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.