SUGGESTIONS FOR FAMILY CELEBRATION

Passover can be a very costly Jewish holiday. Dishes used throughout the year are put away, and special Pesach dishes take their place. We discard or lock away regular food supplies, and matzah and other particular foods are purchased. Due to concern over the economic strain Passover imposed, the rabbis established an annual fundraising campaign, "Maot Chitim," to help Jews celebrate Passover. This mitzvah has been taken very seriously throughout Jewish history and in Jewish communities around the world.

A famous story is told of 19th Century Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik. A man once came to the rabbi with a legal question. "Can I use milk rather than wine," he asked," to satisfy the requirement to drink four cups at the Seder?" Instead of answering the question, Rabbi Soloveitchik simply gave the man 25 rubles to buy necessary provisions. After the poor man left, a bystander asked the rabbi, "A few rubles would have been sufficient to buy the wine he needed. Why did you give him so much money?" The Rabbi answered, "If he was intending to use milk at his Seder, it meant he had no money for meat either. (According to Jewish dietary laws of Kashrut, meat and milk are not eaten together at the same meal.) "I wanted to ensure that he and his family could properly observe the holiday."

To prepare the home for Passover, parents can involve children by making it fun. Children can make cabinet signs reading, "Kosher for Pesach – Chametz - Keep Out!" In addition to cleaning and removing literal chametz, we can connect the mitzvah of Maot Chitim to our preparations. The puffy chametz can be a symbol of the "fluff" in our lives, all that extra stuff that takes up so much of our time and energy. Just as crumbs of bread may be found in unexpected nooks and crannies of our homes, "crumbs" of overblown nonessentials may have invaded, as well. Now is a good time to reflect on that which is essential, as is matzah, and that which is extraneous, such as a fancy goody from a bakery, or all of those extra toys no one plays with, books no longer read, and clothing that is outgrown or never worn. Inventory the family possessions, and perhaps use this time to donate that which is not essential.

On the last night before Pesach begins, a house search for leavened products called Bedikat Chametz takes place. Every family member is given a lighted candle to carry around the house - perhaps a flashlight for the younger set! And the search begins. Parents have strategically placed ten pieces of chametz in easy-to-remember locations, and as chametz is found, it is swept with a feather onto a wooden spoon and into a paper bag to be burned/disposed of the next morning. The formula for this ritual is found in the Hagaddah, (literally, “the Telling”), our guide to the Seder.

In order for each family to participate as fully as possible in the Seder rituals, many wonderful musical compilations have been recorded. Large selections are available at local synagogue gift shops, and via the internet through amazon.com, e-shul, Jewish.com, tara.com, etc. Playing Pesach music in the car or while you are cleaning at home helps to familiarize the whole family with traditional and contemporary music for this festival. I have also attached a link to a compilation of sometimes-silly English Passover songs set to familiar tunes that are a lot of fun to sing either before or during the Seder. Additional preparation activities involving children include:

• Create individualized pillows for each guest. Use felt squares, double-stick Velcro, and fabric pens for an easy, serviceable craft product.
• Make a Seder plate. These can run the gamut from the highly durable type of ceramic plate that can be painted at a ceramics shop, to a one-use-only version made from a paper plate and muffin cups. Have children draw pictures of each Seder symbol to glue on the bottom of the muffin cup.
• Read stories of Elijah the Prophet and Miriam, Moshe’s sister. Decorate a wine cup for each to be used during the Seder. Use a wine glass, flat backed plastic jewels, glue and permanent pens.
• Choose and arrange flowers for the seder table.
• Create “Baby Moshe in the Basket” for each guest using a piece of gefilte fish for Moshe, sliced olives for eyes, and lettuce for his basket and blanket.
• Arrange the charoset on the seder plate in the shape of a pyramid or bricks.
• Ask children to prepare a presentation related to a particular part of the seder

During the Seder, we use the Hagaddah to guide us through the rituals and ceremonies observed. “Hagaddah” literally means, “the Telling.” The Hagaddah is a masterpiece of pedagogy containing many effective and affective learning techniques. It employs the Socratic method of questions and answers, storytelling, show and tell, song, play, food, suspense, and pathos. The Rabbis composed the Hagaddah, and some of its parts quote the Torah; others were written some two thousand years ago, and still other parts date to the Middle Ages. Here are some suggestions to enliven the Hagaddah and your family’s Seder:

• Add a fifth question to the Four Questions. What else do you want to know about? Some families include a fifth question for those children whose voices were silenced before their time, and so will never be able to ask.
• Rewrite one or more sections of the Hagaddah to reflect your family’s values and interests
• Use props during the reading of the Ten Plagues:

• Blood – red food coloring or kosher for Passover catsup
• Frogs – plastic toy frogs
• Lice – tiny plastic bugs, or rub on Calamine lotion
• Wild Beasts – plastic toy animals
• Boils – round Band-Aids or small, round, red office supply labels
• Hail – ping pong balls, marshmallows, or cotton balls
• Locusts – plastic toy grasshoppers
• Darkness – everyone put on sunglasses
• Slaying of the First Born – one person puts on a scary mask as the Angel of Death

• You may also purchase a complete “Plagues Bag” from “The Source for Everything Jewish”
• Read the story of the Exodus creatively. Have children act out the story. There are many wonderful retellings of the story for children of all ages.
• Dress up, or invite a child to dress up, as Eliyahu HaNavi, Elijah the Prophet. Ask another child to open the door. How would Elijah greet your Seder guests? What wisdom might he impart?
• Add contemporary verses to traditional songs, such as Dayenu or Chad Gadya to address current concerns.
• Invite your guests to prepare a short “drash” or talk, on a Pesach theme.
• Send out a question in advance for guests to discuss during the Seder.
• Play “Stump the Leader.” Guests prepare questions in advance to ask at the Seder. Each guest must also be prepared to cite sources to answer their own question.