Messianic Banquet: The Meal of Messiah in Song

There’s some attention this year on Se’udat Mashiach, the Meal of Messiah, a 400 year-old tradition instituted by the founder of Chassidic Judaism, in which the last night of Passover is spent with a special focus on Messiah and the coming Messianic Era.

The entire theme of the meal focuses on the coming of Messiah and the final redemption. The meal is festive in spirit. Everyone wishes one another “Lechayim! (to life!)” while discussing their insights into Messiah and their dreams and hopes for the Messianic Era. The meal concludes with fervent singing and dancing in joyous elation over the promise of the Messianic redemption.

This recent attention is due to Messianic organization First Fruits of Zion and their Meal of Messiah Passover resource.

Boaz Michael wrote about it in the new Messiah Journal, the article is available online. Since then, a number of Messianic bloggers have reacted: James discussed the Meal of Messiah and its relation to the Lord’s Supper, and Rabbi Joshua mentioned it over at the Yinon blog.

You fine blog readers might be interested in one of the songs traditionally sung during the Meal of Messiah:

It’s entitled A Sudenyu (Yiddish for “A Feast”), based off the Mah Nochal Bisudah HaZo song traditionally sung during the Meal of Messiah. Messianic music artists Avner & Rachel Boskey have spun a modern rendition of the song in Yiddish…Like you, I can’t speak Yiddish, but I think you’ll find it entertaining nonetheless! Here it is:

And here’s the translation:

Children: Tell us, dear rabbi, what will happen when Messiah comes?

Rabbi: When Messiah comes, we will have a feast!

Children: What will we eat at the feast?

Rabbi: We will eat the wild ox, the leviathan and refined, aged wine preserved from Creation!

(Yes, when Messiah comes, we will have a feast and we will eat the wild ox, the leviathan and refined, aged wine!)

Children: Who will dance for us at the feast?

Rabbi: Miriam the prophetess will dance and King David will play!

(Yes, when Messiah comes, we will have a feast, we will eat the wild ox, the leviathan, and refine aged wine, Miriam will dance and King David will play!)

Children: Who will speak wisdom to us at the feast?

Rabbi: King Solomon will speak wisdom and Moses will expound on the Torah!

(Yes, when Messiah comes, we will have a feast, we will eat the wild ox, the leviathan, and refine aged wine, Miriam will dance and King David will play, King Solomon will speak wisdom and Moses will expound on the Torah!)

Children: Who will redeem us so that we can partake of the feast?

Rabbi: Yeshua the Messiah will redeem us, and in His good gospel we will rejoice!

(Yes, when Messiah comes, we will have a feast, we will eat the wild ox, the leviathan, and refine aged wine, Miriam will dance and King David will play, King Solomon will speak wisdom and Moses will expound on the Torah, Yeshua the Messiah will redeem us, and in His good gospel we will rejoice!)

That last line was, of course, an addition by the Messianic music artists, Avner & Rachel Boskey (and a fine addition indeed!), while the rest is the preserved original.

Wonderful song, wonderful liturgy! I wonder if we can bake this into our Passover celebrations. Maybe I will try to learn this on the guitar. Would be a fun and forward-looking song to play during the Passover, if not the Meal of Messiah.

Hope you enjoyed the Messianic Banquet song, fine blog readers! (p.s. This song and hundreds of others await your listening pleasure at Chavah!)