I will admit that I am not Jewish, nor is anyone in my family, however, I have been very fortunate to have been exposed to the Jewish faith and religion by my friends over the course of my life. When I became a parent, I vowed to introduce my children to world culture and religions. Therefore our family observes (but not in the traditional sense) Jewish holidays such as Hanukkah and Passover. Since these holidays coincide with Christian holidays, I feel it is important to offer my children a broader insight of the world and view it as my obligation as a parent to raise mindful and culturally sensitive kids.
PASSOVER
WikiHow.com has a great article on preparing a passover meal for non-Jewish friends. Now if you are Jewish and are celebrating Passover with your family, you may consider inviting some of your non-Jewish friends to celebrate this very important religious holiday. As Passover is one of the most spiritual holiday in the Jewish faith, it is a very important event. Passover is celebrated for 8 days and represents the exodus of the Jews from Egypt and their freedom from slavery. On the first two days of the celebration, families host a Seder, which is a traditional meal and is eaten while the story of the Jews is told by reading the Haggadah throughout the meal.
President Obama just host his third annual Seder dinner yesterday at the white house with his Jewish and Non-Jewish friends and family. Here is an article about our president’s tradition. http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/matzah-balls-at-the-white-house-obama-hosts-third-passover-seder-1.356783
SEDER
The Seder dinner consists of traditional foods that represent different parts of the Exodus story, which highlights the value of freedom for all. A Seder plate is placed in the middle of the table and on it are a collection of symbolic foods such as an egg, bitter herbs, shank bone, charoseth (apple dried fruit and nut mixture)lettuce, bowl of salt water and parsley. Here is an easy recipe and guide for preparing your Seder.
http://www.shalom-peace.com/passover.html
HAGGADAH
The Haggadah is a book that tells the story of Passover, filled with song, stories, questions and blessing this book teaches the family about the Passover and its importance to the Jewish faith. There are many versions of the book that can either be purchased or downloaded for you Seder dinner here are some online resources for the Haggadah.
Here is a link to a complete version of the Haggadah while this is not a traditional Haggadah, it does give the Hebrew and English version of the ceremony.
Here is a link to the 30 Minute Seder if you have young kids or a very busy family, and if you are not religiously Jewish, you may want to do an abbreviated version of the Seder for your family, given their attention span. If you are using the Seder to educate your family about Jewish history and inspire the ideals of freedom for all, using a Hagaddah, such as this is an excellent idea.
This link is for the Haggadah we use, it is a Do It Yourself version were you can customize the Seder to your needs. For us, we use the child friendly version with coloring pages and songs sung to recognizable tunes. This gives the kids a general education and is very inspirational and joyous. Use the link above to create your own personalized Haggadah for a very special Seder.
PASSOVER FOR KIDS
Passover, especially in a Non-Jewish household, can be a long service for kids to sit through, so if you have young children, try tailoring the Seder for their needs and add activities, like songs and crafts to the evening.
Here is a website tailored to teach kids about Passover.
http://www.akhlah.com/holidays/pesach/passover.php
Here is a fun activity you can do with your kids at home, make Passover puppets.
Here is the link to the picture below…http://annkoffsky.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/passpup1.jpg
