April 20th, 2009 by Kristi Stephens

This weekend we were with my family. We’ve been talking for the couple of months about starting a tradition of having a seder dinner together, which has been very exciting to me!

Now, I must say… the first annual family seder was not exactly “traditional.” We’re starting small while we figure out what we’re doing and while the kids are little. We decided that the theme of our seder must be “we’re not under the law.” Why? Well, let’s see…

Here’s the plate of bacon that we put into our twice-baked potatoes…

And while this is probably not a traditionally Jewish touch, we had a lamb made out of butter (there are advantages to celebrating Easter the week after – you can get exciting things like this on clearance).

However, this did get weird when it came time to actually use the butter.

Here is our lamb cake we had for dessert, complete with a nutty bar cross.

So, as you might have guessed, our “seder” really did not resemble a traditional seder at all! [Although we did have a plate of Matzos.] But, we did have some great discussions about the pictures of Christ in the seder dinner, and the importance of the feast days in the life of Christ.

Was this as meaningful as we could have made it? No. It’s a work in progress. It’s not an easy thing to create a meaningful family tradition that is this involved, but I think it is worth the effort! Next year we hope to do this a little more “traditionally,” as the kids get older and as the adults get our act together! However, we have all agreed that the nutty bars are a must in future seders (affectionately referred to as “notsa matzoh”), and that the butter lamb was a nice touch that should be repeated. :)

Would you like to learn more about the Passover and the other feasts of Israel? Just leave a comment on this post and on Friday one commenter will win these two informative booklets from Zola Levitt – “The Miracle of Passover,” and “The Seven Feasts of Israel.”