Passover is Finally Here!

Dear Families,

The children have had an extremely busy and exciting week getting ready for Friday’s Family Passover Program, and they were so excited to sing songs and share with you their vast Passover knowledge. The Bears have been learning about Passover over the last three weeks, including the story of Passover, the Ten Plagues and the seder. This week was all about the seder and the traditions and rituals that occur during the seder. The children learned about the seder plate, the symbolic meaning of the items and why each one is on the plate. It is important to understand these themes and through books, songs and projects each area was strengthened.

This week, the children prepared for their own seders. Each child made a seder plate using watercolors. The book, It’s Seder Time, was a favorite. The children also made afikomen covers; hopefully they are good look charms at your seder!Another exciting part of Passover are the blessings, songs and wonderful music that comes along with it. Maybe some of your children have been hopping like frogs at home, because in the Passover, one of the Ten Plagues was frogs. In dramatic play, children were able to embrace a whole new set of characters. Some children were Pharaoh telling the slaves to make bricks and build pyramids in Egypt. Sometimes, baby Moses would be floating down the river and the children would break out in song, “Where is baby Moses, Moses, Moses? Where is baby Moses? He’s on the River Nile.” The children practiced their songs on Monday with the Cantor and all week long.

Another important aspect of Passover is the food. The children learned about the significance of parsley and why we dip it in the salt water, the charoset that is supposed to remind us of the bricks that the Israelites were forced to make when they were slaves. The matzah reminds us how the Jewish people were in a rush to freedom, fearful that the Pharaoh would again change his mind, and their dough did not have time to rise. The children were able to sample their own creations as they made charoset on Wednesday and matzah on Thursday. Two popular books were, A Taste For Noah and A Mouse in the Matzah Factory. Throughout this unit, the children were able to explore a new area of Judaism and these experiences helped strengthen their Jewish identity. To top it all off, the wonderful Passover program on Friday was a big success! Thank you to all who were able to come, the children get so excited to share their school with you. We hope everyone has a wonderful vacation and a great holiday.

Shabbat Shalom and Happy Passover!

Morah Jessica and Morah Rhona