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Preparing for Passover

It doesn’t matter what night you believe the Passover falls on or whether you plan to hold two services or only one, there are many things that need to be done in preparation. If you wait until the last minute, you will never get it accomplished in time.

This paper will spell out ways to get it all done so you can enjoy the feast more completely.

A week to 10 days before the feast:

• The first thing you have to do is decide when and where you will hold your service and the number of people who will be in attendance. If you need help in deciding when and whether to hold both a Lord’s Supper observance and a Passover service or just one service, read the lesson portions for the Sabbath Services on March 10, March 17, and March 24. They discuss the pros and cons on all sides of this issue.
• Both Passover and the Lord’s Supper ought to be conducted in small groups. A hall full of people is inappropriate for either. If you have a large group, break up into smaller groups of about 10 to 15 people. Usually, as independents, we don’t rent halls, but conduct the services in our homes.
• The place where the service is to be held needs to include a table and chairs sufficient for everyone to be seated all together. If extra tables are needed, they ought to all be in the same room. This will help you decide the number of people at one location. Children are definitely included for Passover, whether you are holding a combined seder dinner or a biblical service. Children are generally not included at a Lord’s Supper service.
• Single individuals can conduct any of the services alone or can invite non-believing family members or friends to join them. Use care in the people you invite. They need to be open-minded enough not to ruin the feast for you. Also, guard against trying to use the service as a way of converting someone. Remember that God is the one who does the calling.
• Once you have decided when and where you will hold your service, clean that room thoroughly. A good cleaning of the whole house is also a good idea at this time. You will want to vacuum and dust the room you will be using again on the day of preparation.
• Begin assembling the items you will need. If you will be using one or more of the services available on this website, download and print them now. Read through the services to see which of the items from the list below that you need. Make enough copies for everyone on your guest list.
• Plan your menu for the dinner portion of the service. You can include as many courses as you like from appetizers to dessert, but remember, everything must be unleavened. If you need help, download and print one or both of the cookbooks offered on this website.
• Find a butcher shop or meat counter where you can obtain lamb, if you plan to use it. If necessary, place your order for pick up later. Most people today do not include lamb with the Passover because there is no longer a temple where the lambs can be offered. The only service on this website that includes the lamb is the Biblical Passover service, but it is not necessary to have the lamb unless you chose it.

During the last week before the feast:

In addition to planning your meal for Passover, you will need to consider the appearance of your table, shopping for the items needed, and the preparation of any foods that can be made ahead and frozen.

Fine linen and your best china should be used for the Passover. Paper plates and plastic cups are inappropriate. If you have cloth napkins, use them. If not, the dinner size paper napkins available today can be used.

Plan a centerpiece for your table. It can be your own creation or go to a florist or craft shop and order one specially made to your specifications. Include candles as part of the centerpiece. They can be tapers or votive, whichever is appropriate to your table design. You can use either two candles to represent the Father and the Son or seven candles to represent the seven spirits of God.

During the week before the feast, get out your good china and other items for your table. Wash any that need washing. Don’t forget the wine glasses and polishing the silver if necessary. If linens need washing or ironing, do that ahead also.

The table can be set ahead of time if you desire, but if done too far ahead, you might want to cover it all with a clean bedsheet to keep it dust free. Most prepare all the items and keep them covered in the kitchen, saving the actual table setting until the last hour or two before the feast begins.

It is a good idea to do your shopping ahead of time also to avoid accidentally forgetting something at the last minute.

Shopping List

• 2 or 7 candles and centerpiece, order and/or pickup
• Red wine — don’t buy more than you need as the remainder will be poured out on the ground.
• Matzo — get enough for Passover and the whole seven days of Unleavened Bread.
• Bitter herbs — can be parsley, mustard greens, or lettuce, for example
• Horseradish
• Lamb stew meat if using — one small piece for each in attendance.
• White napkins, if you don’t have cloth napkins available.
• Items for dinner:

  Main course — lamb if you desire, but can be poultry, beef, or fish — clean meats, of course.
  Vegetable — your choice, but avoid already prepared creamed vegetables as they may have a leavening agent in the sauce.
  Potato or stuffing — if using stuffing, it needs to be made with unleavened bread or matzo. We prefer using a rice stuffing.
  Salad — salad greens and fresh vegetables for a tossed salad. Don’t forget the dressing.
  Dessert — fruit is the easiest, but there are other options, such as sponge cake with fruit and other desserts if you have time to prepare them.
  Beverage — coffee, tea, milk, wine.

Sample Dinner Menu

Here is just one example for a successful Passover dinner:

Rock Cornish Game Hens
Stuffed with wild rice and mushroom stuffing
Green Beans Almondine
Tossed Salad with Raspberry Vinagrette Dressing
Fresh Fruit Cup
Coffee, Tea or Milk

This is an idea of a meal that can be made all ahead. The salads and fruit cups can be prepared early in the day and holding in the refrigerator. The hens can be stuffed and roasting in the oven, timed to be complete around the time the feast begins. Turn down the heat to maintenance levels during the ceremonial portion of the service. Prepare the vegetable and have it holding in the warm oven also. When the dinner portion of the service comes, it will take very little time to serve up the plates and deliver them to the table.

The above shopping list will supply your needs if you will be conducting a Lord’s Supper service or the Biblical Passover service. However, if you plan to conduct the Christian Passover Haggadah, you will also need the ingredients for the charoset — apples, nuts, honey, cinnamon, and the rind of a lemon.

Study the service program for the service you plan to conduct to make sure you have everything you need on your shopping list.

The Day of Preparation

On the day of preparation, go through your home searching for and discarding any leaven that is found in your dwelling. Merely moving leavened products out of the house to only return them later is not following the spirit of God’s instructions. Vacuum and dust the room where the Passover will be eaten (the whole house, if you haven’t already done it ahead of time, but saving it to this day is not a smart idea. You already have enough other things to do.)

During the last few hours, prepare any food that can be refrigerated or that needs cooking time in the oven.

Everyone should bathe and dress in clean clothing before the hour or guests arrive.

Set the table before guests arrive. Decant the wine if necessary. Prepare the ceremonial plates and have them ready to put on the table before calling your guests to the table. All the items for the dinner following the opening ceremonial portion of the Passover should remain in the kitchen until their time comes.

Most of us have certain ways we prepare for guests for a dinner party at other times of the year. The Passover preparations are not all that different. What marks this gathering as different is that certain elements are to be on the table and ready for the ceremony to begin before you call your guests to the table. Then, at the right point in the service, the table is cleared and re-set for the dinner portion of the service.

In the Biblical service, following the dinner, the table can be cleared again to prepare for a re-enactment of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples, but that second table clearing is optional. There is no indication that the table at the original supper was cleared before Jesus offered the elements of the bread and wine — in fact, the scriptures indicate that it all happened during dinner.

You may want to clear the table at the end of the actual service before serving the dessert and coffee. As the service will be over and you will be entering a time of fellowship, you may even want to hold the dessert and coffee for awhile, depending on how ready your guests are for more food.

Every single detail of preparing for the Passover has not been included in this article, but we’ve touched on the most important elements. The main thing to help you prepare is taking the time to think about what you will be doing, making “to do” lists for yourself that fit your specific needs, and then following through with them. If you plan it all and organize yourself, you’ll get more enjoyment from the actual observance itself.