Category: Jewish Holidays

Pesach

4 Unit(s), 17 Resource(s), 4 Teaching Tool(s)

Categories
Jewish Holidays
Yamim Noraim
Sukkot
Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah
Chanukah
Tu B’shvat
Purim
Pesach
Yom Ha’atzmaut
Shavuot
Fast Days
Jewish Life Cycles
Brit Milah
Bar/Bat Mitzvah
Wedding
Mourning
Jewish Rituals
Shabbat
Tefillah
Kashrut
Brachot
Jewish Philosophy & Thinking
Theology
Morality
Diversity, Disagreement and Reconciliation
Jewish Peoplehood
Jewish Ritual and Practice
Values in Jewish Texts
Communication and Respect
Ages
6-8
9-11
12-14
15-18
Essential Questions
Individual and Society
How am I an important part of my community?
How can a person’s decisions and actions impact his/her life?
How can my actions make time sacred?
How do beliefs, ethics, or values influence different people’s behavior?
How do I connect to my community?
How do I grow as a result of the Jewish life cycle?
How do we make good decisions?
How does family play a role in shaping our values and beliefs?
How do we form identities that remain authentic and true to ourselves?
How does the idea that Jews everywhere celebrate the same holidays and pray the same prayers connect me to the Jewish community?
What are the factors that move individuals / communities / nations to great sacrifice and what are the consequences?
What is the individual’s responsibility to the community? What is the community’s responsibility to the individual?
What factors shape our values and beliefs? How are my values and beliefs impacted by those around me?
What happens when belief systems of societies and individuals come into conflict?
What is the relationship between freedom and responsibility?
What makes a strong Jewish community?
What resources support/enable/inspire my growth?
When is it appropriate to challenge the beliefs or values of society?
Continuity through Traditions, Symbols, Prayers, & Behaviors
In what ways am I connected to the Jewish People?
How is my Judaism expressed in my life?
How are symbols used in celebrations and holidays?
How can I experience moments of connection to God?
How do family traditions play an important role in our lives?
How do Jewish practices reflect Jewish values?
How do Jewish rituals and practices enrich the way I experience my life and the world?
How do values and tradition impact my Jewish practice?
How does being Jewish affect what I do in my daily/weekly life?
How is Judaism’s value of life expressed in its practices and traditions?
How does prayer present us with questions about God and the Divine?
How is prayer a vehicle to help us access connections to God?
What can we learn from different generations?
Why are holidays, rituals, customs, important to me, my family, and my community?
Why/how might Jewish practices be meaningful for me even if I don’t define myself as “religious”?
Cycles and Time
How can I be the best “me” this year? In class, at home, on the playground, etc?
How do I grow as a result of the Jewish calendrical cycle?
How do Jewish cycles shape our lives?
How do the holidays bring beauty and order to our Jewish year?
What makes time holy?
What turning points determine our individual pathways to adulthood?
Why is it important to mark the beginnings and ends of stages in our lives?
Jewish Values
How are prejudice and bias created? How do we overcome them?
How can literature serve as a vehicle for social change?
How can we think more carefully about the consequences of our actions?
How do beliefs, ethics, or values influence different people’s behavior?
How do we make good decisions?
How does Judaism shape or define our understanding of happiness?
To what extent does power or the lack of power affect individuals?
What propels some individuals to take a stand against prejudice/oppression while others choose to participate in it?
What are the factors that move individuals / communities / nations to great sacrifice and what are the consequences?
What are the Jewish values (e.g., freedom, responsibility, justice, community, respect of diversity etc.) that should be honored in an ideal society?
What are the responsibilities of the individual in regard to issues of social justice?
What does it mean to be “free” in Judaism?
What is morality and what are the factors that have an impact on the development of our morality?
What is the relationship between freedom and responsibility?
When is it necessary to question the status quo? Who decides?
The Jewish Story
How can exploring the past impact our present?
How do challenges and struggles lead to growth?
How do I become a voice in the chain of Jewish interpretation of Torah?
How do Jewish texts help me grapple with questions of life, the universe and everything?
How does a nation change over time?
What would Jewish life look like if we truly followed the idea of machloket l’shem shamayim?
How has the concept of utopia changed over time and/or across cultures or societies?
How is Jewish text a vehicle to help us access connections to God?
How is the Torah story my story?
How would we define a utopian society?
In the face of adversity, what causes some individuals/nations to prevail while others fail?
What are the different ways to be a hero and how do I become one?
When does a positive personality trait become a tragic flaw?
Why is it important for people and cultures to construct narratives about their experience?
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Unit

Passover: Story of the Holiday

This unit deals with the multifaceted story and diverse faces of the Passover holiday, and focuses on the idea of telling the exodus story and its significance.

Ages: 9-11, 12-14
Unit

Passover: Slavery and Freedom

This unit examines the theme of freedom on Passover and its implications for our lives even beyond the Passover seder.

Ages: 9-11, 12-14
Unit

Passover: Seder Night and the Haggadah

This unit discusses the various aspects of Seder night – the structure of the Haggadah, the Seder plate, and selected texts from the Maggid section.

Ages: 6-8, 9-11
Unit

The Exodus from Egypt as a Jewish Calling

This unit explores the centrality of the Exodus from Egypt in Jewish life. It suggests several reasons for its importance, and discusses the moral lessons from it that have guided human behavior throughout history.

