BYU Model Passover Seder teaches students about the tradition's significance

BYU has hosted its Model Passover Seder in the early spring for more than 40 years.

This event was held on March 27 of this year, and another will be led by professor Chadwick on April 10. The event highlights the history and sacred ritual of Passover, which is a festival celebrated annually in the Jewish community.

Jeff Chadwick, BYU Jerusalem Center professor of archaeology and near eastern studies, as well as BYU professor of Jewish studies has led the model seder for more than a decade.

Chadwick explained why he led the passover seder.

Teaching experience in Jewish communities to help children who are coming up through day school and even Jews who have been non-practicing for some period in their life to get used to what a passover seder is all about, Chadwick said.

During Passover, family and friends gather together to remember the story of the Israelites and their escape to freedom as told in the Book of Exodus.

Holy prayers are said, and songs of praise made as bitter herbs, unleavened bread and other symbolic foods are eaten.

Often food is served, sometimes not, sometimes it's just a lecture, Chadwick said. When we present these programs, we present it in that same spirit, as a teaching experience.

During the model seder, guests follow along in a pamphlet made and translated by Chadwick, which includes selections from the Passover Haggahah, a step by step guide used by those of the Jewish faith through the sacred rituals and prayers said during Passover.

We're not trying to do Passover as a religious ritual and ordinance of the law of Moses. That can only be done one night of the year and that would be on the night of 14 of Nisan in the Jewish calendar we leave that solely for our Jewish friends, explained Chadwick.

Passover is celebrated by those of the Jewish faith around the world. The week of Passover changes yearly, but always aligns with the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan.

Passover is a freedom festival, and it marks for Jewish people the beginning of the Jewish or Israelite nation, Chadwick said.

He explained the purpose of the event.

Our intent is to educate participants in the real aspects of the Jewish Passover. We hope they go away from (the BYU Model Passover Seder) with an appreciation for Jewish Passover, and whatever it can teach us about our own faith."

Chadwick, having lived in Jerusalem as an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, detailed two observations that have helped him to understand how the celebration of Passover.

There are two groups of people in the world that actually believe they are descendants of ancient Israel: the Jews and the Latter-day Saints, Chadwick said. The Jews have a remembered heritage. They have never not known that they are descendants of the people of the Bible, of the Old Testament."

He explained how this idea should be important to members of the Church.

For Latter-day Saints, that's not something we have on paper, Chadwick said. We don't have a genealogy that takes us all the way back, but for ours, for Latter-day Saints, it's a restored heritage. And for me that's been an important thing to enhance, is the identity of a descendant of Israel."

He also detailed how his faith in Jesus Christ has grown through participating in and celebrating the sacred ritual with Jewish friends.

Understanding Jewish Passover helps me to understand the Savior's last supper and his connection to the house of Israel, which was genuinely Jewish, Chadwick said.

Scott Goodwin, vice president of the BYU Office of Belonging, described what he learned.

For me, the most memorable thing about the BYU Model Passover was learning how the Savior built upon the traditional symbols of the Passover bread and wine when He instituted the sacrament, Goodwin said.

He continued, explaining what it meant to him personally.

It enriches my understanding of the sacrament to understand how that ordinance reinforces the Passover message of being saved through the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Goodwin said.

Attendees liked how Chadwick included them in this cultural experience.

Dr. Chadwick is clearly a man who had the know-how to present the Passover in a way that was both respectful to the Judaic faith and inspiring to Latter-day Saints, BYU student Garrett Whitlock said. "You could feel the effort that was put into making this an event accurate to the culture."

The BYU Model Passover Seder is an opportunity to cultivate interfaith relations and appreciation, while serving to educate audiences who would not typically have the chance to participate in such a sacred event.