This past spring, Aravis and I participated in a Jewish Folk Dance called Zechariah Ministries. It is a ministry dedicated to bringing the Christian faith back to its Jewish roots (so that you are able to understand the Christian faith more fully), and giving presentations on the Jewish faith and beliefs. Aravis and I participated in the Zechariah Ministries Dance Team. The dancers perform during Jewish Seder meals that Mrs. and Mr. LaFlamme host at different churches.Aravis and I learned about it last autumn when my church had a Time and Talent Sunday after Mass. When Mass was over Aravis and I were talking to our friends when Mrs. Diane LaFlamme came over and introduced herself. She explained that at our church she has started a Jewish Dance Team and they needed dancers. She pulled us over to her booth and gave us a pen and a form to fill out while she explained what the dance team did. She helped us fill them out and then thanked us profusely for doing it. She also convinced some of our other friends to do it also. The practices were every Monday except during holidays. We started the reversals at our parish hall in September. We learned 6 different dances over the next 7 months.
Mr. and Mrs. LaFlamme had two Seder meals planned this year, one at St. Micheal the Archangel's (our Parish) and another one at another Catholic church in Smyrna. We had another church that wanted us to do a Seder meal for them too, but they didn't ask early enough. Next year we will have the Seder meal at a least 3 different churches and we may possibly be featured on EWTN.For the people who do not know what is a Seder meal, I will explain: There are two different Passover meals. There is a Passover Seder meal which is a Jewish Feast that takes place at the beginning of the Jewish holiday Passover. Then there is also a Christian Passover meal which is similar to the Jewish version. The Jewish Passover is when families and friends gather together for dinner to read the text of the Haggadah, an ancient work derived from the Mishnah, Rabbinic Literature. The Haggadah contains the story of the Israelites flight from Egypt, special blessings and rituals, passages from the Talmud, and special Passover songs. During the meal there are certain things you must do. For example, drinking from four cups of wine, eating matza (a special type of unleavened bread), and eating symbolic foods placed on a special Passover Seder Plate. The Seder is basically the same all over the world. The main differences between the Jewish Passover meal and the Christian Passover meal is the Christian Passover's matza is striped and pierced as Jesus was whipped and pierced with thorns, and some other symbolism in the wording.
The performances were a lot of fun. The Dance Team would get to the church early and we would help make sure all the tables were set up and would do a quick run through the dances. After that we would get ready and put on our costumes and make-up. The costumes were a white shirt that sleeves reached the elbows, dark blue skirts, a dark blue scarf with little tin circles on the hems, and white and blue silks tucked into the sides of our skirts. The silks were for a scarf dance Aravis and I did with the older women. Aravis and I got to wear a dark blue eye shadow that matched our skirts. We also had to do our hair in curls, the younger girls had to wear flower wreaths in their hair, the women had to wear dark blue snoods, and Aravis and I, the only teenage girls, had to wear both, changing into the flowery headband in the middle.
In between the dances we would play card games and have dinner. Aravis and I also had a costume change where we had to change our skirts and take off the snood and put on the flowery headband. The backstage was a lot of fun we all had to be quiet and silently play games.
I do not have a favorite part about being a part of the dance team. It was so much fun. Mrs. LaFlamme was so nice and considerate, and Mrs. Tricia (the dance teacher and choreographer), was nice too. To do something special for Mrs. LaFlamme the dance team surprised her and we learned a special Hebrew song called Bashana Haba'ah, and the Sign of the Cross in Hebrew. She was so surprised and happy. I cannot wait for this fall when the Dance team restarts. I thoroughly enjoyed this experience and would recommend it. I only wish that there were more teenagers on our dance team.
