And for obedience to him and his commands do we suffer, who hath said, “Swear not at all.” And he said, “Call no man master upon earth, for ye have one master in heaven” ... And this hath been the only ground and cause of our sufferings, because we obeyed the command of Christ, the author of our eternal salvation, and observed the apostles’ doctrine and practice; and not for any other cause or end have our sufferings been, but for conscience sake, because we cannot bow to men’s wills and worships contrary to the command of Christ Jesus our everlasting priest, king, and prophet, whom we serve with our spirits, and worship in that which the world calls heresy. —Margaret Fell

Questions: If we took out Leviticus, Numbers, or Deuteronomy from the Bible, what would be missing that is important to Christian faith? How have you seen God at work in these books? What is one thing about your spiritual life or religious practice that you want to change as a result of studying these books?

When my son was a toddler, my family was invited to practice Passover with a Jewish friend and some other Jewish families. We met in the home of one of the families, and were welcomed warmly, even though I was attending a Christian seminary.

Having grown up a Quaker, I hadn’t had many experiences like this evening of ritual upon ritual. Each activity had meaning, and we spent hours together, eating or drinking at each stage of the Passover Haggadah, doing readings and singing songs, and talking and laughing throughout the Seder. They were impressed with my ability to read the Hebrew (although it was printed in English and transliterated on a facing page), and I loved the way this group blended together the timeless rituals passed down through generations while adding their own flare. They had colorful, handmade banners with Hebrew words and passages of Scripture, and they had kid-friendly visual aids to represent each of the plagues.

They also had a beautiful way of including the children in each stage of the evening’s festivities. It helped that there were snacks at regular intervals! The youngest child present who can read gets to ask “the four questions,” regarding how this night is different from other nights. To enact the Israelites passing through the Sea of Reeds and wandering in the wilderness, the children got to go on a procession around the house, making all kinds of noise with drums and noisemakers to represent their celebration after escaping slavery and the miraculous parting of the waters. Toward the end, the kids go find the afikomen, a piece of unleavened bread (matzah cracker) that had been broken earlier in the ceremony, and had been hidden by one of the adults. In this group’s version of the Passover, the youngest child is supposed to find the afikomen and present it to the person leading the ritual, and so all the other kids helped my son look for the matzah. When they found it, they got to exchange it for a piece of chocolate.

I noticed a few things when practicing Passover with these families. First, I noticed how much better I knew the story after I had participated in it. Second, I noticed how this ritual intentionally made space for children and created an intergenerational experience that was meaningful in different ways to different age groups. Our worship services have their beauty and their important lessons of stillness and waiting and listening, but I recognize that we Friends can learn much from those who worship in rituals that incorporate the senses, story, and seasonal rhythms of celebration and remembrance.

–Cherice Bock in “Friendly Perspective” from Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy: Following God Together