Passover Preparation – Day 5 – Procuring the Provisions

Hallel Psalm 117:1 O praise the Lord, all ye nations! Praise Him, all ye people! 2 For His merciful kindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. Praise ye the Lord!
Passover is a festival of celebration. Our people received the freedom, which brings life and happiness and joy. And, as is common, we celebrate by eating. The Passover meal is to be like a Thanksgiving meal, with lots of food and lots of people. When we eat together we tell stories, play together, and sing together.
     When families gather for Passover, everyone knows what the Seder will include, so they come hungry. This element of preparation requires a diligent person to plan and cook the meal. They need to buy meat, Motzah, morror (bitter herbs), ingredients for Charosis, the wine (at least four cups), the egg, and of course the vegetables.
     Sometimes we take the preparation of the Seder meal for granted. This is not to be so on Passover, for the story of this feast is told through symbolic foods, starting with the green vegetables. While it might appear that going to the store to purchase enough food for all the members of the family is a simple matter, we are reminded of a time before stores existed, when the family had to raise enough food for themselves or they would starve!
     While sometimes vegetables are given to balance the meal, or as a healthy food, on Passover green vegetables mean even more. They speak of life, for the world is reawakening to life once again. Our gathering is at the Spring Harvest time and we are called to give thanks to God who gives our crops and our food (even if we go to the store, we must remember it all starts with the planting of crops).
     The green vegetable is dipped in salt water to remind us of the tears our forefathers shed when in slavery. They had to produce crops, not only for themselves, but first and foremost for their taskmasters, the Egyptians. The saltwater calls to our attention the hard work of their physical toil, and the difficult reality that sometimes the seeds we sowed do not provide as much food as we would like and we go hungry. Bitter Herbs remind us how bitter life can be under slavery, in drought, under persecution, or when harsh circumstances come our way.
     In your daily life, are you a slave to your existence? Is your survival a day to day matter, getting the things done which you must, coming home tired, and then doing the same thing the next day? Or do you take time to celebrate each day and give thanks for all things – small or great – which God has afforded to you for your enjoyment?
     We eat the green vegetable to remind us to give thanks. And also we eat Charosis, and partake of four glasses of wine, to remind us that simple thanks is never enough in life – we must see even the small gifts from God with great joy and allow simple thanks to overflow into abundant rejoicing!
     Passover is a lesson on new growth and new things. It is the story of our new nation. The descendants of Israel left slavery to become a new people with all the trials and possibilities that would bring. The purpose of this feast is to call us to the perspective that we must give thanks for all things (whether easy or hard); and we must show gratitude to the God who provides everything (small and great); and that thanks is not enough, for God desires us to live life in joy, no matter the circumstances.