Passover Seder--Pt. 2

The Cup of Sanctification

Yesterday we looked at the overview of the Passover Seder. Today we'll look at the ceremony. The first cup is called the Cup of Sanctification. For us it is the symbol of the blood of Christ--for the Jews, the blood of a lamb killed for their purification. The father drips the red wine onto the white plates. This cup:

• sanctifies the table and preparations
• shows the father's approval of the whole family's labor
• sanctifies everything between this year and the last.

The cup is drunk after the father washes his hands and prays. It is believed that during this part of the Seder, Jesus washed His Disciples feast.


The matzo, which is striped and pierced, is then hidden in a linen envelop with three compartments. The middle piece is taken out and broken. Half of the bread is wrapped in a linen napkin and buried. The hidden matzo will be resurrected later.


The youngest child, who rests on his father's chest, asks questions about the ceremony. During this cup the father opens the Haggadah (the showing), the Passover book and reads about the exodus.


While he reads--for two hours--the ceremonial foods are eaten:

• red horseradish--the bitterness of slavery
• parsley dipped in water--the crossing of the Red Sea
• lamb--an unbroken leg
• charoset--a mixture of apples, walnuts, wine and honey--the mortar that held the bricks the Jewish slaves built in Egypt
• matzo--the absence of sin
• uneaten, roasted egg

Of course there's more to be said here--but for now, I'll close the first cup. Tomorrow the second cup--Judgment.