Sedar at the Synagogue

This year our church had a special Passover supper (Sedar meal) in the Jewish tradition.  This was the first year our church attempted something like this as far as I know.  It was very interesting.  I took Evangeline and Jed with me, Kyle was at a concert with Kevin. 

 

The following evening we were invited by Peggy's friend Reid, who is Jewish, to the synagogue in Terre Haute for an authentic Jewish Sedar.  First, it was a very neat experience to see the Terre Haute synagogue which I learned is the oldest operating synagogue in Indiana.  It was a beautiful building that houses a holocaust Torah in that closet on their alter.  We sat in on their service which was mostly prayers and songs in the Hebrew language, no sermon like we are used to.  There is no rabbi.  They have a traveling rabbi that visits every so often.  The Jewish community in Terre Haute is so small now.  They can hardly keep up the building.  The meal was held in the fellowship hall.  It was the largest turn out they've had for a Sedar in years.  The congregation was very excited.  This time I only took Evangeline.  Jed stayed home.  The meal was over 3 hours long.  

There is a tradition around the end of the meal where the Afikoman is found and eaten.  This means that a small piece of matzah is hidden somewhere in the room by a leader.  Toward the end of the meal, the children look for the afikoman, which the leader has hidden.  Since neither the meal nor the Seder can be concluded before some of the group has eaten a piece of it, whoever finds the afikoman may demand a reward.  Nothing is eaten after the afikoman so that the matzah may be the last food tasted. 
Evangeline and a group of children searched for the afikoman.  Evangeline was not the one who found it, but they all received a prize.  Evangeline received a walking matzo ball. 

 

 

It was a very interesting and educational night.  When we exited into the parking lot upon leaving, I realized that the whole night was monitored by the police standing guard.  This was a sad realization of the reality that some groups of people live with and the fear of persecution that still rests heavy on their shoulders.