Photos by Stacy Gittleman
Happy
Passover
TO ALL OUR
CLIENTS, FAMILY
& FRIENDS!
To make the seder more interesting, draw creative readings or ideas from an
assortment of Haggadot.
Passover Tips
These creative ideas can help
leaders liven up their seders.
I
STEP AWAY FROM
THE SEDER TABLE
In the 2005 Passover comedy, When
Do We Eat?, a dysfunctional Jewish
family celebrates Passover in a
Bedouin tent pitched on a suburbanite
Long Island lawn.
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Stacy Gittleman | Contributing Writer
f you are a seder leader, you work a
tough crowd. Just as the Children of
Israel complained in the desert to
Moses, all gathered at the seder table
will level their pre-meal kvetching at you.
Fear not. The Passover seder is the
ultimate multi-sensory teaching tool
that asks each of us to think of our-
selves as going on a journey and leaving
Egypt and slavery behind for freedom
in the Promised Land. Long before
any educational theorist came up with
the idea of teaching to multiple intelli-
gences, the Hagaddah text clearly states
that all who participate in a seder must
feel as they themselves experienced the
bitterness of slavery and the sweetness
of redemption.
“From sports to music fans, you’ve
got to know your audience,” said Jeff
Lasday, director of Alliance for Jewish
Education. Lasday has led family seders
for the past 30 years. When Passover
falls during the annual NCAA basket-
ball tournament, Lasday emails his
family in advance a Jewish-themed
“bracket” of favorite Passover foods,
Jewish traditions and Jewish heroes.
Before the seder, he compiles the results
and intersperses reports between differ-
ent parts of the Hagaddah.
STONE'S
Though it is not necessary to go
through such lengths, setting the stage
visually will get your seder guests in the
right frame of mind for the evening.
At the beginning of the seder, don’t
even bother with the table. For one
seder, I brought the whole family into
the tiny front storage area of my par-
ent’s basement. This subterranean start
symbolized that we were about to go
on a journey and the dark basement
represented just how low we felt during
slavery and how we were about to rise
to freedom.
Amy Newman, director of leadership
development for the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit, suggests hang-
ing blue cellophane from doorways to
simulate the parting of the Red Sea. She
also recommends giving permission for
kids to draw on the dining room walls
— covered carefully with butcher paper
— to depict scenes from the Haggadah.
“The more experiential you can make
your seder, the more meaning it will
have for your guests, no matter their
age,” Newman said.
YES, YOU CAN EAT
Nibbling is permitted during the first half
of the seder after reciting the blessing for
karpas (green vegetable, often parsley).
Pass around bowls of dried fruits and
nuts, even crudites with guacamole to
stave off hunger during the seder.
TEENS, TWEENS,
YOUNG ADULTS
Prior to the seder, get them invested by
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continued on page 52
April 14 • 2016
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