This week we discovered why we have the new and interesting things in our classroom.

We learned the Passover story. 

Morah Tzivie told us that many years ago, the Jewish people were slaves in Egypt.

We learned a slave is someone who has no choice about working. They have to.  They are not free to choose.

Pharaoh made the Jewish people build his buildings with no rest, with little materials or tools. 

They had no time to do mitzvahs and help their friends, or to celebrate Shabbat.  The Jewish people had to work all day, all night.  

They were sad and tired. The Jewish people prayed to Hashem.

Hashem cared about the people so He sent Moshe, the kind and wise Jewish leader, to tell Pharaoh: Let My People Go

Morah Katie: How many times did Moshe go to Pharaoh?

Mason: 10! 10 times before he said GO.  Not after the water turned to blood.

Emily: The frogs. Frogs everywhere.  Everywhere the frogs.

Lochlan: And there were bugs, itchy bugs all over and he didn’t let them go.  He wanted them to keep building. But it was sad because I know there are construction vehicles and they didn’t have any. And it is a sad story.

Morah Katie: It is a sad story.  What is something you do when are sad?

Lochlan: Cry.

Morah Katie: Is there an interesting food we eat on the Seder plate that helps remind us of the tears?

Mason: Salt water!

Matan: They were sad because they kept building.  

Morah Katie: When did they finally get to go?

Matan: After all the stuff.

Mason: After the 10 times.

Art helped the children retell the experience of the Jewish people while they lived in Egypt.

I pretended to be Pharaoh.

Morah Katie: What did Pharaoh say to Moses: 

Miles: No, No No. 

Mason: HE doesn't let them go.  

Morah Katie: Ok, I got it. Build. Build. Please build me some buildings.  Oh wait...

Keep building. Don't stop, no resting.  Lochlan what shape building are you going to create? Oh wait... Just build! Build! More Glue! More Sticks! 

Lakshmi would you like to make a building, or pyramid?

Lakshmi: Not now.

Morah Katie: OH but I am Pharaoh and I say you must do it.

Lakshmi: ( giggling) Oh Morah Katie not now.

Lochlan: Morah Katie you are not a good mean Pharaoh.(laughing)

Morah Katie: That is the kindest thing anyone has ever told me. Thank you.  Emily, what are those beans? 

Emily: Oh they are just the beans that are leaving.  They are leaving now.

Morah Katie: Is that the path the Jewish people took as they fled Egypt when Pharaoh finally told them to go?

Emily: OH yes. No more building and no more frogs everywhere.

Morah Katie: What are they taking with them to eat?

Lochlan: Matzah.

Mason: Yeah, they are packing it to eat but they are also in a rush.

Morah Katie: Why are they in rush?

Lochlan: (slight sigh) They don't want to keep building.

Having heard the Passover story, some of our friends were upset.  It began to sink in that the Jewish people did not have an easy life with forklifts or bulldozers, and not being able to choose what to do and when to do must have been very frustrating.

Matan: I'd want to put Pharaoh in jail.

Fortunately, we came to the part of the story in which a great miracle occurred.  All the sadness and worry disappeared and was replaced with awe, joy and wonderment.

Morah Tzivie: The Jewish People had been traveling and had gotten to a sea.  How do you cross a sea or a river?

Sadie: Boat

Lochlan: I've been on a plane.

Morah Tzivie: When we go from Vancouver to Portland, we cross the Columbia River on a bridge.

But they did not have a bridge or a boat or a plane. The sea split.

The Jewish people crossed and knew they were safe from Pharaoh and Egypt.

We experimented with water so that we could better understand the miracle of the 

"Splitting of the sea."

We filled a tub with water and tried to split the water.  We all tried, none of us were successful.

We tried to prevent the water from moving, it found a way around.  We couldn't split it or stop it.

Mason: I thought maybe we could split. We didn't.  

Lochlan: It doesn't split. And all the people got through. 

Morah Katie: Yes, all the Jewish people got across.

We did not recreate the splitting of the sea in a tub of water.

But that didn't stop us from trying again, this time with a log.  

We learned that Hashem made a miracle and that was the only way the sea could split.

We have all the items to set a Seder dinner.

We know the story of Passover, and why we have a Seder dinner with a special plate and crunchy matzah with 4 cups of wine. 

Next week, we will explore the real items to get us ready for our Seder dinners with our families.