Non-Jews Around the Table
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In a community like ours, the question needs to be asked. “Who’s qualified to celebrate Passover?” What’s the place of non-Jewish people around the seder table?
In the Torah’s instructions for celebrating Passover, the resident alien is forbidden leaven, just like Jewish people are forbidden leaven. Exodus 12:19
“For seven days leaven shall not be found within your houses, for whoever eats what is leavened that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, including the resident alien, including the citizen of the land.”
The penalty for non-compliance is exclusion. Since the resident alien is subject to exclusion, in some sense he or she is already considered part of the Jewish community. You can hardly be excluded if you never got in in the first place!
But in the continuation of the same chapter, the resident alien is only allowed to partake of the pesach lamb on condition that the male members of his household have been circumcised. Exodus 12:42-49
“It is a night of observance to HaShem, for extricating them from the Land of Egypt. This same night is the night of observance to HaShem for all the children of Israel throughout their generations. And HaShem said to Moshe and to Aaron, ‘This is the statute of the pesach lamb, no son of a foreigner may eat it. And every servant, person purchased with silver when he is circumcised, then he may eat it. An inhabitant and a hired laborer may not eat it. In one house it shall be eaten, you shall not remove the meat from the house outside, nor shall you break a bone of it. All the congregation of Israel shall do it. Should there reside with you a resident alien and he desires to do a pesach lamb to HaShem let his every male be circumcised, then let him come near to do it. And he shall be as the citizen of the land, but no uncircumcised may eat it. There shall be one torah for the citizen and for the resident alien who resides among you.”
It seems the Torah here distinguishes two types of resident aliens: circumcised and uncircumcised. Later rabbinic discussion used two separate terms for them. The resident alien who was circumcised was termed a ger tzedeq, The ger tzedeq was a full-fledged proselyte. The children of such a circumcised resident alien wouldn’t be considered resident aliens like their father; they’d simply be children of Israel. The resident alien who was not circumcised was termed a ger toshav. The children of the ger toshav would continue with the same status as their father until entering the covenant by undergoing circumcision. The ger toshav had to abide by certain minimal Torah commandments in order to reside among the Jewish people. To use the later terminology, a ger tzedeq can celebrate Passover, a ger toshav cannot.
Certain prominent Seventh-day Adventists have put forward the argument that non-Jewish people shouldn’t participate in celebrations of the biblical feasts, because the biblical feasts reenact events unique to Israel’s experience with God, and only the biological descendents of those whose ancestors actually underwent these experiences are entitled to reenact them.
This argument strikes me as racist. Israel has never been strictly a biological-based community. Although God’s election of Israel was non-voluntary, and the sign of the covenant is accordingly non-voluntary, nevertheless in every generation there have been Jews who have opted out and non-Jews who have voluntarily joined in. Israel has never been strictly a matter of ancestry.
Furthermore, this objection betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of how the experience of redemption is transmitted. In the Bible redemption is precisely the inclusion of those not originally present in God’s saving acts long ago. That’s why the experience needs to be remembered, retold, and reenacted. This issue comes up in Deuteronomy 6:20-23.
“When your son asks you tomorrow, saying, ‘What does this testimony, these statutes and customs mean which HaShem our God has commanded you?’ Then you shall say to your son, ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt and HaShem extricated us from Egypt with a strong hand. HaShem gave great and evil signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his household before our eyes. Us he extricated from there in order to bring us to give us the land which he swore to our fathers.”
Now remember, the Book of Deuteronomy is written forty years [1:3] after the Exodus from Egypt. With the notable exceptions of Moshe, Kalev ben Yfune and Yhoshua bi Nun [1:34-39] by the time Deuteronomy 6 is written the generation who came out of Egypt has all been laid to rest [2:14-15]. The father answering questions in Deuteronomy 6 was born in the wilderness, not in Egypt. He’s never actually been to Egypt. The son who asks questions in Deuteronomy 6 is the grandson of a slave. Yet our Torah insists the father should tell the story in the first person: “We were slaves…God extricated us…God gave signs…before our eyes…us he extricated from there…to give us the land which he swore to our fathers.” The story isn’t, “your grandparents were slaves…God extricated our ancestors, etc.” This is not a third person story. In the Book of Deuteronomy the story of redemption is about what God has done for me. The minor detail that this instruction is given at a later time to a later generation who weren’t historically present when the Hebrew slaves were redeemed doesn’t alter the fact: the exodus is a first person story.
