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   PASSOVER

RELIVING SINAI:  IDEAS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR PASSOVER   

 In every generation each individual should feel as if he or she personally left Egypt…

Rabbi’s note:

While Pesach can be a fun holiday, the Seder ritual is a serious matter.  Even with young children, it is important to teach that the purpose of the Seder is not to rush through the Haggadah in record fashion, but to make the Seder primary and the meal secondary.  By eliminating most of the Haggadah in order to eat, we defeat the purpose of Passover: To celebrate and to appreciate our freedoms.  However, the Seder ritual does not have to be boring and mechanical.  With each paragraph and prayer, there is opportunity for reflection, for debate, for questioning and for some creative fun.  In the following pages are some ideas you can consider for your own Seder. 

Two Study Texts

Maimonides, Laws of Hametz and Matzah 7:2-3

It is a command for us to educate our children about Passover, even if they do not ask…According to the knowledge of the children, the parent explains…

•  To what extent are we-the parents (or grandparents) responsible to educate our children beyond religious School?   

• The Four Questions are only sample questions; we can ask others.  What questions would you like your children/grandchildren to ask?  How would you respond?

The Haggadah

In each generation, every individual should feel as though he or she had actually been redeemed from Egypt, as it is said:  You shall tell your children on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what god did for me when I went free out of Egypt (Exodus 13:8). For the Holy One did not only redeem our ancestors, but us as well…

• In what ways are we still awaiting our freedom?

BEDIKAT HAMETZ-SEARCHING FOR LEAVEN 

On the night before Passover, we experience the ritual of bedikat hametz, searching through the house for any hametz/leven. This tradition is based on the idea that one should remove all hametz from the house.  This search can be a great experience for children and grandchildren.

This is the prayer:

Before searching for the hametz, light a candle and say the following blessing:

BARUKH ATAH ADONAI ELOHEINU MELEKH HA-OLAM ASHER KIDDESHANU B'MITZVOTAV V'TZIVANU AL BIUR HAMETZ.

Praised are You, Adonay our God, Ruler of the world, Who has sanctified us through commandments, commanding us to destroy all hametz.

With candle and feather, search through the house; when you are finished, recite the following:

“All leaven in my possession which I have not seen or removed or of which I am unaware is hereby nullified and ownerless as the dust of the earth.”

The next morning, we burn the hametz and say the following: 

 “All leaven in my possession, whether I have seen it or not, whether I have removed it or no, is hereby nullified and ownerless as the dust of the earth."

Some Activities

• Take 10 pieces of bread and place them around a specific room, preferably the kitchen.  Have someone ‘search’ for the bread with a candle (lights out).  Children can search or they can hide the bread so that the adults search. After finding the pieces, search the rest of the house by candlelight.  This is a symbolic search; chances are the house is already clean!

• To make it a little more fun, do not talk, but give some kind of sign when the ‘searcher(s)’ is/are getting warm or cold.  The idea of not talking is so that you can concentrate on finding and removing hametz. 

• In another room, place ten crackers or cookies which your children or grandchildren can find as a final hametz snack.

Values to Consider:

• For the days of Pesach (eight days here in the Diaspora), we regard hametz as a symbol for all the flaws and mistakes in our character.  Perhaps, as we find each piece of bread, we can list one thing we wish to change about ourselves.

• For the adults:  We should search our pockets as well; not only for physical hametz, but for symbolic hametz.  As we put money in our pockets, we should remove from our pockets anything gained by dishonesty.

   MORE IDEAS FOR A LIVELY SEDER

• Create some type of make-shift tent, so that when guests first arrive, they ‘enter’ the tent rather than sitting at a table (some sheets or blankets will do).  You may ask participants to dress as Jews would have dressed in Egypt; perhaps with sandals on your feet.  You can conduct part of the Seder from the tent, or just re-enact the Seder night in Egypt.  What is in store for you?  Will the Egyptians follow you and renege on their promise to release you?  Someone can act as Moses and offer instructions about what to do before leaving Egypt this night.

• Announce a general theme for the Seder: Thanksgiving, Freedom, Slavery etc.  Ask guests to write a song, a poem or draw pictures about that theme.  The songs can be funny songs.

•  Act out part of the Passover story; have some costumes available. 

