks of the wicked son and says:
The wicked son says: What is this work to you? -- to you not to him, and because he takes himself out of the collective body, he denies the essential thing; you should, therefore, blunt his teeth by saying: This is done because of that, which the Lord did for me when I went forth from Egypt: i.e. for me, but not for him; for had he been there, he would not have been thought worthy to be redeemed.
Later during the Seder, it says:
It is therefore incumbent on every Israelite, in every generation, to look upon himself, as if he had actually gone forth from Egypt; as is said: And you shall declare unto your son, on that day, saying, "This is done because of that, which the Lord did for me, when I came forth from Egypt. It was not our ancestors only that the Most Holy, blessed be he, redeemed from Egypt, but us also did he redeem with them as is said: And he brought us from thence, that he might bring us to the land which he swore to give unto our fathers.
The Jewish concept of l'zikaron, to remember, involves an idea foreign from Christian and Muslim thought. It is essential to the very concept of holy days, and of sacrifice. For a Jew, a true Jew, to keep the Passover, means that he must immerse himself in the experience of the Passover. He must become present at the first Passover. He must experience the feelings and thoughts of a slave who is about to be freed. He must consider that G-d Himself is going to free us. The Greek word, anamnesin, approximates this Hebrew concept. The Kabbalists and most orthodox Jews believe in reincarnation because they believe that we as a people, all of our souls, were present at the first Passover and at Pentecost when the Torah was proclaimed. So in remembering the events of the first Passover, we are not recalling something told to us by our forebears, but recalling something which as a soul we experienced originally. Our feasts and our fasts are recallings of events that actually happened to each of us, although not in this body, still to our souls and we in experiencing the event recall our past life, the one which actually experienced the event.
So the wicked son by saying what are you doing shows that he does not recall from his past life the event. He is not redeemed. He must not really be a son of Ya'akov or he would remember the event.
The Christians fight over a concept that is inherent in the Passover discussion. Yeshua is at the Seder Meal, a meal celebrated in accordance with Essene regulations, on a Wednesday. He broke bread as is done at the beginning of the meal. He says: "Take and eat; this is my body." This is done not as an experience of his last supper, but as an experience of the first Passover. He is proclaiming that he is Pascha, the Lamb that is slain and whose blood is on the door posts and lintel in the shape of a cross. He does not mean that he is a sheep, but that he is the symbol of the Lamb, the l'zikaron of the Lamb. The Pascha protects the household within from death by the only one who can extinguish a soul. It is required that each person present at the Passover must eat of this lamb. Symbolically, he uses this symbol of bread at the beginning of this Passover experience and recalls the bread of Melchizedek. He proclaims an end to animal sacrifice and substitutes an experience that every Jew knew by heart. The bread does not become a Lamb. It remains bread. But the experience of eating the Lamb and the bread are inextricably combined. The bread and the Lamb become one concept. There is neither transubstantiation nor consubstantiation nor symbolism, because if you are not part of the experience it is not a symbol of that experience. The bread is part of the experience; it is not the experience, merely part of it.
Likewise, Matthew says: " Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, 'Drink from it, all of you, this is is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.'" The cup which he took is the third cup, the one just after the meal. Many would say the bread is the piece put away at the beginning of the meal and then this cup would come right after the eating of the bread. This cup is called the Cup of Salvation or Redemption. Yeshua proclaims that we do not need blood anymore. He says that this wine, like the wine of Melchizedek, is the new blood. He connects the blood of the door post with the wine of Salvation. Then, he proclaims that just as all covenants with G-d must be made in blood, that he is going to make a new covenant with G-d. He will provide the blood in his body. It will cause the Torah to be changed. All the acts in the Torah remain as they were, but now instead of bloody sacrifices, we will substitute the wine of Melchizedek, the blood of salvation. Unless we eat of this bread and drink of this cup experiencing the change that has occurred we shall not have life within us.
By changing the sacrifice, Yeshua establishes a sure way to salvation from our sinfulness. Not only are we free from the concern that the priest of the sacrifice is not holy enough, because Yeshua arose from the dead and ascended to become the Priest, but in addition we do not have to worry about whether the lamb was pure enough as the same Lamb, the Pascha, is eternally in this sacrifice.
Knowing that there has been one sacrifice, which continues to this very day, for sin, that being the sacrifice of the Cross, we know that the True High Priest, Yeshua ha Cohen, continues to offer a pure sacrifice. We must experience putting our sins on the back of that Lamb, just as all sacrifices require the experience of transferring our sins to the victim. We must then in faith offer up a Thanksgiving sacrifice of bread and wine in thanksgiving for the forgiveness of our sins. Thus, the Pseudo-Clementines declare that the old sacrifice has been replaced by the Eucharist, that is, the Thanksgiving offering.
The Cross of Yeshua is then symbolic of the blood on the door post. In all these things, it only has power if we experience the event. Now, magical theory puts it best -- our intention must be pure. We must focus our thought on the experience. Then and only then are we free from sin.
Because this particular day is so important for Nasorean Jews, it is appropriate that G-d commands us to keep a day of absolute rest so that we can experience the Passover again.
Today, I am free. The Lord has Passed Over Me.
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