The script for telling the story is called the haggada. Haggada means “the telling.” In the haggada there’s a song about this.
“In every generation a person must view himself or herself as if he or she literally came out of Egypt. As it is written, “And you shall tell your son on that day, saying, It was for this reason that HaShem acted for me when I exited Egypt. It was not our fathers alone who the holy One blessed be he redeemed, but us as well he redeemed with them. As it is written [Deuteronomy 6:23], “Us he extricated from there in order to bring us to give us the land which He swore to our fathers.” [m. Pesachim 10,5]
A further reason the objection doesn’t hold up that only descendents of those whose ancestors historically underwent the experience of redemption are entitled to reenact it is that the Torah spells out the conditions by which resident aliens may participate in all three of the major pilgrimage festivals: Pesach [Exodus 12:43-49], Shavuot [Deuteronomy 16:11] and Sukkot [Deuteronomy 16:14; 31:12]. If non-Jewish participation were ruled out in principle, the Torah wouldn’t make special provision for it.
The Apostolic Writings provides us with examples of non-Jewish people celebrating Passover together with the Jewish people. In John 12:20, a group of so-called “Greeks” who’ve come up to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover ask Philip for an audience with his master. These “Greeks” are probably not ethnically Greek. In 1st century Jewish writings, such as those of Josephus, “Greeks” is usually a catch-all term for everybody who isn’t Jewish. The group who seeks an audience with Jesus aren’t locals and they don’t speak Hebrew or Aramaic. They’re “Greek” insofar as they identify with the international culture of the Mediterranean world and they speak Greek as a second language. They could be of any ethnicity from anywhere within the Roman Empire. In rabbinic terminology they’re evidently gere tzedeq, circumcised aliens. Anyway, these non-Jewish people have come up to the temple for Passover, and the Gospel writer treats this as something perfectly ordinary, which draws no further comment.
Another example of non-Jewish people celebrating Passover. In 1Corinthians 5:6-8 the Apostle Shaul writes to a congregation of non-Jewish believers in Mashiach.
“Your bragging isn’t good. Don’t you realize that a little leavening leavens the entire batch? Clear out the old leaven in order that you may be a new batch, being that you are matza! For indeed Mashiach, our pesach lamb has been sacrificed. Hence, let us celebrate the feast, not with the old leaven or the leaven of wickedness and evil, but with the matza of sincerity and truth.”
The Apostle Shaul here appeals to the Jewish custom of koshering your house before Pesach. You clear out every crumb of foodstuff, which if moistened might inadvertently turn into sourdough starter. It’s called bdiqat chametz. Shaul draws a moral lesson from this familiar custom for the congregation at Corinth: get your house in order, dare to exercise discipline! Today we need to explain this background to a Christian audience, because normally Christians aren’t familiar with the requirements of Passover, but in the 1st century the Apostle Shaul can make this comparison in a non-Jewish congregation and he doesn’t need to explain himself. The non-Jewish recipients at Corinth knew enough about Passover to get the point.
Of course, you can argue when the Apostle Shaul says, “Let us celebrate the feast” to the Corinthians, he doesn’t mean it literally, but only in the figurative sense that they celebrate sincerity and truth. But even if 1st century Gentiles who confessed Jesus didn’t literally celebrate Passover, they were familiar enough with how redemption was reenacted by their Jewish neighbors that the Apostle's metaphor of removing the old leaven wouldn’t have been lost on them.
My suspicion is that when the Apostle says, “Let us celebrate the feast,” he’s not speaking purely metaphorically, but that he expects the Corinthians to participate in an actual feast. As you’ll recall the Corinthians had particular problems eating together, both with the Lord’s Supper and with food offered to idols. These were occasions for literal eating and drinking.
