By Lori Rubin, Director, Family Engagement

Is Passover all about Freedom? Yes and no. The holiday of Passover is also about:

  • welcoming guests
  • providing all who are hungry with a seat at the table
  • appreciating what you have
  • bravery
  • remembering those who came before us

On Sunday, March 29th, I held a workshop for the families of Congregation Beth Hatikvah in Summit, New Jersey. Over the course of the morning, families had the chance to explore these themes of Passover in new and different ways. We looked at texts from the Haggadah, played a rousing game of Passover Jeopardy, and created sculptures depicting the themes above. The kids, ranging in age from 3-13, worked together with their parents to decide how to portray the ideas in a modern context. The results were pretty impressive. Both students and their parents reflected at the culmination of the program that they learned something new and were inspired to try new things at their seder table. I look forward to hearing how this learning will continue, both inside the classroom and at home. 

How can you incorporate some of the themes above into your own seders at home? Click here to see our Passover resources, ideas, recipes, crafts and more.

Thank you to Nancy Hersh, Educational Director of Congregation Beth Hatikvah for bringing me to her Sunday Fun Day. If you are interested in having a family engagement workshop in your community, please contact me.

[flickr_set id=”72157651243618790″]