Holidays

Planning a seder? You'll need a haggadah.

Which haggadah you use makes a big difference in how participants experience the seder.

Consider who's on your guest list. Of course it also matters how long you want your seder to last and what tone you want (solemn, inquisitive, or with a touch of whimsy). 

Here's a guide to point you in the right direction.

Singing the Mah Nishtanah gives children a chance to participate in the Passover seder.

But there's more to the Four Questions than just a song.

As educators, we can prepare children for the holiday by building connections between the Mah Nishtanah and:

• Understanding that stories and knowledge spring from questions
• What it means to relive the transition from slavery to freedom
• Jewish values of fighting injustice and slavery

Through Passover we are providing you with three free lessons about Mah Nishtanah and the seder from Hebrew in Harmony - our innovative music-based prayer curriculum.

"With overtones of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are (1963), this read-aloud brings a creative element to the holiday.  . . . Marine fun and fantasy make for a magical Passover celebration." -Kirkus Reviews

In Under the Sea Seder, by Ann D. Koffsky, Miri is having trouble focusing during her family's Passover seder. Her parents would like her to sit quietly and listen, but she just CAN'T. 

So Miri slips under the table where her spirited imagination can be free, and with her cat at her side imagines leading her own seder, under the sea, with some friendly, very colorful sea monsters as her guests. 

Miri sings the Four Questions and whirls and twirls in celebration with her new marine friends. And soon it is time to dance and sing above the

Passover offers so many opportunities for learning - about Jewish history, the importance of home and holiday observance, and the value of repetition. Here are some resources you can use with students to explore many aspects of the holiday. 

In Teach Them Diligently: A Midrash on the Jewish Educator’s Year, Bonnie Stevens describes the haggadah as "our greatest textbook, laying out the lesson plan for a class so important that every Jew must repeat it yearly - the seder." One of the lessons the haggadah teaches us is about the role of questions in learning.

The haggadah doesn't rely on children to devise questions on their own. The Four Questions, for example, are spelled out. Sometimes we may use the haggadah's techniques to prod students to ask questions. And we too are b

This year for Passover, Matilda's grandmother invites her to help make the matzah ball soup—a dish that’s essential to Jewish cuisine, especially for holiday meals.

Matilda Makes Matzah Balls, by Rhonda Cohen and illustrated by Francesca Galmozzi, tells the story of Matilda, who has always loved watching her grandmother make soup. Now she wants to try out some of her own ideas. Adding lemon and dill to the matzah balls seems like a great idea. But making one GIANT matzah ball is a giant mistake.

Yet Bubbe is encouraging. "The best part of experimenting is you can always try again," she tells Matilda. 

And so the grandmother-granddaughter cooking team continues the kitchen experiments, with some unusual (and unusually delicious!) results.

Matilda’s enthusiasm and her grandmother’s uncondi

Enjoy these simple, ready-to-go activities focused on Purim and its big themes. 

For Youngest Learners

Movement and mindfulness

Try this activity about bravery - a Purim theme. Tell children to tilt their heads up and stand straight and tall. Or try making strong muscles in their arms. Invite children to make brave poses. Encourage them to notice where in their bodies they feel brave. (in my muscles; in my heart; my brain; my arms and legs) Suggest they try another pose and see if their brave feeling changes too. Have them create a pose that shows what bravery feels like in their body. (This activity comes from the Let’s Discover the Holidays series of 4-page folders.)

Story time

The holiday offers an entryway to helping students explore the Jewish values of Bal Tashchit (“do not destroy”), bettering the environment and creating a greener, more abundant world for themselves and for others.

Purim is just around the corner. 

Two new stories are coming out February 7 to entertain and inspire children this holiday.

Purr-im Time!

By Jenna Waldman, illustrated by Erica Chen

In this happy, rhyming romp a group of exuberant kittens get into some feline mischief as they celebrate Purim and explain the holiday to young children.

"A welcome addition for secular and religious collections alike." --School Library Journal

"Filled with movement and joy" --Kirkus Reviews

 Yes, Hanukkah is just around the corner. Here are some new story books - and some other favorites - to entertain and inspire young children this holiday.

 NEW!