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Ostensibly the oldest holiday in existence, except perhaps the solstice celebrations which probably date back to the beginning of civilization. Updating to respond to kwhyman: I stand corrected. I was of course referring to western holidays exempting solstice based holidays, and I should probably add harvest and planting (equinox) based celebrations, the latter of which Passover is probably influenced by. I'm not aware of Christian Seders, although much of the modern emphasis on the seder in Jewish tradition does incorporate the historical suffering of Jews at the hands of Christians, particularly during the pogroms around Easter which is usually around the same time as Passover. I would hope that any Christian seder would incorporate apologies for this oppression which is not unlike what Jews faced in Egypt in the story of Exodus. And yes, the Seder has changed over the years. A modern tradition places oranges on the seder plate as a result of what is probably an urban legend about a male rabbi's reaction to the first woman rabbi: "A woman belongs on the bimah like an orange belongs on the seder plate." If it's true, you have to be amazed that the male rabbi would be so oblivious to the impact of his metaphor, considering the importance of symbolism in the Jewish tradition. In any case, we place oranges on our Seder plate every year.

Drummond, you gotta hit the books before you cite stuff, or you're just gonna insert foot again. The Seder has been around for only abour 2500 to 3000 years, and even then, its form has changed quite a bit over the insuing time. There are holiday celebrations and traditions far older then that. Some portions of Chinese culture date back to 5000 years back into recorded history or better, and their calendar with all the holidays is no exception. Egyptian customs also had a lot of time clocked before the Seder came about. Now about the Passover itself, it has a large influence in both Jewish and Christian circles. Firstly, the Seder comemorates the ancient Exodus of Israel from Egypt. Secondly, some Jewish families also use the Passover meal as one time of the year to remember the Holocaust. Thirdly, the Seder was when Jesus instituted the sacrement of Holy Communion, a founding tenet of Christian theology. I would celebrate the Seder in a heartbeat were someone to invite me, just because it is part of my heritage as a Christian, since Christianity sprang forth from Judaism.