Lenten Preaching Colloquium

On March 2, 2000, the ICJS conducted its annual Lenten Preaching Colloquium at Woodbrook Baptist Church. Designed for Christian clergy, this year’s program examined the recent proliferation of Christian "seders." Over the years, Christian clergy from a variety of denominations have approached the ICJS in search of resources to conduct a seder, usually on Maundy Thursday of Holy Week. Almost all these requests come from well-intentioned ministers and priests who want to foster better relations among Christians and Jews. They want to affirm the Jewishness of Jesus, and they recognize both the power and beauty of the Passover celebration. The Christian use of the seder impresses many clergy as an opportunity to reconnect their congregants to their "Jewish" roots and to forge deeper bonds between our two communities.

Rabbi David Sandmel, ICJS Jewish Scholar, conducted a text study that demonstrated the problematic conflation of Jesus’ Last Supper with a Passover celebration. He then traced rabbinic developments that culminated in the seder and the haggadah (seder liturgy) and enabled participants to make critical distinctions between ritual practices before and after the destruction of the Second Temple. Rabbis Elizabeth Bolton, Congregation Beit Tikvah, Shira Lander, The Ecumenical Insti-tute of Theology at St. Mary’s Seminary & University, and Robert Tobin, Chizuk Amuno Congregation, then reflected on the meanings of the seder within the Jewish community. Efforts to incorporate the seder into the life of the church were then examined against a historical backdrop that ranged from Patristic condemnations of Passover commemorations in churches to the deadly accusations of Ritual Murder and Blood Libel charges. Given the importance of the seder in the shaping of Jewish identity in all its distinctiveness, Christian "seders" not only obscure an anguished memory, but they also blur the boundaries between our two traditions.

Dr. Rosann Catalano, ICJS Roman Catholic Scholar, reviewed a number of contemporary Christian haggadot, documenting the tendency to place a christological overlay on the text of the haggadah. While some Christian participants were convinced that they could continue to conduct a "seder" without falling into patterns that demean or threaten the integrity of Juda-ism, others left convinced that Christian clergy ought to take steps to educate their congregations about the dangers of appropriating rituals that are not authentically Christian. All participants agreed, however, that the practice of Christian "seders" is enormously problematic, one that encroaches on the Jewish community, and that therefore demands ongoing review.

The ICJS is grateful to the Baltimore Chapter, American Jewish Committee, and to Lois Rosenfield, Executive Director, for collaborating with us on the Lenten Preaching Colloquium.