Regardless of whether the thought of not having a “model seder” to attend this year 
makes you happy or sad, it is time to revisit the “model seder”. What, exactly, is it supposed to accomplish? Do we need to do one in each grade? And if not, are there other Passover experiences we can offer families that might be nice to experience as well?
At the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School, we have been pretty consistently offering pretty consistent-feeling model seders for quite a while. Are they rehearsals for the main event? Are they just-in-case some families have no other Passover experience?
I admit that last year I hit a bit of a “model seder” wall. I had my own children’s to attend in both Preschool and Day School. And I had to make meaningful appearances at all of them. By the time we got to Passover itself, I really wasn’t in the mood for two more! I mean I love charoset, gefilte fish, and matzah as much as the next person…
We do believe in the “model seder”. The seder itself is amongst the most powerful pedagogies ever developed. Celebrating a holiday through reenactment is experiential education at its finest. We like it so much we have created them for Tu B’Shevat, Yom Ha’Atzmaut and holidays! And we do in the Jewish day school feel a certain pressure to provide Jewish experiences of holidays to ensure all our families have opportunities to participate. Hence, our monthly “All-School Kabbalat Shabbat” services and this year’s Shushan Purim (even though we lack walls, we felt we needed to acknowledge Purim in school even though it fell on a weekend this year). Outside of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we celebrate the entire Jewish calendar in school – whether they fall during school or not. So we are not going to get rid of Passover. But maybe we can provide a differentiated educational experience?
The Jewish Studies Faculty and I met last spring after Passover to reflect and again this fall to plan, and we are pleased to share our plan for a K-8 differentiated Passover experience for MJGDS students and families:
- Kitah Gan: First “Model” Seder
- Kitah Alef: First Hebrew “Model” Seder
- Kitah Bet: Hebrew Passover Play
- Kitah Gimmel: Historical Reenactment “Model” Seder
- Kitot Daley & Hay: A Passover Experience
- Kitot Vav – Chet: Lead Seder at Mt. Carmel in partnership with JFCS
Each grade (or grade grouping) has its particular theme or experience (or both). Every student will have learned appropriate Passover material and each family will have a chance to have an appropriate Passover family experience. Hopefully, the differentiated experience will give our students something new to look forward to each year…and give our parents and families (particularly those with multiple children) something different to experience with each child.
Looking forward to all the pre-Passover excitement coming soon!
Postscripts:
- We finished (except for makeups) our standardized testing this week! Click here for last year’s results and background information on our approach to testing.
- We will soon be issuing our annual Parent Survey. Click here for last year’s results.
