Christians, first time
The subtitle is “A Christian Haggadah For Passover,” and it assumes you are coming to this as a believer in Yeshua rather than as someone who grew up with it. Nothing is assumed knowledge.
Free download
Broken For You: a Christian Haggadah.
A free, printable 33-page PDF that walks your table through a Passover seder from the opening prayer to the last cup, with Yeshua (Jesus) at the center of the story. Written by Matthew Vander Els and published by Founded in Truth Fellowship in 2019. No sign-up, no cost.
What is inside
Everything the night needs.
It opens with four pages on what Passover is: Israel enslaved in Egypt, the lamb, the blood on the doorposts, the sea, and then the night Yeshua picked up the bread and the cup and called them His body and His blood. The Haggadah puts it plainly: this is “a festival of freedom,” not from Egypt but from slavery to sin and the power of death.
Then it gets practical. A section on clearing leaven out of the house, with the reminder that if you get every crumb out and still carry arrogance and unforgiveness, you have achieved nothing. A section on setting the table. A walk through the five items on the seder plate, the matzah, the four cups, the hand washing, and the salt water, with what each one is for.
The rest is the seder itself, written out as a script. Leader lines, the lines everyone says together, the Hebrew blessings spelled out phonetically, the four questions for the youngest child who can read, the ten plagues, and Psalm 118 and Psalm 98 to sing at the end. It closes the way a seder closes: “Next year in Jerusalem.”
The plate
Five things on a plate, and what each one is for.
Tap any number. These are the five elements the Haggadah asks you to set out, in its own order, with its own explanations. If you do not own a seder plate, use a regular plate.
Tap a number on the plate to read what it is and why it is there.
All 5 items on the plate
- 1. The roasted lamb shank bone (Zeroa) The shank bone represents the Passover lamb peace offering.
- 2. A roasted egg (Beitzah) The roasted egg represents the haggigah, or festival offerings, roasted along with the Passover offering. After the destruction of the Temple, symbols for the Passover and haggigah offerings were used on the seder plate. An egg was chosen to make a stark distinction from the Passover symbol of the shank bone.
- 3. The green vegetable (Karpas) Typically celery or parsley. It represents the betrayal of Joseph by his brothers. At step three of the seder everyone dips it in salt water.
- 4. Charoset A mixture of nuts, apples, wine and spices that represents the mortar the Israelites used to build the cities of Egypt.
- 5. Bitter herbs (Maror) Usually horseradish or romaine lettuce, and this plate sets out both. They represent the bitterness of slavery, and the Haggadah adds the oppressive power of sin in our own lives. It points to Numbers 9:11, where the Passover is eaten "with unleavened bread and bitter herbs."
The order of the evening
Fourteen steps, in order.
This is the summary page of the Haggadah. Every one of these steps is then written out in full, so the leader never has to improvise.
- 1Kaddesh · Opening prayer
- 2Urchatz · Hand washing
- 3Karpas · Dip the parsley in salt water
- 4Yachatz · Break the matzah
- 5Maggid · Tell the Exodus story and the story of Yeshua
- 6Motzi · Blessing over the bread
- 7Matzah · Eating matzah
- 8Maror · Bitter herbs
- 9Korech · Matzah and bitter herbs together
- 10Shulchan Orech · Serve the main meal
- 11Eat the hidden matzah
- 12Barech · Give thanks to God
- 13Hallel · Sing songs together
- 14Nirtzah · Conclusion
Who it is for
Written for a table that has never done this.
Families with kids
The telling of the Exodus story is marked “intentionally simplified for children,” and the four questions are given to the youngest child at the table who can read.
Whatever you own
If you do not have a seder plate, the Haggadah says use a regular plate. The elements are reminders, not the main course, so you cook a normal celebration meal.
How the evening runs
Led from the page, or led by the video.
There is a companion video where Matthew hosts the seder for you, page by page, telling you when to pour, when to eat, and when to pause. It was made for exactly this Haggadah: “follow along in the free Haggadah available on our website.” The video runs about 53 minutes, not counting the break for the meal, which comes at step ten.
Matthew ends the walk-through hoping you will not need it next year: that you will take charge and lead your own. That is what the printed Haggadah is for.
Take it with you
Download it, and watch the walk-through.
Set a date, set the table.
The next Passover seder falls on the evening of Wednesday, April 21, 2027. Print the Haggadah, invite your people, and lead it yourself. If you would rather do your first one with a room full of others, come keep it with us.