Rabbi Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of Israel, once said: One should make the old new, and the new holy. This is the task of anyone who is hosting or participating in a Passover Seder. Our charge is to tell (haggadah) the story of our ancestors liberation as though we ourselves were once slaves.
Every year when I see the full moon on Purim I know I have a one month countdown until Passover. This means cleaning the house, extending invitations, and figuring out how we will make this holiday new, meaningful, relevant, engaging and holy. In the past, we’ve asked our guests to bring questions or objects that represent freedom to them. We’ve done impromptu skits (using props like brooms, stuffed animals, masks and dolls), played “Who wants to be a millionaire” using Passover questions, conducted interviews, and played charades. I love buying props like plastic frogs, rubber locusts and ping pong balls for our 10 plagues. We sing old songs like Dayenu, along with new songs like “Take us all out of Egypt” to the tune of “Take me out to the ballgame”. We give out prizes like kosher bubble gum or bubbles in a frog for the best question. We’ve made Passover fortune cookies out of matzah. For us, Passover is more than a holiday meal, it’s an EVENT.
All of the special items on the Seder plate and ritual elements are designed to engage participants in questions, discussion and drama. At our Seder we love questions, but the one question we never want to hear is: Is it time to eat yet?!
There are now so many resources to help us design the most meaningful experience for the young and not so young. Check out: http://bangitout.com/ and http://opensourcehaggadah.com/ in addition to the wonderful resources myjewishlearning.com is providing on our website.
Even the iphone is in on the action this year. There is now a new ap called iMah Nishtanah, for those who want to learn the 4 questions in time for Seder.
The moon will soon be growing full once again. It’s time to get in high gear and figure out how March 29th, 2010, will be different from all other nights!