• For the Afikoman, create a game with different clues so that the Afikoman search takes a lot of time and is fun.  While the clues should lead children to various locations in the house, include in each clue some mention of Passover.  For example (in rhyme):

Passover in Egypt; Israelite children were not well fed,

But in their honor find this clue under your parents’ ______

By enabling children to find the clues together, they can locate the Afikoman without competition

• Act out the Exodus itself.  With a little imagination, a few ‘light’ clothes, some sandals and knapsacks, stop the ritual at some point and actually CHANGE clothing-as you prepare to leave Egypt.  Walk around the house (or around your table) to reenact the experience.

•  Our tradition call for us to invite guests to come and join us.  Discuss: Who from the past, would you like to invite to your Seder?

  THOUGHTS FOR THE SEDER:  MIRIAM’S CUP

The Haggadah emphasizes God’s role in the Exodus.  Moses, the central human personality in the Exodus story is rarely mentioned.  Nevertheless, we recognize Moses’ role in the liberation even if the Haggadah excludes him from the text.  In addition, the Haggadah includes the comments and teachings of our sages. Missing from the pages, however, is the voice of women. 

In recent years, new Haggadot have introduced Miriam into the text, through a Miriam Cup and a song which parallels the song to Elijah the Prophet.  Below is an explanation of how to include Miriam in the Seder.  I hope that you will consider the introduction of Miriam not as a threat but as a means of enhancing the Seder.  Miriam was vital to the survival of the wilderness Jews; her inclusion in the Seder demonstrates how we are constantly renewing our tradition to recognizes the voices of all Jews. 

A Miriam’s Cup is a new ritual object that is placed on the Seder table beside the Cup of Elijah.  It is filled with water, close to the beginning of the Seder.  The Cup as a symbol of Miriam’s Well, the source of water for the Israelites in the desert.  It was said that the well was a magical source of water; a well which accompanied the Israelites throughout the seder, until Miriam died. The waters of this well had healing powers. 

Miryam hani’vi’a                                                 Miryam, the Prophet

Oz v’zimrat b’yada                                             Strength and song are in her hand

Miryam tirkot itanu, lhagdil zimrat olam                Miriam will dance with us to strengthen the world’s song

Miryam tirkod itanu, l’takayn et ha’olam               Miriam will dance with us to heal the world

Bim’hayra v’yamaynu, he t’vi’aynu                        Soon, and in our time, she will lead us to the

El may ha’y’shoo’a, el may ha’y’shoo’a                waters of salvation

  THOUGHTS FOR THE SEDER:  THE FOUR CHILDREN

Instead of just reading quickly through the Haggadah, here are some thoughts about one popular theme: 

Near the beginning of the Seder we read about Four Children.  The children include a wise child, a skeptical child, a simple child and the child who cannot ask a question.  Each child poses a question; to each we answer according to the question and ability/attitude of the child.  However, there are some different ways to read, discuss and argue about these children. 

BACKGROUND:  Four times the Torah speaks about questions children may ask regarding the original Passover.  For each of these four times the Torah provides a different response.  From the four passages, our sages developed the idea of Four Children, who ask four different questions and receive answers based on the intellectual level of the question.  Through the Four Children, our tradition teaches an important lesson about education, about learning and about learning styles. Not every child learns the same; we need to be mindful of each child’s individual style; we need to respond individually to each child. 

• WISE CHILD:  This child asks about all the laws and details of Passover; we answer by explaining all the rules. What if, however, this child is more of a show-off who want to display his/her ability to everyone?  Our answer:  We explain all of the rules of Passover as a way of humbling this child; to show that he/she does not know everything.  Such a lesson is appropriate for adults as well!

• SKEPTICAL CHILD:  What makes this child skeptical-or even wicked (the Hebrew for this child, rasha, literally means ‘wicked’)? The skeptical one asks:  What does all of this mean to you?  Yet the Hebrew teaches us that this child Kafar Ba’eekar; by excluding him/herself from the Exodus this child denies the role of God in Israel’s liberation.  That denial is tantamount to denial of faith and denial of belonging to the Jewish people.  Yet, the skeptical child stall asks a question and we offer an answer:  Were you in Egypt you would not have been a part of the Jewish people and therefore you would have remained a slave. Perhaps, the skeptical child is not so wicked but just searching for some type of Jewish identity?  Can someone deny God and still be Jewish?  How should we speak to a skeptic?  Is there a little skepticism in all of us? 

• SIMPLE CHILD:  The child asks a simple question:  What is this?  The answer we provide is a simple answer:  It was with a mighty hand that God took us out of Egypt…

Is there really a simple child?  Perhaps it is a child who is so amazed by the world, and by the miracle of Egypt that he/she cannot express such amazement in words?

