1. How was this Pesach different from all other Pesachim?
2. What's your definition of a successful Passover Seder?
3. How do/would you achieve it?
4. How do you want next year's Pesach to be different?
Kindly send (or post to comments below) your and your table's wisdom to share with others.
Just before Pesach I posed Q 2+3 to a few people, most of them veteran teachers.
Here's what one said:
Everyone should enjoy it – enjoyment itself gives them a strong connection. And ten years from now, what are they going to remember? Mostly whether or not they enjoyed it.
Two days later, he came back to me:
Beyond enjoying it, I hope that everyone should learn one of the lessons, such as that God is running the world. To achieve these two things, I make sure everyone is well-fed and well-rested before the Seder begins, then I keep things moving and dramatize the Plagues with many visual aids. And we sing together as much as possible.
5th question for your table - Is singing together important?
At a men's end-of-Pesach share-your-leftover-matzah meal Tuesday evening at a nearby shul, the rabbi spoke about this exact subject.
There were about 100 present, and at one point a portion of us were singing while another portion were (loudly) shmuzing.
The rabbi spoke beautifully and deeply, and told a story about the great rabbi, the Vilna Gaon.
In a nutshell, the end of the story is that the Vilna Gaon taught, "Anyone who doesn't get music, can't fully get Torah".
That's food for thought. (What do you reckon he meant?)
Shabbat Shalom
PS - Top answer to last week's Groucho question: "Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." (Although the attribution has been questioned, Groucho afficianados have no doubt.) (For those who had too much horseradish over Pesach and are not getting the joke, click here.)
PPS - Enjoyed this post-Pesach treat? Please like it, tweet it, or just forward it to someone who might enjoy it.
And please remember, when looking for bar or bat mitzvah gifts, books and toys of all sorts, let us do the searching for you: http://bestjewishkidsbooks.com
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