PASSPORT TO FREEDOM

Next week at this time all of us will have had our fill of matza and the memories of another Seder will be gently stored. However, we still have plenty of time to explore the many laws and traditions Passover in our classroom, and that is exactly what we have been doing. We know we are commanded to teach the story of our Exodus to our children, and all future generations. We also know we are not to eat any leavened bread for seven days. These are indeed biblical laws, and commandments from the Torah. Then, the story gets a bit more vague. Of course we have the haggadah, a rubric for the evening, but we are free to use it as we see fit. We are encouraged to waiver from the ordered pages in order to include our children, and make the experience meaningful for all of those at the table. So, this year, we encourage to ask the children as many questions as you can, put them on the hot seat and make them think. They are well prepared to participate and they have a wealth of information to share. 

Thank you to the parents who participated in our Family Program. Our students worked hard to solve the lock box clues as we escaped from Egypt, and we had a great time learning along the way. To review many of the main themes in the Haggadah, and as a source of inspiration, we wrote Passover poems and shared our thoughts with our classmates. 

Tuesday afternoon is our Chocolate Seder, and our last class before Passover Break.  Enjoy the holiday, and we will see you on Tuesday, April 10, 2018.

Thank you for my family

Food, peace, spring, candles,

Being fair with your family

Passover is fun.

Becky 

GOD saved us from Egypt

And now we are saved

The bread would not rise

So it is flat and turned into matzah

Becky

Life, good, 

Food, seasons, love

Family, dinner

prayers, food, freedom 

Passover

Arie

Thank you for life

Food, air

Friends and Freedom

Will

Thank you

Passover matzah

Family, books, maror

Egypt, GOD, seder

Passover

Sam

Food, matzah, people

Family, screams, freedom

Family, freedom, food, fun. faithful

Passover

Levi

Roses are red

Violets are blue

I hate Pharaoh, 

How about you?

Roses are blue

Violets are red

I love Passover 

How about Hugh? 

Hugh

Thank you for our house

Good, sour, food,

Laughter

Freedom, food,

Fun, family, friends, 

Faithful, family

Hayden

PASSING THROUGH PASSOVER

We have been working like slaves in Kitah Dalet.  Using the Haggadah as our text book, we have been brushing up on our Seder skills. With a little bit of practice, I am sure all of our students will do a great job asking the four questions at your family Seder. In our classroom discussions, we talked about the fifteen steps to the Seder, and asked our students to look for the evolution from slavery to freedom in each of the steps. We talked about Moses being born a slave, being raised as royalty, and then joining his people as an adult. We talked about making this choice to help his community, and the sacrifices he made for the good of others.  

The Passover Seder is about arousing the senses of our children, and engaging them in a discussion about our Jewish identity.  In the Torah, we are commanded to teach our children the story of our Exodus from Egypt, so that every generation will know we were slaves and GOD set us free.  The Seder provides a stage for our families to share the journey from slavery to freedom and demands we meet our children at the developmental stage they are in.  In class today, we traveled through the Haggadah, and looked at the many different ways our story entices our children to ask questions, so we may have meaningful conversations.    

As a way to engage our students in our shared history, we created a list of questions to share at your Seder. Please use this list as a guide to engage your children, and encourage them to share they ideas with you. They are quite knowledgeable, and they are more than capable of participating in a meaningful and insightful way.  

PASSOVER

Why do we eat matza?

Why do we eat bitter herbs?

What does the egg symbolize?

What do the 14 steps represent?

What does the word Seder mean?

Why do we wash our hands twice?

Why are there 14 steps to the Seder?

What two things does the charosis represent?

What two ways does the matza represent the Jews life?

How is matza both the food of slavery and the food of freedom?

How do the items on the Seder plate represent both our time as slaves, and our path to freedom?

What does Dayenu teach us? 

What was the tenth plague?

Why do we have a mezuzah on our door?

What would some modern day plagues be?  

What body part did GOD use to free us from slavery?

Why did GOD send ten plagues rather than just one big one?

Why did GOD kill all the Egyptians rather than just Pharaoh?

What number repeats itself over and over again in the Haggadah?

What main character is missing in the story of our passage to freedom?

Why was GOD angry with the Israelites when we crossed the Reed sea?

Why do we use our pinky rather than our pointer finger to represent the ten plagues?

We look forward to learning together with you and your students at our Passover Family Program on Sunday, March 25, 2018.  Please RSVP to Julie, and let her know you will be participating.  It will be a never been seen program, and it should be a fun and interesting  morning for all.  

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

Many of classroom units are woven into teaching everyday life lessons, and we constantly pull from a variety of resources to make sure we are giving our students many opportunities to understand how the Torah is relevant to our lives. In Bereshit we talked about how GOD created the world for man to take care of. We are commanded to care for all of the animals, birds, fish, and bugs, as well as the land, air and water. Most importantly, GOD commands us to take care of all living things. In Parshah Noach, again GOD teaches us to care for all the animals by telling Noah to save the animals before GOD destroys the world.

Furthermore, GOD commands Noah to take seeds from all of the trees and plants so he can care for them once the world is restored. This week we took these lessons one bit further and talked about the importance of being mindful of how we treat animals, plants, trees, and seeds. The Torah is very clear when talking about our responsibility for caring for all of GOD's creations. When GOD instructs Noah to build the ark, GOD is quite clear about what Noah's duties are.

In class we talked about being mindful of what we eat, and how we treat the food we have. Specifically, we talked about keeping kosher, and why we are commanded to observe the dietary laws. In the Torah, we learn Noah took seven pairs of kosher animals on the ark, and two of each non-kosher animal, one male and one female. We talked about what makes animals kosher, and how the definition of kosher is fit or proper. The most important reason for keeping kosher is to be mindful of what we eat, and the importance of thinking about being Jewish when we put food in our mouth. We need to have food to live, and being mindful of what we eat, makes us live a meaningful life.

On Tuesday, although our class was quite small, we had a lively discussion about using animals for research, and whether the Torah supports this cause. We talked about the ethical treatment of animals, and your children were really quite torn with this controversial topic. I encourage you to continue the discussion at home, as your children had some interesting opinions about this very relevant topic.