Good Friday and Passover

Today is Good Friday, when we mark Jesus’ death and burial.

Tonight is also the start of Passover, the oldest of the Jewish holidays. It celebrates the story of how God set the Jewish people free from slavery in Egypt. Passover begins on the fourteenth day of the Jewish month of Nisan, which is the night of the first full moon after the equinox.


I don't hold a Passover Seder because it's too important of a ceremony. Instead, I honor the start of Passover with some thought and discussion on the themes, some Hebrew prayers, and a nice Jewish meal.

Agenda today:
1. Darkness to Hope Meditation
2. Bake hot cross buns
3. Clean the kitchen
4. Reflect on freedom
5. Passover blessing

1. Darkness to Hope Meditation:

Today I reflect on desperation and despair. I remember again that the soul's "dark night" is a part of the human condition. My capacity to experience despair is a gift; through it I am transformed. Jesus said, "You must be born again." (John 3:7). The ability to shift from despair to hope is how I get the strength to live life whatever the daily deaths I might face.

Everyone has periods and circumstances of despair. I remember quite clearly when I was laying in the emergency room on a table, with broken ribs and shoulder, and everyone left, probably to help someone else. I had been strong until then, but during that 45 minutes when I was alone I succumbed to self-pity, pain, and loneliness pretty quickly.

Today, meditate on that feeling: Remember, for a few minutes, what it was like to be sad and in misery. Center on that feeling for a while- feeling alone, even feeling no connection to Spirit. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Hold that feeling and take several slow breaths.

Then shift, and remember that you have experienced great joy, and remember that you will again; discover again a connection to the Divine. Relax into a feeling of light and hope. Feel a glow slowly fill you, as dawn fills the sky, and then extend light to family, to friends, to neighbors, to strangers, and to all others who are in darkness now.

2. Bake hot cross buns:
The hot cross bun is probably the oldest of the many English buns. It was originally eaten only on Good Friday. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries street cries were commonly heard on Good Friday:

"Hot cross buns, hot cross buns,   

One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns!”

You are supposed to keep one bun all year to insure that all the bread you bake is perfect (and as a charm against shipwreck).

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c. unsalted butter
• 1 c. milk
• 2 pkg. yeast
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3 c. white flour
• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. each nutmeg and allspice
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 c. plumped currants
• 1/2 c. sultana raisins
• 2 tsp. minced orange rind
• 1 egg white + 1 tsp. water
• powdered sugar frosting

Yield: 1-dozen buns-

1- Melt the butter. Heat the milk to just boiling. Whisk in the butter and sugar, then cool to 105ºF. Add yeast, salt and eggs.

2- Add flour and spices, and mix  to make a soft dough.

3- Knead for 5-7 minutes (I used my Kitchen-aid). Dust in more flour if needed. When dough is smooth knead in the plumped currants, sultana raisins, and minced orange rind.

4- Shape dough into a ball, cover with a towel, and let rest for about 20 minutes.

5- Divide the dough into 12 pieces and shape into balls. Place the buns on a lightly greased baking sheet about one inch apart. Using floured scissors, snip a cross on the top of each bun about 1/2-inch deep. Brush with egg white glaze. Let rest about 25 minutes or until buns look puffy and light.

6- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place the buns in the oven and reduce heat to 350°. Bake for 17-20 minutes, until the tops are golden brown. Remove from the oven. When cool, apply a cross of white frosting.

3. Clean the kitchen:
To prepare for Passover, Jewish families clean their homes very thoroughly and remove all leftover foods from the house so that no leavened products are left. I don't need to remove all the leavened foods, but today I will clean the kitchen floor and counters.

4. Reflect on freedom: 
The highlight of Passover is the Seder, a ceremonial meal that begins at sunset on the first night. The Seder focuses on the traditional symbolic foods that are used to help remember the Passover story. The whole family gets involved, each taking turns reading out of the haggadah (Hebrew for “narration”). The youngest person chants the Four Questions which ask why Passover is observed the way it is. After the initial ceremony the family shares a feast, then one final part of the Seder, and finally singing and poetry.

Passover is about freedom from slavery, oppression, and confinement, but Judaism defines true freedom as the ability to express who you really are. If something in my heart and soul has not had the opportunity to be expressed, then I am not yet free.

What is waiting inside me to be expressed out loud?What projects or images do I need to create to be made free?

5. Passover blessing: 

Barukh atah AdonAI, eloHAYnu melekh ha’olam, hazan et ha’olam kull O betuvo, bechen bechesed uvrachamin. 

Blessed art Thou, our God of the Universe, who nourishes the universe in goodness, with grace, kindness, and compassion.