Please give a suggested $10.00 donation to PunkTorah for downloading this free Make It Yourself Haggadah.
There is a lot of stuff in Judaism. Wine cups, challah covers, mezzuzot, Torah scrolls, tallitot, tallitot k’tanot, books, and more books. Which makes it easy for us to teach the lofty ideas of theology and culture and the weight of 5773 years of history to children who have been alive for a second of that history. On Passover, by studying the haggadah, we can learn about the story, liberation theory, historical context, political realities, and family traditions by going through a pre-set order established by the haggadah.
There is magic in a Passover seder. For those of us who attended seders as children, there may be magic coating the memories of the Passovers of our youth. In settling down for a long marathon of talking, arguing, sneaking off to play in our stiff Passover clothes, getting called back to sing the 4 Questions, forgetting that you wanted to play and getting drawn in to sit on someone’s lap, or listen to the undulating rhythm of everyone taking turns reading from the haggadah. Magic in the bubbling anxiety when you realize you’ve entered the “magid” section, the storytelling section of the Passover seder, and you’re going to be called on soon to present the dance/rap/midrash/song you prepared for the event. Frenetic ripping apart of the house to find the afikoman before anyone else. For those of us who first experienced Passover seders as adult, the circle of seated seder-goers, excited to celebrate, learn, and argue once again is unlike any other. The magic of story-telling is still there, and depending on which seders you go to, you might get to sit on someone’s lap nonetheless.
Designed for use at home, in religious school settings, or wherever children are learning (IE EVERYWHERE dude there is so much learning going on around us!) I offer you the Make It Yourself Haggadah. I began using this in 2010 with kindergarden through 3rd graders. This Make It Yourself Haggadah takes readers through the rhythm of the Passover seder, and leaves space for drawing (illustrating the story of Exodus in comic strip panels), writing Hebrew (finish writing the blessings), and discussion (fun facts! Other interesting questions!) Also included in the most recent edition are the tools that led me to have one of the most inclusive seders I’ve ever led: songs about Passover, in English, to the tune of commonly known songs in the US. One of my favorite parts of Passover is singing, and if you can’t read all the Hebrew, it’s easy to feel left out! So, belt it out “Take Us Out of Mitzrayim.” You won’t regret it.
To use this resource as a grown up, it helps to have a copy of a haggadah with all the blessings filled out. Try haggadot.com to build your own with different readings and resources!
If you used this haggadah, let me know!
How did it go?
What resources do you use to bring the magic of Passover to kids?
Ariana is a religious school educator, PR type, knitter, radical children’s book collector, and activist. Ariana blogs at Vildah Chaya, including weekly Parsha Playlists about each week’s Torah portion. Ariana blushes when someone can work bell hooks theory into a d’var torah.
Email: katz.ariana@gmail.com
Twitter: @arianadeclines