Ages: 15-18
Resource

Shabbat and the Exodus

In this block we will consider the connections between Shabbat and the Exodus.

Ages: 15-18
Resource

Avadim Hayinu – We Were Slaves

Avadim Hayinu – we were slaves. Based on this passage in the Haggadah, we will discuss the story of slavery in Egypt and the experience of freedom, noting the relevance of slavery throughout human history.

Ages: 9-11, 12-14
Resource

You Left Egypt – Now Pay It Forward

In this lesson we explore how the Exodus story in the national consciousness of the Jewish people has been a moral compass, instilling the values of protecting the vulnerable in society. This is legislated in Jewish law, can be seen in Jewish history, and is a national calling for the future – to build a society on the values of protecting the weak and vulnerable amongst us.

Ages: 15-18
Resource

The Exodus Narrative as an Inspiration in Modern History

In this lesson we explore how the Exodus story has been an inspiration for Jews and non-Jews alike during historical periods when freedom and liberty could not be taken for granted. These include the refuseniks in Soviet Russia, appartheid South Africa, and the the struggle for civil rights for African Americans.

Ages: 15-18
Resource

Protected: From Communal to Personal Calling

In this lesson we will focus on  the more personal impact of the Exodus on our lives as individuals. Using the quote from the Haggada “In each and every generation a person is obligated to see oneself as if they had [personally] come out of Egypt” as a launching point, the thinkers presented here describe if and how we can create a personal connection to the story, and how this can change us as people.

Ages: 15-18
Resource

What the Bible says on remembering the Exodus

In this lesson the themes of the Exodus in Judaism and Jewish history are explored, including the importance to remember the Exodus, and the lasting impact that this experience has had on Jewish national memory, on the Jewish psyche, ethics, and living.

Ages: 15-18
Resource

Vehi She’amda – God’s promise to Abraham

This resource discusses God’s promise to Abraham to redeem the Jewish people and to help Jews throughout the generations to cope with difficulties and to maintain their hope and faith.

Ages: 12-14
Resource

In Every Generation

In this resource, we’ll explore our obligation — as the descendants of those who were redeemed from slavery — toward those who are oppressed and weak within our own society and around the world.

Ages: 12-14
Resource

The Ten Plagues

We will learn about a symbolic action performed on Seder night as we recite the list of the Ten Plagues – the spotting of our plates with drops of wine and suggest the meaning that can be attributed to this custom.

Ages: 12-14
Resource

The Four Sons

The four sons represent four ways of thinking and the importance of education that is tailored to the personality of the learner. This resource will address the importance of being inclusive of different types of people, as well as the different parts of ourselves,  and the importance of communicating with individuals in a manner that acknowledges and takes into consideration ‘where they are at’.

Ages: 9-11, 12-14
Resource

Ha Lachma Anya – The Bread of Affliction/Poverty

“This is the bread of affliction/poverty.” It is with these words that the Haggadah begins the main part of Seder night – the telling of the exodus story. What does matzah symbolize and why does the Haggadah begin specifically with a discussion of it?  

Ages: 12-14
Resource

Ma Nishtana – the Four Questions

In this resource, we will learn about the Four Questions section of the Haggadah. We will become familiar with the examples that appear in the text and explore the significance of asking questions on Seder night.

Ages: 6-8, 9-11
Resource

From Slavery to Freedom – for younger students

The song Avadim hayinu, ata bnei chorin  – “We were slaves, now we’re free humans” is based on a passage in the Haggadah that describes the dramatic change the Children of Israel underwent from slavery to freedom. This resource discusses these themes and connects both conditions to experiences in our own lives.

Ages: 6-8
Resource

Telling the Story

One of the main goals of Seder night is to tell the story of the exodus from Egypt. This is done not only by reading the Haggadah, but rather through a variety of methods – which we will learn about here.

Ages: 12-14
Resource

The Seder Plate

In this resource we will get to know the Seder plate and the role it plays in telling the story of Passover on Seder Night.

Ages: 9-11
Resource

The Seder Simanim

The Haggadah is divided into a fixed series of distinct sections. To help those holding the Seder to remember the order, “simanim” – signs or mnemonics – were devised to indicate the order of proceedings.

Ages: 6-8, 9-11
Resource

The Holiday of Passover

A basic first lesson about the holiday. We will familiarize ourselves with the various aspects of the holiday by becoming acquainted with its story and diverse names: Passover, Springtime Festival, Feast of Matzah and Holiday of Freedom.

Ages: 6-8, 9-11
Teaching Tool

The Seder Plate-Template

Activity template for learning about the Seder plate.

Ages: 9-11
Teaching Tool

Telling the Story

Activity template for the unit for telling the story of leaving Egypt. The students will write about their family story.

Ages: 12-14
Teaching Tool

Seder Simanim-Cards

Teaching aid- playing cards with drawings for learning about the symbols of the Seder.

Ages: 6-8, 9-11
Teaching Tool

Seder Simanim- Placemat

Teaching aid- placemat to print out for the Seder table, to accompany learning about the different symbols of the Seder and their meanings.

Ages: 6-8, 9-11