Parents and Teachers - this page is for you, more than your children.
You'll find short videos, as well as a "mash-up" of written selections that offer tastes of larger articles and webpages.
If something is of interest, feel free to "click" on the citation to read more!
Want a very quick overview of Pesah and its background? We've got you covered! CLICK HERE.
You'll find short videos, as well as a "mash-up" of written selections that offer tastes of larger articles and webpages.
If something is of interest, feel free to "click" on the citation to read more!
Want a very quick overview of Pesah and its background? We've got you covered! CLICK HERE.
Why is this night different?The answer to the main question, "What differentiates this night from all other nights, and why does this difference exist?" is answered with, "Because our (ancestors) were slaves to (Pharaoh) in Egypt and God delivered us from there." This explains why we perform this ceremony at home, annually. We want to remember that God took us out of Egypt, and we are charged to pass on this collective memory to the next generation.
"As though You Yourself Came out of Egypt," by Rabbi Gideon Weitzman
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It's about me, personally, remembering!Thus this elaborate ceremony of the Seder is a learning tool, a visual and physical aid. Not to memory, but as a means to identify personally with coming out of Egypt. Every day of the year we have to remember that we came out of Egypt ... (but) once a year we have actually to come out of Egypt ourselves ... That is the essence of Pesach and of the Seder, to see ourselves as though we personally came out of Egypt
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Pesah & responsibilityI got a Tweet, did you? |
Moments of Liberation: Then, Now, and Not YetWith the music of Debbie Friedman, z"l
FreeTheSlaves.net "Seder Starters"Click here for a link to materials that help you bring issues of modern slavery to your seder. [Scroll down to "Judaism in Action: Seder Starters.]
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Memory is a ParadoxOn the one hand, a personal memory is something that happened in the past, and a
collective memory is usually something that never happened to us personally. On the other hand, human beings have a unique ability to connect with events that they never experienced personally. To remember, to "re-member," means to make ourselves whole, to shape a connection between disparate realities, between our present and the past. |
But Memory ConnectsJudaism seems to assume that without memory we lack wholeness, we are "dis-membered." The holiday of
Pesach is founded on Jewish memory. In spite of the passage of 3,500 years, we are commanded to experience the Exodus as if we were there: “In every generation, each person is obligated to see himself ... as if he or she went out of Egypt” (Mishnah Pesahim 10:5). |
Our Daunting Task“In each generation, each individual is required to view himself or herself as if he or she is the one who left Egypt.” That means that as much as we all talk about our Covenant as the Jewish People, there is still an individual component for each one of us. There is a responsibility that each one of us has to maintain our part of the bond to God and to Jews all across the world.
Sometimes personal responsibility is far more daunting a task than collective liability. One can shrug off the collective duty figuring that somebody else will take care of it. That is not what Pesach teaches. Pesach teaches that while we are all a part of this miraculous story of freedom, we all still carry personal responsibility to maintain that freedom for ourselves and for others. |
What is OUR Egypt?This is not just a particular story that happened to a particular people. This is a story for everyone who feels they have been pushed or pressed or squeezed. That can be physical, spiritual or social.
Then you think of what Egypt is today. We have to name it and include that in the telling of the story... Everyone is obligated to see themselves as if they left Egypt. Also, taking this leaving Egypt experience, ask, 'Where am I enslaved in my life today? And have I the intention of getting out of that slavery today, whether it involves, money, job, etc.?' By retelling the story each year and remembering that their ancestors were slaves, Jewish people are motivated to help the less fortunate ... the message is strong that you know what it is like to be enslaved and can identify with people suffering .... |
Remembering, for realHow can you bring this concept to your Seder table? Consider asking each person to describe what it felt like to experience redemption from Egypt. Answers can be historical (Imagine what it actually felt like to be one of the 600,000 who stood on the shore of the Sea) or modern (Consider a time in your life when you were confronted by a barrier as daunting as the Sea. How did you get across and how did you celebrate?)
The key is to find yourself in this moment and, thereby link yourself through a common experience to everyone around your Seder table and to everyone who has ever sat or is sitting around a Seder table throughout our history. |
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The Secret Story of PesahThis video offers one perspective of what the haggadah teaches about the tragedy and suffering that the Israelites endured when in Egypt. It also connects this to our lives today.
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Passover: Modern SlaveryRabbi Angela Buchdahl makes an eye-opening connection between Passover and modern slavery. The latter touches all of us in ways we are unaware.
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Jewish Education Center of Cleveland