Something was wrong with our Seder table.

Matan: The challah shouldn't be here.

Emily: We eat crunchy matzah at Seder. This should go away.

Morah Katie: A regular dinner is different from a Seder dinner.  What did you have for dinner last night?
Lochlan: Spaghetti and garlic bread.
Lakshmi: Pizza.
Matan: Burritos.
Morah Katie: How is the Seder dinner different from your regular dinners?
Matan: We dip stuff in the stuff that looks like bricks.
Maya: We eat matzah and have 4 cups of wine.
Colette: We eat charoset.
Lakshmi: We relax on pillows.
Evan: We eat bitter stuff.
Morah Katie: Why is it different?
Maya: To celebrate that we are free.

We created a paper collage inspired by Hashem's great miracle of splitting the sea.

Rowen: Pharaoh was bad. He was mean.

Ozzie: The Jews didn't want to be with Pharaoh any more.

Evan: They got to go through because the water split. 

Morah Katie: Does water normally do that?

Miles: NO! 

Carson: It was a miracle.

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"Moshe had to go 10 times! 10 times!"

Passover is a holiday, a holiday, a holiday.

Passover is a holiday, a very special day.

On Passover we eat crunchy matzah, crunchy matzah, crunchy matzah.

On Passover we eat crunchy matzah to remember the slaves in Egypt.

Morah Katie: Who ruled Egypt during the time of the Passover story?

Maya: Pharaoh.

Morah Katie: Let me ask you, would you invite Pharaoh to play?

Maia: NO.

Morah Katie: Why?

Aura: Cause he is mean.

Morah Katie: What did Pharaoh do?

Maya: He made the slaves work.

Morah Katie: Slaves? What is a slave?

Miles: People who work for someone forever and doesn't get water or food or sleep.

Morah Katie: Did the Jewish people want to build for Pharaoh?

Maya: NO.
Rowen: They want to run.
Moshe: They want to stay far away from Egypt.

 

Morah Katie: Let me ask you about Moshe-Moshe from the Passover story because I know you will say yes about our Gan friend Moshe-would you invite Moshe to play?

Maya: Yes.

Morah Katie: Why?

Aura: He is nice.

Miles: He does not do the things that Pharaoh does.

Morah Katie: What does Moshe do?

Maya: He wants help get the Jews out of Egypt.

Miles: He rescues the Jews from Pharaoh.

Morah Katie: How?

Jade: Hashem tells him to tell Pharaoh to let them go.

Morah Katie: That sounds very brave.  So interesting, the Maccabees were brave, Queen Esther was brave and now Moses was brave.  So what happens? What does Pharaoh say?

Miles: "No No NO, I will not let them go!"

Morah Katie: What happens? 

Maya: The water turns to blood!   
Miles: All the water and the lakes and the rivers. 

Morah Katie: What happens? 
Maya: Pharaoh lets them go and then wants them back.
Miles: Moshe goes to him again.
Morah Katie: What did Pharaoh say this time?
Miles: NO NO NO!  And then there comes frogs!

Morah Katie: How many times does Moshe have to go and tell Pharaoh to let the Jewish people go? 
Maya: 10. 10 times. Then they were free!
Carson: They had to bake the crunchy matzah very fast and they were running.
Aura: I wouldn't want to be a slave.
Maya: It would be a lot of hard work.
Emily: No, we aren't slaves now.

We know the story. 

We are prepared to begin to answer why we eat such interesting food at our seder dinner.  

Next week, we get to taste the real items as we practice our four questions.

Fun with salt:

Dissolving Salt in Water

Creating Salt Paintings

Salt Tray- drawing in salt

Passover is coming!

A new holiday is on it's way.

Rowen: Chanukah is a holiday.

Matan: The one with the Shofar? The one we eat outside?

Evan: It's Passover.

Morah Katie: Who remember's how to say Passover in Hebrew?

Colette: Pesach.

Matan: Pesach is a nice word.

Pesach is such an interesting holiday.

 We wrote down what we already knew, 

and questions we have.

We will add what we learn as we go.

We have an experience table set up to explore different Seder plates and Passover items.

Morah Tzivie showed us that a Passover Seder dinner will be very different from a Shabbat dinner.

We will keep the candles, but
Maya: There will NOT be any challah!
And instead of just 1 cup of wine there will be
Miles: 4 cups of wine!
Lochlan: With different foods, the Seder plate.

Morah Katie: Why do you think there is a brick in the classroom?

Lochlan: I think it is because we are learning about heavy things.

We will find out why there is a brick, why we eat such interesting foods

and the answers to our other questions in the coming days.