Skip to main content

Why Is This Night Different?


About a week before Passover (Pesach) began, I attended a talk given by Rabbi G. who gave us some fab ideas about how to make out Passover meals (or Sedarim ) more memorable.

He wasn't kidding.

What with my dressing up as Pharaoh, getting the kids to pack their "leaving Egypt" bags and throwing plastic frogs around the table during the recounting of The Ten Plagues, the Seder was certainly different from the norm. I used a few of his ideas and the results were fantastic. For the first time this year, my usually heavy and drab first night Seder was transformed into a fun filled, children-oriented extravaganza - and everyone attending had a grand time.

Another bonus was getting the kids more involved than in the past, so that Tali took control of the Four Sons part, Michal and Dassi sang songs from school and all four girls gave a sterling performance of the Mah Nishtana (or Four Questions.)

Most importantly, for the first time in my ten years of leading the Seder, I actually relaxed enough to enjoy the evening - and this was certainly a first for me. For the second night, we went to the Shul, where a more conventional offering was on show.

The rest of Yom Tov/Shabbat was very nice and today, we had a lovely afternoon when our family and two others trekked out to the local park for a good few hours. There were 5 adults and 8 kids..it was quite an afternoon!

We were then invited back for tea to one of the friends in the group and this was truly the icing on the cake of a great day.

So far, we're three days into Pesach and it's turning into one of the most pleasant I can remember in many a year.

Happy Pesach to all who celebrate....and Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate too!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ten Jewberry Muds

To get the full effect, this message should be read out loud. You will understand what 'tenjewberrymuds' means by the end of the conversation. This has been nominated for the best email of 2005. The following is a telephone exchange between a hotel guest and room-service at a hotel in Asia, which was recorded and published in the FarEast Economic Review: Room Service (RS): "Morrin. Roon sirbees." Guest (G): "Sorry, I thought I dialed room-service." RS: "Rye..Roon sirbees..morrin! Jewish to oddor sunteen??" G: "Uh..yes..I'd like some bacon and eggs." RS: "Ow July den?" G: "What??" RS: "Ow July den?...pryed, boyud, poochd?" G: "Oh, the eggs! How do I like them? Sorry, scrambled please." RS: "Ow July dee baykem? Crease?" G: "Crisp will be fine." RS: "Hokay. An Sahn toes?" G: "What?" RS: "An toes. July Sahn toes?" G: "I don't think so."...

A Breed Apart

I'll start with that rarest of things (at least for me), namely an apology. A number of people who read this blog have approached me and asked me how the new job is panning out. I know I should have followed the original posts with updates, but honestly, I came back so tired from work, that I didn't have the will to compose any reports. In short, I am really happy in my new school. The students line up outside the door to my classroom (yes, my classroom) quietly instead of rushing in like a pack of deranged beasts and then, to my utter delight, stand , yes STAND(!!) behind their chairs and wait until I tell them to be seated. These students are actually listening to my instructions. When I tell them to switch their monitors off, they do what I ask. I don't find myself having to wait for fifteen minutes until they can be bothered to be quiet, they do something that I've been longing to experience for two years - they show an interest, in fact, a very keen interest, in w...

Bye Bye University

I can't quite believe it but today is in fact my last as a student. My course ends when I walk out of school at 13.15 I've now fulfilled the statutory days demanded of me as a student teacher. From Monday, I will be effectively unemployed - until Thursday, so I reckon we'll survive. That's it folks, my course is over. I have yet to hear whether or not I've passed, although between you and me ( shhhh don't tell anyone ) I am now a newly qualified teacher in everything but name. The exam board meets Mid-July to make those all important decisions and that's when I expect to get my congratulatory letter through the post. It's been an interesting year, to say the least. There have been ups and downs although the positive has vastly outweighed the negative. I find standing in a classroom less daunting and if anything, I now have the confidence to teach, which I didn't have when I started. I know I've only been doing this lark since September (and teach...