Have you ever heard of the todah? No? Neither had I until last night! I was reading “Graced and Gifted: Biblical Wisdom for the Homemakers Heart” by Kimberly Hahn, and while discussing the importance and significance of the Eucharist in family life, she explained the todah.
I did a little more research on the internet today and…check this out!
“A todah sacrifice would be offered by someone whose life had been delivered from great peril, such as disease or the sword. The redeemed person would show his gratitude to God by gathering his closest friends and family for a todah sacrificial meal. The lamb would be sacrificed in the Temple and the bread for the meal would be consecrated the moment the lamb was sacrificed. The bread and meat, along with wine, would constitute the elements of the sacred todah meal, which would be accompanied by prayers and songs of thanksgiving, such as Psalm 116.”
(from Catholic Education Resource Center)
Does that sound like the Eucharist or what?! The article goes on to explain the todah, the Eucharist, and The Last Supper Passover meal, and is definitely worth a read.
So this Holy Thursday or Easter Sunday when your non-Catholic friends or Catholic friends who haven’t been to church in a while ask, “Why do you do all that stuff? What does it mean?” teach them about the todah!
Very interesting! I so enjoy history and what it teaches us about how we should be worshiping in this day and age. Thank you for your enlightening posts. :o)
Shelly
http://www.icantbelievemylife.com
The Mom With Brownies
What’s also interesting is that the Rabbis speculated that after the coming of the Messiah, only the Todah sacrifice would remain – the sacrifice of thanksgiving (“eucharistia” anyone?)
“My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations,” – Malachi 1:11
Okay, 🙂 so I had Dr. Hahn in grad school, know a little bit about the Todah sacrfice…. get this, as Christ is on the Cross, He prays those famous words, “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?”- these words actually begin Psalm 22- the greatest of Psalms a Jew would pray when offering this particular sacrifice of Thanksgiving. It’s actually an act of trust in God the Father!: in Psalm 22, the one making the offering begins, and through an act of trust, prasies God for victory before he’s actually been delivered. And, if you read further on in the Psalm, it even talks about the poor being fed, and being totally satisfied. That’s another very cool detail about the Todah sacrifice- when it was offered, if any meat was left over, the one offering the sacrifice would offer it to the poor of the town and everyone would feast. Thank God we’re the “poor” who feast on Christ.
haha… gotta love Biblical Theology! 🙂
Dr. Hahn in grad school? Sooooooo jealous of you Ashley! :-p
Thank you so much you helped me more than these other sites did. I had to do research on “todah” for church, plus a scripture and you gave me all of those things. Thank you once again!!!