The regular seders take place in people's homes on the first night of Passover, just like in the book of Exodus, but they have these gatherings of up to 600 people to give us non-Jews a chance to experience a something of what it's all about. Not only does it help to demystify Judaism, but it also gives Christians a chance to get a better idea of what the Last Supper was all about.
Well, I'm just back from this year's seder, and I'm exhilarated! Usually I've sat with a table of middle aged or older people, or with parents of small children. But this year I arrived just as they were beginning and the first empty seat I could find was at a table with six young people at it. Four boys and two girls. It turned out they were all freshmen at Gordon College; and they were part of a contingent of 65 who had been brought by Professor Marvin Wilson, a Christian who is a tireless champion of interfaith understanding. One of the boys was Jewish, and the others were Gentiles; and they were all from out of state (Connecticut, Virginia, California, and I don't remember the others).
The organizers had put a couple of tambourines on each table (a new thing) and they encouraged us to play them and to clap along with the music. It didn't take long for me to get into the spirit of it and clap along. The Jewish boy did a few little dance steps during several of the musical pieces, and I even did a bit. But then! After the seder was formally concluded, they had a band perform a lively Jewish number, and the Jewish boy took a tambourine and danced away from the table, with one of the girls dancing behind. A minute or two later, the rest of us walked to where they were. Then they saw a circle of dancers (holding hands and going around clockwise, counterclockwise, toward the center, back out) and the two joined it, followed soon by two more. Finally the last two encouraged me to join them in the circle and I did! The circle had become too large for the space, so several, including our Jewish boy, formed a smaller circle in the middle. Sometimes they'd be going one way while we on the outside were going the other. After several minutes I began to feel a bit winded, and left the circle, and soon the dance came to an end.
Back at our table as we picked up our things we all agreed that we hoped to see each other at next year's seder.
If you ever have a chance to go to an interfaith seder, whether organized by ADL or some other group, I strongly recommend it. We all know the importance of understanding and respect, and these seders are an excellent way of promoting one form of them.
