BARTELS FAMILY HAGGADAH Remembrance * Redemption * Renewal

Now Available! The Bartels Family Sukkot Celebration

Why would a Gentile Christian want to celebrate Biblical Feasts?

The Bartels Family Haggadah 2003/5763 After several years of revisions and fine-tuning our Haggadah is finally "static."  This is the latest version.

Seder "Mini-Posters" - The Ten Plagues, Order of Service
See Preparation Information below for usage.

Thought: "It's sad that all this had to be. People died so we'd be free. Our drops of wine fall down like tears as we retell the story every year." (From "The Ten Plagues" in A Singing Seder). Christians may change the words slightly to, "It's sad that all this had to be. Jesus died so we'd be free..." While G-d's mighty acts to free Israel from slavery to Egypt showed his great love for the Jews, they pale when compared to His love shown to ALL through His mighty act of Jesus's death on the cross.

Background Information

• "G-d" and "L-RD" are not misprints as mistaken by some believers. In ancient times it was blasphemous to utter the name of the Supreme Being. In the original text of the Tenach (Old Covenant) this is demonstrated by the following designations: YHWH and two "yoods" (YY), neither of which can be pronounced. Some Jews today, including Messianic Jews, believe that removing the vowels from the English words shows respect to our L-RD and helps ensure the Name is not misused. I choose to honor this tradition.
• This Haggadah originally was largely "borrowed" from Celebrate Passover Haggadah by Joan R. Lipis. (Examples of "original content" include, but are not limited to, the Messianic verses to "Dayenu!", highlighting Christians' spiritual relationship to the Jews through being "grafted in" and the phrase "Next year in the new Jerusalem.") Many revisions have been made over the years.
  • Other Haggadahs and related books used
    • Christ in the Passover by Ceil and Moishe Rosen
    • A Passover Haggadah for Christians and A Guide to the Celebration of a Christian Passover both by Bruce J. Lieske of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod's Lutherans in Jewish Evangelism.
    • Passover Haggadah for Followers of Yeshua the Messiah by Daniel Juster of The Messianic Vision (Used by Congregation Roeh Israel in Denver, CO for congregational seders).
    • Passover Haggadah: A Messianic Celebration by Eric-Peter Lipson
    • Celebrate the Feasts of the Old Testament in Your Own Home or Church by Martha Zimmerman
    • The Artscroll Children's Haggadah by Shmuel Blitz (Paperback version of a traditional Jewish Haggadah)
    • A general list of recommended books is available at The Bartels Family Sukkot Celebration
  • Websites consulted
    • Passover: A Christian Observance
    • Pesach (Passover): The Festival of Freedom and Redemption
    • Virtual Seder Plate
  • Hymn books used
    • 1998/5758 - Sing Joyfully edited by Jack Schrader
    • 1999/5759 - Lutheran Worship (liturgy and hymn book used by the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod). "Feast of Victory" is also found in the Lutheran Book of Worship (liturgy and hymn book used by multiple Lutheran synods)
  • Audio Tapes
    • A Singing Seder - by Cindy Paley (Traditional Jewish music, kids love it)
    • Times and Seasons - Jews for Jesus
    • At the Zoo from Integrity Music's Just for Kids series
  • MIDI File for "Shout to the Lord" may be found here.
• The Haggadah was first written in 1998/5758. Each year it has been updated as new insight is gained into the meaning of the holiday or what works best for our family.

Preparation Information

• Meal Planning:
  • The following books were used in helping to plan the Passover meal:
    • The Art of Jewish Cooking by Jennie Grossinger
    • The Jewish Holiday Kitchen by Joan Nathan
    • To Every Season: A Holiday Family Cookbook by Jane Breskin Zalben
    • Something Different for Passover by Zell Schulman
      
  • The following are resources with some great recipes for Passover:
    • Classic Jewish Recipe Categories
    • Passover on the Net - Recipes
    • Kosher Cooking - Passover Recipes
    • Download a compilation of Passover meal recipes (PDF - 1.11 MB)
    • Download a compilation of charoset recipes (PDF)
    • Download a compilation of  matzah recipes (PDF) - Please note that a certain skill is needed to make matzah kosher for Passover.  This may be a concern for some people.
      
• To help all in keeping track of where the family is in the Seder at any given time we tape "mini-posters" on the wall that lists the major parts of the service as well as a list of the plagues which helps with the recitation during the Maggid.
• Rather than have several music sources on the Seder table at once, we decided in 1999/5759 to make up a songbook for our own use. It is not offered here to avoid copyright concerns. Since no one in our family is musically inclined and a recording of the music for the songs is a great help, we also put all accompaniment on one cassette tape in the order used in the service. This greatly facilitates the musical portions of the Seder for our family.
• Supplies may be found at local synagogues or a Messianic Jewish congregation with gift shops or from Jews for Jesus. We got our matzoh cover from a local synagogue and Seder plate from JfJ.
• We purchase our leg of lamb for the meal from a health food store. While not technically kosher, we could be assured it was "cruelty free."

Other Web Resources - Personally checked and recommended

What Other Jewish Holidays Can Believers Celebrate?
Pesach (Passover) is by far our family's favorite holiday. We are exploring other Jewish holidays and how we, as Gentile believers, can celebrate them to the glory of our L-rd. We now "officially" celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles and "recognise" Hanukkah. A website that gives a good overview of Jewish holidays for believers in Messiah is Biblical Holidays: Jewish Holy Days Point to the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus). A highly recommended book about celebrating Jewish holidays is A Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays by Scarlata and Pierce.

Look for G-d to act! Words cannot express the joy, awe, and spiritual growth experienced by me as I write/revise the Haggadah and my family as we participate in this celebration! The insight the Seder provides into our Saviour's ultimate sacrifice is incredible. We find it more "moving" than any traditionally Christian holiday. May our L-rd richly bless your Seder should you decide to take this step in your family's walk.

Page last revised April 4, 2004.

Page written by Mary-Frances Bartels

Comments or questions welcome.