Oral Torah upholds the written Torah on this point: non-Jewish people are invited to celebrate the redemption. In fact, the haggada extends just such an invitation. This comes right near the beginning.
“This is the bread of affliction which our fathers ate in Egypt. Everyone who is hungry, let him come and eat! Everyone who is needy, let him come and celebrate Pesach! This year here. Next year in the land of Israel. This year slaves. Next year freemen!”
Since the destruction of the 2nd temple, when animal sacrifice is no longer valid, the celebration of Pesach has been done minus the pesach lamb. Pesach is done without the sacrificial lamb for which the festival is actually named. Since the destruction of the 2nd temple, there’s no lamb on the table. There’s no longer an issue of ritual impurity which might disqualify somebody from eating sanctified foodstuffs. This means the restrictions barring the ger toshav from participating in Exodus 12 are no longer a barrier. For practical purposes, circumcised and uncircumcised aliens can now be treated exactly alike. The “everyone” of the haggada is really and truly everyone without conditions. This night everyone can be a guest in the house of Israel.
When the haggada says, “everyone who is needy,” it doesn’t refer only to people who are economically challenged. You may have a comfortable income, but you may be lonesome. In that case you’re among the needy. Your need is a table of friends. The haggada invites you around the table to celebrate Pesach. The haggada doesn’t limit the hungry and the needy to Jewish hungry and needy or to Christian hungry and needy. Anybody who yearns to be free is invited. In the words of the haggada, “This year slaves. Next year free!”
In a profoundly reverent way, almost everything we do as Christians, we do as guests in the house of Israel. The Aposlte Shaul teaches that Israel has been entrusted with “the shkina glory, the covenant, the Torah, the sanctuary worship, the promises” [Romans 9:4] and with “the oracles of God” [Romans 3:1]. The story of redemption belongs to Israel. The rest of us get in on the story by sharing what wasn’t originally ours. We’ve been extended hospitality. If we’re Christian, it means we’ve taken God up on his gracious invitation to share what wasn't originally ours.
As Christians we treasure a scripture, which was not originally ours, and is not addressed directly to us. We’ve had to learn indirect listening. Every time we read the Bible we’re gently reminded that we are not the only people of God or the first people to walk with him. We’ve managed as guests.
To summarize, Jewish tradition makes provision for non-Jewish people to participate in the celebration, but it warns that not everyone who takes part is automatically among the redeemed. Undergoing Israel’s experience is not a matter of ethnicity or DNA, but of identifying with Israel’s God. In order to experience redemption, later generations have to identify with the redeeming God and the redeemed people. That’s how the experience of escaping Egypt is passed on. Israel’s story has to become your story.
When this story is repeated with the appropriate prophetic action the Redeemer promises to be powerfully present. By joining the reenactment, God acts for you. When Israel tells it again, God does it again. When we retell the story of redemption, God writes us right into the script. That goes for the story of redemption from Egypt or for the story of Jesus’ passion. But we must consciously include ourselves. The haggada spells this out. In the haggada we say together.
“We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and HaShem our God brought us out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. If the holy One, blessed be He hadn’t brought our fathers and mothers out from Egypt, we and our children and our children’s children would still be enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt.”
Redemption isn’t automatic. It doesn’t come about by being in the right place at the right time. It’s not an accident of birth. Jewish tradition claims that most of the children of Israel refused to leave Egypt. They were not redeemed. Because they preferred the security of slavery, they never tasted freedom. Being born children of Israel didn’t help them.
Redemption is a matter of personal identity. Either you acquire Israel’s heritage or you don’t. Either Israel’s God becomes your God, or by default you serve some lesser deity. Either you make the experience of liberation your own experience or you remain a slave. You include yourself or you exclude yourself.
We return to the original question, and I hope we can now give a more satisfying answer. Who’s qualified to celebrate Passover? Everyone who worships the God of Israel is equally qualified whether we are Jewish or not. The real question on this occasion is, “Do we identify with the redeemed, or do we exclude ourselves and miss out on what God has done?” God has uniquely committed himself to us, but we must also commit to him in order to experience Israel’s redemption. Tomorrow round the seder table let’s all be insiders. Redemption’s too good to miss.
