On 'Maundy Thursday' (Thursday in Holy Week, the day before Good Friday), we remember the meal that Christ had with His disciples in 'an upper room', the night that he was arrested before his trial and the final events leading to the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.

Christ and the disciples were eating the Passover meal, part of the traditions and observances of the Passover (Hebrew Pesach), one of the most important festivals in the Jewish calendar, commemorating the liberation of the Children of Israel when they were led out of Egypt by Moses. After the nine dreadful plagues through which the Pharaoh continued to refuse their freedom, came the final plague in which an avenging angel would go from house to house killing every first-born son. So that God could show they were his chosen people Israelite children would be spared, so long as the household followed some very specific instructions:

- The household should take an unblemished male lamb, look after it, and slaughter it at twilight four days later.
- Blood from the lamb must be brushed on the door frames as a sign to the angel that this home was to be 'passed over'.
- The family must then roast the lamb and eat it with bitter herbs and unleavened bread.
- All of the lamb must be eaten and the remaining bones burned.
- The family should be dressed 'as for a journey' while following this ritual.

Today, Jewish families follow a pattern of activities that lead up to the Passover meal (Pesach Seder). At the meal, among other actions, it's customary for the youngest person present to ask 'the traditional question':
'Why is this night different from all other nights of the year? What is so special about it?', answered by the father or head of the family, with a brief retelling of the Exodus.
As the meal proceeds, the youngest child asks 'the four questions', to be answered by the father of the family:
- Why do we eat unleavened bread? Unleavened bread or matzo is eaten to remember the Exodus when the Israelites fled Egypt with their dough to which they had not yet added yeast.
- Why do we eat bitter herbs? We eat bitter herbs to recall the bitterness of slavery.
- Why do we dip our food in liquid? The salt water drips from the food to remind us of the tears the Jews shed as slaves.
- Why do we eat in a reclining posture? We recline on cushions to symbolise freedom and relaxation in contrast to slavery.

The elements of the meal are also symbolic:

• Matzo (unleavened bread) is eaten three times during the meal.
• A bone of lamb represents paschal sacrifice. Jews would go to the Temple at Festivals to sacrifice a lamb or a goat.
• An egg represents sacrifice, but  also symbolises the Jews' determination not to abandon their beliefs under oppression by the Egyptians; most foods become soft and digestible when cooked, but eggs become harder!
• Greenery (usually lettuce) represents new life.
• Salt water represents the tears of slavery.
• Four cups of wine recall the four times God promised freedom to the Israelites, and  symbolise liberty and joy.
• Charoset (a paste made of apples, nuts, cinnamon and wine) represents the mortar used by the Israelite slaves building the palaces and monuments of Egypt.
• The door is kept open and an extra cup of wine placed on the table. The prophet Elijah - who never died but was taken direct ot God in a chariot of fire - will reappear at the Passover to announce the coming of the Messiah.

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