In Theory

On Tuesday, a gathering of Orange County Catholics and Jews will mark the Jewish holiday of Passover together by sharing the Seder meal at Temple Beth Sholom in Santa Ana. The temple’s Rabbi Heidi Cohen and the Most Rev. Cirilo Flores, the auxiliary bishop of Orange, will preside over the Seder together by co-officiating it, Diocese of Orange officials said in a news release.

Jews celebrate Passover with the Seder meal on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Nissan. The meal commemorates the oppression that Jews experienced through slavery in Ancient Egypt.

Tuesday’s banquet at the temple will mark the 11th annual interfaith celebration of Seder between Orange County Jews and Catholics. The purpose, according to the diocese, is for followers of both faiths to celebrate their similarities and respect their differences.

Do you think that it’s appropriate for members and clergy representing another religion to participate in observing, celebrating — and even co-officiating — rituals that are central to your religion? If you think this is a good idea, could you offer examples of how you have shared rituals that are seminal to your own religion with people from other faiths?

Jews and Christians share in elevating wine and bread as sacred symbols. For Jews, the Seder’s unleavened bread reminds us of bitter bondage and the Passover wine attests to the sweetness of redemption. For Christians, the wine and bread of the Last Supper are Jesus’s blood, soon to be poured out for mankind, and his body, soon to be broken on the Cross.

I have addressed many Christian groups on the significance of Passover and have welcomed many Christian guests to Seder meals. I could not, though, participate in a service that celebrates both the Jewish Seder and the Christian Passover. When a Christian attendee at the Seder partakes of matzah and raises the cup, he does so in fidelity to the Gospel of John: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him in the last day.”

It would be difficult for me to hear the three matzahs proclaimed as the Triune God, or Jesus hailed as the true Paschal lamb, or the meaning of Christ’s atoning death confirmed in Passover typology. To me, this would be an unwarranted expropriation of my sacred symbols in the service of an incompatible faith.

Rabbi Mark S. Miller

Temple Bat Yahm

Newport Beach