Passover
One of the sections of the haggadah, the special book we read at a Passover seder, is about The Four Children. Each of these children asks "Why are we here tonight?" Of course, each one asks this question in a different way, with a different tone in their voice and look in their eyes. The "wise" child wants to know all the details about the exodus from Egypt while the "rebellious" child isn't sure he or she wants to be counted as part of our history. The "simple" child is looking for a simple answer while the child who doesn't know how to ask may be asking by his/or her presence alone. There are many other kinds of children beyond these four. Among us there is the artistic child, the musical child, the contemplative child, the brooding child, the distracted child, the humorous child and so many more. The goal here is to craft your answer in a way that each child at the seder table can hear your response to make the night more meaningful to him or her.
Another aspect of the seder is to engage our children by encouraging them to ask questions. For that reason we do things differently throughout the seder like dipping our food twice (once the parsley in the salt water and then the haroset in the maror), reclining on pillows and leaning to the left and hiding the Afikomen to just name a few.
This week sit with your child and have him/her come up with five questions that they can bring to your seder. These questions can be about what's on the table or why your family has certain foods they eat. Or, they can be big questions such as: Are there still slaves today? Why do open the door for Elijah? Should the Ten Plagues be part of the Seder? What are plagues in our world today?
Share the questions you want to ask at the seder and some possible responses.
Another aspect of the seder is to engage our children by encouraging them to ask questions. For that reason we do things differently throughout the seder like dipping our food twice (once the parsley in the salt water and then the haroset in the maror), reclining on pillows and leaning to the left and hiding the Afikomen to just name a few.
This week sit with your child and have him/her come up with five questions that they can bring to your seder. These questions can be about what's on the table or why your family has certain foods they eat. Or, they can be big questions such as: Are there still slaves today? Why do open the door for Elijah? Should the Ten Plagues be part of the Seder? What are plagues in our world today?
Share the questions you want to ask at the seder and some possible responses.