AND THE QUESTION IS...

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?

Wishing you a Chag Kosher Sameach!  

Passage to Passover

We have been working like slaves in Kitah Dalet, and many of us have some interesting tidbits to share, and  some great questions to ask at our Passover Seders. We have been talking about our life as slaves in Egypt and what it means to be free. In our classroom discussions we talked about free will and having the ability to make choices that we are in control of. We talked about the Torah giving us multiple stories to turn and twist, encouraging us to find the hidden meanings that speak to us.  Some of our students struggled with the actual events revealed in the Torah text, and we talked about looking at the bigger picture when reading.  To address this scepticism, we turned the tables and talked about the message GOD is trying to teach.  Students were asked to think about the lessons we can learn to build better relationships with others and what we can do to make our relationship with GOD more meaningful.  

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.

TO TEST OR NOT TO TEST...

This week, our Kitah Dalet students were confronted with the ethical dilemma we face when caring for animals. The story of Noah represents a turning point in the relationship between human beings and animals.  GOD decides to destroy the world by flood, and saves Noah and his family, and all the animals to sustain the species.   It is here we begin to see the importance GOD places on caring for the animals, and the commandment of tza'ar balei chayim, not inflicting pain on animals. We talked about an animals inability to care for themselves, and our responsibility to meet their needs whenever possible.

In class, we had a lively debate about animal testing.  We talked about using animals to test experimental drugs in the hopes of finding a cure for life threatening diseases.  Although it didn't sit well with some of our students, we talked about the Jewish law to save a human life over the life of an animal.  We talked about the ethical treatment of animals, and the commandments to care for all living things with kindness and compassion. However, animals do not know right from wrong, and humans are expected to answer to GOD.  Furthermore, we learned humans have souls, which ultimately are returned to GOD, which makes us accountable for our actions.  

The mitzvah of showing respect for animals has its roots in the Biblical command of showing sympathy for a mother bird nestled with her young. Furthermore, the Midrash says that both Moses and David were chosen to lead Israel because of their kindness to animals. As we discussed in our Kashrut unit, the ideal Jewish diet is vegetarianism, as reflected in life in the Garden of Eden. According to the Torah, however, when God recognized how imperfect his human creation was, he allowed the consumption of meat, with some restrictions. The killing of animals is restricted out of concern for animal life, and is expressed in the mitzvah of 'tza'ar balei chayim' -  not inflicting pain

on animals.

Please ask your child to share their thoughts about animal testing, and kindness to animals.  They are an extremely compassionate group, and some of them were quite concerned about having to make a choice over saving a stranger or saving a pet.

WHO IS YOUR SUPER HERO?

Our students have heard the story of Esther and Mordechai, and King Achashverous and Haman for many years, and they did a pretty good job retelling the basic story in class this week.  Taking the plot a bit further, we talked about the characters in the story of Purim, and our students had the opportunity to look at the qualities of the heroes and villains in the ancient text. 

Students spent some time defining what a hero is, and then they were asked to think about what makes a hero.  Were Mordechai and Esther heroes?  Were they good, but not good enough?  Should Esther have hidden her true identity, and should Mordechai told her to lie?  Was Vashti a victim?  What about the qualities of Achashverous?  Was he a hero, or an accomplice to Haman and his evil ways?  Our discussion was quite lively, and students were asked to make a list of the qualities of a hero.  

By consensus, students thought a hero was selfless, brave, smart, kind, accepting, willing to take risks, and honest. Others said a hero puts others before themselves, and thinks before acting.  After debating the qualities of a true hero, students were asked to think of their personal super hero.  We wrote descriptive paragraph as about our super heroes, and we hope to tweak our papers before presenting our papers in class.  

Please ask your child to share their ideas of what a super hero is, and who their hero is.  

MIRUP YPPAH

We have been bombarding our Kitah Dalet students with all of the wonderful themes associated with the observance of Purim. We have beenlearning about Haman and Esther, Mordechai and the King, and telling the story of Purim over and over and over again. Some of the things we have been talking about…

• Standing up for yourself and what you believe in, (Esther)
• Speaking out if you believe someone is not treating others fairly (
• Justice and taking care of those who have less than we do (Gifts for the Poor)
• Showing family and friends we care about them (Shalach Manot) 
• Being proud of who we are (Esther and Mordechai)
• Consequences for your behavior. (Vashti and Haman)

We have also been talking about the four commandments of Purim, and helping your children understand  that as they get older, they need to take responsibility for observing the four Purim commandments. The commandments are all community bound activities, and can be fulfilled at our Purim Extravaganza.

• Hear the Megillah read aloud 
• Give Mishlach Manot, gifts of food to family and friends
• Give Matanot LeEvyonim, gifts of food and money to the poor
• Celebrate at a Purim Seudah, a festive meal

On Sunday morning, students will have the opportunity fulfil the mitzvot of hearing the megillah and giving Mishlach Manot.  

Students are encourage to wear a costume to school on Sunday morning.

Please remember to send in a COSTCO size package of snacks for our baskets.