April Webinar Q&A

If you missed the April Webinar on "The Easter / Passover Connection," you can now watch it on our website or our youtube channel.

There is never enough time for Q&A, so we are providing additional interaction with our April panelists below.

Question for Mark Kinzer: What source(s) are there for the way Messianic Jews/Jewish Christians would celebrate Passover in the beginning of the 2nd century that you mentioned (fasting 14th Nissan, praying for Israel, etc.)?

Mark Kinzer: We do not have any sources which speak specifically of the Passover practice of the early Jewish believers in Yeshua. We do, however, have sources which inform us of the practices of those who celebrated Yeshua's death and resurrection on the 14th/15th Nissan, and we may presume that the Jewish believers in Yeshua were a subset of that larger group. Two of those sources worth special mention are the Passover homily of Melito of Sardis (second century) and Didascalia Apostolorum 21 (third century). An English translation of the latter is available at: https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/didascalia.html

Question for Perle Maliszewicz Pages: Can you please elaborate on how you share with your children both Christian and Jewish traditions and practices without confusing them?

Perle Maliszewicz Pages: Thank you for asking me this question; it allowed me to have a very interesting conversation with my children.

We have a simple way of sharing both practices and traditions with them: we tell stories! For Pesach, Moses is the main character, while for Easter Jesus is. We try to make clear the link between OT and NT, and how Yeshua came to accomplish and not abolish the law and how all was already written in the scriptures. They understand the differences very well, especially because we share for Pesach with my family and Easter with my husband’s family.

After our conversation, I was happy because I realized none of my 3 children were confused! I met Yeshua when my first daughter was 3 years old, now she’s 15, so she was the only one who knew two "distinct" religions. My two other children (12 and 9) were born in a Jewish-Catholic family, so for them, this way of thinking and living is natural.

Question for Elisa Rudolph: Do you find any tension in your Messianic Jewish observance of Pesach between the importance of Yeshua's death and resurrection and the remembrance of our deliverance from Egyptian bondage? In other words, does the remembrance of Yeshua overshadow the remembrance of our people delivered from bondage? Could this become a subtle form of cultural supersessionism?

Elisa Rudolph: I appreciate your questions. I do not feel those tensions within me and my faith, but I am cognizant of those tensions in my public-facing faith practice. Yes, I do believe Messianic practice can allow for a form of cultural supersessionism, but thoughtfulness, such as questions like your own, as we build upon customs can allow us to navigate around that. Further, Jewish tradition has always built upon itself—the seder is a beautiful collage of elements that have been added over time. I do not think new additions should be treated lightly, but at the same time, additions that allow for reflection on Yeshua is a worthwhile venture.

Question for Matthew Friedman: It is difficult when the first night of Pesach clashes with Good Friday or Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. Our solution is to keep our Pesach Seder in Pesach week but on one of the other nights. This year we will keep it on Easter Tuesday. What do others do?

Matthew Friedman: This is really part of what I was addressing, and the sometimes uneasy manner in which I've addressed it. Of course, it was more challenging when the overlap was with Purim, but even with Good Friday, there is an ambivalence between celebration and mourning (though this is arguably the case with Good Friday generally). On the one hand, I tend to agree with those who recognize the genuine antisemitism involved in the conscious separation of the manner in which the calculation of Easter/Paskha was done following Nicaea — especially glaring in Constantine's letter following the Council. Yet I found myself musing as we gathered with friends and students for our seder this year on Good Friday whether it would be easier if the dates don't overlap. There is such an obvious connection between Pesach and Holy Week, and yet, to put it childishly, do we watch Prince of Egypt or Risen? I have friends in Egypt and elsewhere who follow the Eastern and Coptic Orthodox calendars, and who are in the midst of their Holy Week now — part of me is mildly annoyed at the celebration, and yet part of me wonders if, again, it might be easier. The solution posed by the questioner of moving the seder to a different night past (or prior to) the main observances of Holy Weekend seems like a viable solution, and one which we've employed more than once ourselves.