Although only in its third year, the annual Passover seder sponsored by the St. Paul Interfaith Network can be declared a resounding success. In fact, had anyone else shown up for last weekend's program, they would have ended up sitting in the hall.
The program was led by Rabbi Amy Eilberg from the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning at the University of St. Thomas and St. John's University.
Instructional seders, in which the rituals are explained to non-Jews, are not unusual. What set this one apart was that between the lessons Eilberg incorporated an interfaith dialogue that involved a wide range of beliefs.
Among those participating were a Christian (the Rev. Shawn Moore), Muslim (Yusuf Wazirzada), Buddhist (Mayo-O Marilyn Habermas-Scher), Hindu (Suhag Shukla) and Baha'i (Nancy Wong).
At Passover, which starts at sunset Monday, Jews tell the story of the Israelites' escape from slavery and exodus from Egypt. It's not just a Jewish story, Eilberg said.
"All great religious traditions teach and reflect on the themes that are central to this narrative: love of justice, empathy for the oppressed and belief in the possibility of a world transformed," she explained. Each of the guest speakers was invited to address how these issues are reflected in their faith.
The seder drew 200 people, a crowd that packed the hall at the Temple of Aaron Congregation in St. Paul to the point that organizers were scrambling to find seats for everyone. They managed to do that, but they probably need to start looking for a bigger room for next year.
A rare reprise In 1931, the Brussels Conservatory came up with a unique idea for a Holy Week program: A narrator read French poet Paul Claudel's "The Stations of the Cross" poem, pausing after each of the 14 stanzas while organist Marcel Dupré improvised a musical meditation on the words that had just been read.
