(bright lively music)

- Well, Passover is one ofthe most important nights

on the Hebrew calendar.

Jewish families around the world

mark the occasion by hosting a Seder,

a celebration that includes

the secrets to the meaning of life.

Take a look.

- [Reporter] Jewishentrepreneur and philanthropist,

Mark Gerson, wants toshare the buried treasures

found in one of the mostpowerful ancient texts in Judaism

called the Haggadah.

Within its pages, you'll find the story

of the Exodus and Jewish Passover,which has guided families

through their Sedercelebrations for millennia.

In his latest book, "The Telling,"

Gerson shares this wisdom and insight,

helping you live a happierand more meaningful life.

- Well, Mark Gersonjoins us now via Skype,

and Mark, welcome to "The 700 Club."

- Gordon, it is greatto be here, thank you.

- Well, your book is "The Telling,"

and that's actually themeaning of the Haggadah.

Why this book and why now?

- Well, Passover, as you said,is the great Jewish holiday.

In the Bible, it tellsus exactly what it is.

It's two things.

It's one,

it's the authenticbiblically-ordained Jewish New Year,

and it's also our spring festival.

Two ideas, two concepts,coming together to tell us

that the spring, theseason of rejuvenation,

of newness, is upon us.

It's coming up now, March 27thwill be the Passover Seder,

and we should take thisopportunity to discover;

what are the opportunitiesthat are open to us spiritually

and opportunities open to usto help improve the world?

And the Haggadah exists to guide us

through that divine journey.

- Well, let's talk about the Passover.

Let's talk about the Haggadah,

and talk about what'sthe story it's telling.

So what story is being transmitted,

and it's being transmitted generationally,

so what's the story?

- The story is the Exodus story.

So the Passover Seder,

which will be this yearon March 27th and 28th,

is the oldest runningreligious ritual in the world.

What we do at the Passover Seder

is we relive and we retellthe story of the Exodus

directly from Exodus 12 and 13.

Everything we're gonnado at the end of March

is specifically ordainedin the biblical text.

- Well, you believe it alsoreveals the meaning of life,

which is a, that's a big one.

So why the meaning of life?

What is it in the service thatreveals the meaning of life?

- Well, the Haggadah is basically

the greatest hits of Jewish thought.

It's as though theauthors of the Haggadah,

thousands of years ago said,

"The New Year is upon us.

How can we pack the mostimportant ideas in the Torah,

in our holy scripture, into one short book

to be used by people sittingat the Passover Seder

to help them live a happier, better,

and more meaningful lifein the year to come?"

And they succeeded incredibly.

And the Haggadah is for our benefit,

it's there for our use,

it's the original andbest ever self-help book,

all derived directly fromthe wisdom of the Torah.

- I really enjoyed your book,

but one of the chapters thatreally caught my attention

is "Bring That Self."

And you talk about, youactually have to prepare,

and part of the service atthe breaking of the matzah

is that a declarationby the one leading it

is that if you're needy, if you're hungry,

those are the ones who are are ready

for the Passover, for the Seder.

Why is that so important?

And what in Jewish thoughtmeans "bring that self"

to the celebration?

- What a terrific question.

So I think the answer is revealed

in the meaning of theHebrew word for panim,

panim means faces.

There is no Hebrew wordfor a singular face.

So why would there be no Hebrewword for a singular face?

For the same reason whythere's no English word

for the Bible quote in infant

because there's no such thing.

And when the world has no such thing,

we don't need a word for it.

So nobody has just one face,

we all have many different faces.

We present ourselves differently

when we're playing with ourchildren or our grandchildren

than when we're at work.

And this great invitationthat you just read,

that all who are hungry, come and eat,

all who are needy, comeand celebrate Passover,

tells us the kind of self

who should arrive at aNew Year celebration,

whether it's the Passover Sederor another one in our lives,

it's the broken self.

It's the self who realizes that,

"I need other people andthat other people need me."

It's the self that realizes, "I'm hungry."

"I'm hungry to improve myself spiritually

and I'm hungry to improve thelives of others' material."

- Well, tell us about thehistory of the service that,

you know, it goes back thousands of years.

So would the Jews of the first century

have celebrated the same waythat Jews celebrate today?

- Absolutely. Absolutely.

If a Jew from the first century

walked into my Seder in New York in 2021,

he or she could sit rightdown, participate comfortably,

know everything that was going on.

One of the staggering things,

one of the incredible thingsabout the Passover Seder,

and the holiday in general,is it's continuity.

There is a sacred continuityto the Passover holiday

that is such that, if aJew from the first century,

or perhaps if he even Moses,

came into a Seder anywherein the world today,

from Newport News to New York to Tel Aviv,

they would know exactly what was going on,

they could participate comfortably,

in telling the great story of the Exodus

in what is essentially a conversation.

A conversation that happensvertically between generations,

and a conversation thathappens horizontally

between Jews and our Gentile friends

at Seders all around theworld in any given year.

- Well, you're talking toan audience of Christians

and so I've got ask;

What's the most important takeaway

that you want Christians to understand

when they read your book?

- I think we are livingthrough world historic times,

and the world historictime we're living through

is that of Jewish-Christian friendship.

Jewish-Christian friendshipor Jewish-Gentile friendship

is deeply embedded in the Bible.

Abraham's friend and mentor

was Melchisedech, the Gentile king.

Moses's friend and mentor wasJethro, his father-in-law.

And now, the Jewish peoplehave such dear friends

in the Christian community.

This has been 6,000 years coming.

It's developed, Gordon,in large part due to you

and to CBN, and the audience at CBN.

Really, in this current generation

and in the previousgenerations when it started,

it's ongoing now, we areliving in an historic time

of Jewish-Christian friendship,

and the focal point of this friendship

should be the Passover Seder.

So I would tell every Christian,

find a Jewish home and join them for Seder

because Christians enhancethe Seders so magnificently.

In fact, the original Seder in the Bible,

the last meal in Egypt, itwasn't called a Seder then,

but it was the last meal in Egypt,

was enjoyed by Jews andthe mixed multitudes,

Jews and Gentiles together,

and let's make that a reality every year.

- Alright. Well, you canlearn more about the Seder

and about Passover and theHaggadah in Mark's book.

It's called "The Telling,"I encourage you to get it.

It will really help encourage your faith,

and you'll understandthe essential Judaism

in the Passover and alsoin the Lord's Supper.

So Mark, thank you for being with us,

and we'll be back withmore of "The 700 Club"

right after this.(bright lively music)