Passover Dinner

I've been trying to celebrate Easter with my children all week in hopes that we can make this a more spiritual week and appreciate the great sacrifice that our Savior made for us and the wonderful gift of repentance and the Atonement.

I'll post more about our daily activities later, but tonight we had a Jerusalem/Passover dinner and talked about the Last Supper, Christ's suffering in the garden, and His betrayal.


I've never cooked a traditional Jewish dinner before, and most of what I pulled together was taken from random blogs and possibly-inaccurate websites, but it did seem to come together well.

Our menu:

Fish
(over rice pilaf. I hope that's kosher!) Served commonly at the time, especially considering many of the disciples were fishermen.

Lentil Soup
Just a good guess?

Salt Water
Signifies the water of the Red Sea which was parted to free that Israelites.

Olives
Commonly used in Jerusalem to the point that olives were also used as a term of measurement.

Hard-boiled Eggs
Represents mourning for the destroyed temple and giving more to God than what is demanded (does anyone understand that? I'd like to know more)

Grapes

Charoseth
(chopped almonds, apple, grape juice, cinnamon and sugar)
This symbolizes the mortar the Israelites used to make bricks in Egypt. (Madelyn loved this!)

Dates

Grape Juice
This represents the Joy we feel when we are out of bondage. Additionally, Christ served the wine as part of the sacrament to remind us of the blood which he would soon spill for all mankind so that we can repent and be cleansed of our sins.

Unleavened Bread (gotta love pita!)
A reminder that the Israelites did not have time for their bread to rise in their hurry to leave Egypt. Also, at the Last Supper Christ served this as part of the sacrament, asking his followers to eat in remembrance of his body.)

Tomato, Cucumber, and Onion Salad
(with parsley, which I believe is a bitter herb)
The bitter herbs represent the bitterness of life in Egypt.

Lamb
We will have lamb for dinner on Sunday.
Lamb is highly symbolic as it was initially used in Egypt so that the destroying angle would "pass over" the homes of the Israelites and not take the lives of their children. Also, Christ is know as the Lamb of God, and gave himself as the ultimate sacrifice for sin.

We also set a place at the table for Elijah, who was to come before the Savior and prepare the way for his coming. Because the Messiah has already come and we no longer wait for Elijah, we shared his cup of Grape Juice, symbolically sharing the joy that our Savior has already come to redeem his people.
(This tradition is something I know very little about and was on a page that I don't really trust, but I like the idea behind it, so I think we'll keep it.)

I made only one rule for the evening: You don't have to like the food, but you have to taste everything.
Mads and Gabe were great sports and tried it all. We won't be having most of this meal on a regular basis, but it was good for them to try some new things and understand a little more about the Last Supper.

It was a wonderful setting for us to discuss the events that took place on the Thursday night before Easter. Madelyn, Gabe, Mckay and I had a fabulous conversation and enjoyed discussing the events that took place and discussing its impact on our lives. At one point in a discussion on Christ's suffering in the Garden Madelyn said, "I'm never going to repent again. That way he suffered less for me!" We were able to talk about the fact that he suffered for us whether we repent or not and that repentance is what makes the atonement worthwhile.

Carter and Sam ran around like crazy while all this was going on.

I would love some practical advise and insight so that next year we can have a more historical meal and better know why things were served. Please feel free to leave any ideas so that next year will be even better.