How can we share the wonders of the world with our children?  How can we help them appreciate the world, as a wonder?  What about the world amazes us (adults included)?

• CHILD WHO CANNOT ASK:  We usually assume this child is a young child who is too young to ask a serious question.  Perhaps, however, this is not a young child, but someone old enough to ask but embarrassed to do so?  Perhaps this is an adult who feels ashamed about his/her knowledge of Jewish things? 

This is the child who most disturbs me, because he/she is reluctant to learn or to explore.  At least, the skeptical child keeps us on our toes with challenging, provocative questions.  At the Seder, you can go around the room and encourage everyone to ask one question about Judaism each person has never asked.  Maybe the adults can ask these questions while the children listen-since children generally ask questions? 

STRATEGIES:

• Select guests to come dressed as the Four Children.  How could each dress according to the child in question?

• Ask different people to read the Four Children; to interpret each character in several ways.

• Act out the Four Children, maybe as a TV interview.

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ROSH HASHANAH

Rosh Hashanah is a time for Heshbon Nefesh, examination of the soul.  As you make time for daily exercise, set aside time each day to think about your relationships over the past year: With family, friends, co-workers, and others.  Could you have handled anything differently?  Whether yes or no, can you attempt any reconciliations?  Although Rosh Hashanah is an occasion for intense prayer, the changes within us are most important.

Rosh Hashanah services include sounding of the Shofar.  There are three, distinct Shofar blasts:

Tekiah-One long blast
                    Shvarim-  Three shorter blasts
                                    Teruah- Nine staccato blasts   

Each sound suggests a different emotion. Think about the various emotions you experience on the holiday: In synagogue, at home during festive meals, during conversations with family and friends.

Following the service on Rosh Hashanah, we go to a body of water for the Tashlikh ceremony.  Tashlikh (literally, ‘to cast/throw away’) comes from a biblical verse which calls on us to symbolically cast away our past mistakes.  Tashlikh can be moving and inspirational-especially when observed by a large group. 

Families often join together for Tashlikh because it is a visual ritual: In the midst of a brief ceremony, we take bread or some other food item and throw it into a flowing body of water. As you participate in Tashlikh, think about specific behaviors you would like to change in the coming year.  You can either think about such behaviors internally, or express them publicly as you throw the bread.

   SUKKOT

Sukkot is a great holiday for individuals and for families of all types, because building and decorating a Sukkah is a fun, experiential activity.  It is not the size of the Sukkah, but the opportunity to eat outside which enhances the celebration.

Many of us are not technologically inclined; even if we are, time to build a Sukkah is limited.  There are so many pre-constructed Sukkot which require little time.  The cost may be somewhat steep, but the Sukkah can last for years.  More than Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Sukkot offers greater opportunity for a home experience.

One of the Sukkot traditions is ushpizin. Ushpizin is a brief ritual in which we welcome (each night) a different biblical patriarch/matriarch into our Sukkah.  In addition to the traditional ushpizin, you can think about a person (present or past; real or fictional) you would like to invite into your Sukkah.  Each person can compose a personal ushpizin prayer.  The person you choose should make (or should have made) a major contribution to society (not just a sport hero or entertainer).

After two weeks of intense holidays, Shmini Atzeret is a holiday unfamiliar to many people.  The words Shmini Atzeret mean eighth day assembly. Following the seven day Sukkot festival, the pilgrims to Jerusalem lingered for one additional day, before leaving for their respective homes.  Shmini Atzeret is the holiday we observe on the eighth day of Sukkot, although it is considered a holiday in its own right.

On Shmini Atzeret we recite a prayer for rain, called Geshem (literally, ‘water’). Israel, Shmini Atzeret was the occasion when the people prayed for a healthy rainy season for the winter season.  In Geshem, we invoke the names of our patriarchs- and in many versions, our matriarch as well- hoping that God will deliver rain due to the merits of our ancestors.  Try to compose a prayer for Geshem which recognizes the merits of other leaders who have blessed us throughout history.

Barukh ata adonai, eloheinu melekh haolam,

asher kid’shanu bemitzvotav v’tzivanu l’hadlik ner

Shel yom tov.

Barukh ata adonay eloheinu melekh haolam

Asher kid’shanu bemitzvotav v’tzivanu

L’hadlik ner shere yom hakipurrim.

Barukh ata adonai eloheinu melech haolam,