Seminary Passover Seder

As we enter Holy Week, I hosted a Passover Seder for my LDS Seminary Students.

The 45 minutes in the morning goes quickly but I managed to pack a lot in.

Note a place was set for Elijah and we left the door closest to him open in hopes he would join us for dinner.

This post is filled with a lot of photos. Click on any of them to enlarge.

 Living in South Florida, Passover food items and information are easy to find. I am blessed to have dear Jewish friends whom I have spent Passover Seder with and they loaned me their Seder Plate and set of Haggadah books. Note at each place setting, there is a Haggadah for each student. These were available complimentary from our local grocery store, Publix. It was fun for the students to look through their own Haggadah and see that it read backward to them. I asked them to find page 1, then 2, and so on.

 I had all the traditional foods on the Seder Plate and as I explained the symbolism of each, I passed a dish around with that item. I asked them to at least try each item. Most of them were good sports.

 We learned about cleansing your home and getting rid of all the chemetz before Passover. We learned what is and is not acceptable food and why.

 Not all Kosher foods are acceptable for Passover. The packaged Kosher food items must say "Kosher For Passover" on the label.

 I read a few sections of the Haggadah and had them follow along.

 Here is the Seder Plate my friends loaned to me.

 Here is a close up of the Seder Plate. I placed each of the food items in the appropriate place and the 3 Matzo Crackers in the 3 slots below. Some families place the 3 Matzo Crackers in the fold of a napkin.

 Here are a few Haggadah books from my friends. I showed the students that they each had food stains on them as they have been used at several meals.

 Make sure you use Grape JUICE, not Grape WINE. We used the Grape juice on the right.

 They were the most hesitant to try the Horseradish.

 Here is a new Haggadah set that my friends use. Each family member has a personal one and there are plenty for guests. We enjoyed using these as we were guests at their Passover Seder. It was a very spiritual experience for us to share the Passover Seder in our Jewish friends' home. We feel honored to share this high and holy holiday with them.

 Charoset. This was their favorite.
Apples, Nuts, Honey, Brown Sugar, Cinnamon, and Grape Juice (not wine as the traditional recipe calls for)

 Fresh Parsley. I had cups of Salt Water for them to dip the Parsley and Celery, not once, but twice.

 Coconut Macaroons. Kosher for Passover, purchased at Costco. My Macaroon recipe would not be acceptable even if I baked it in a cleansed home and kitchen because it has sweetened condensed milk in it.

 Oops..rotate photo...or tilt your head. This is Kosher for Passover Salt, not just Kosher Salt. I used this to make the salt water for dipping the parsley and celery.

 Matzo Crackers.

 Lamb Bone. Easy to find this time of year. Our butcher has small Lamb shanks out and packaged specifically for Passover.

 Celery.

 The complimentary Haggadah available from Publix Supermarket here in South Florida.

 Roasted Lamb (cut off the Lamb shank) This was the second most hesitated item to eat. Most of the students had never eaten Lamb.

 Another complimentary Haggadah available at Publix Supermarket and provided by Maxwell House. I like the illustrations in this one but did not use it.

Even if you do not have a Jewish friend to borrow Passover Items from or have never attended a Passover Seder, you can find oodles of information with a google search. Some of the words I used in searches were: Passover Food, Passover Seder, Passover Meal, Passover Recipes, How to host a Passover Seder, etc. You will find more information that you can possibly use.
I have a great love for my Jewish brothers and sisters. This strengthened my love for them and for my students as I prepared this special feast for them.
The next time I do this, I will have yarmulkes for the boys to wear. That would have been a fun added touch.

Happy Holy Week, Happy Passover, and Happy Easter to all.

We are on Spring Break until after Easter.