Inviting Children’s Hearts into the Passover Story

Image courtesy of Hadassah.

When my granddaughters grew from toddlers into little girls who could read, I decided it was time to involve them more directly in our Passover seder. As you might guess, in previous years, they were in charge of returning the Afikomen (piece of matzah that is broken off from the main matzah and hidden at the Passover seder). Last year, our precocious 3-year-old grandson eagerly joined them. That hidden matzah, as many of you know, traditionally yields a prize for the young searchers if they find the matzah and return it to the seder leader intact. But that task hardly led them to feel empathy for the enslaved Jews or to realize that freedom is a gift to be cherished.

I wanted the Passover story to resonate with them, at their level of understanding. So I decided to write a child-oriented version of the Passover story that could serve as a preview to the traditional reciting of the Haggadah. I divided the story into 10 numbered sections so each of us, adult and child alike, could read one. (There were 10 of us, but you can, of course, divide the story into as many parts as there are people around your table.)

I must admit that I wasn’t sure whether my story would engage the children or they would zone out. I’m glad to report, though, that the grandkids were captivated and, as new readers, eagerly took their turn with pride.

So, if you’re looking for a new way to engage small children at the start of your seder, I invite you to try this preamble.

From Slavery to Freedom: The Passover Story
(1)  Once upon a time, thousands of years ago, in a far-away country called Egypt, there lived a very powerful man. He was like a king—the boss of everyone in the country — but in those days, this boss was called a Pharaoh. This particular Pharaoh got worried that the Jewish people under his rule were becoming too strong and would one day rise up against him. So, he forced the Jewish people who lived in Egypt to become his slaves. That meant they had to do whatever hard work he told them to do. And they didn’t earn any money for their work.

(2)  Every day, from morning until night, the Jewish slaves had to make bricks from clay. Then they had to stack these VERY heavy bricks on top of each other to build new palaces where the royal family would live. They also had to build pyramids, large stone sculptures in the shape of a triangle, where the Pharaoh and the rest of the royal family would be buried when they died.

The Jews hated being slaves. So, they prayed to God to free them. One day, there came along a man named Moses. God had chosen Moses to lead the Jews’ escape from Egypt.

(3)  Moses went to the Pharaoh and told him that God wanted him to let the Jewish people go free. BUT the Pharaoh was stubborn. And he said, “NO WAY!” Moses warned him that if he did not listen, terrible things would happen in his kingdom. Still, he said, “NO!” So, just as Moses told the Pharaoh, terrible happenings began.

(4)  One day, the Egyptian people’s water turned to blood; another day their land was covered with tons of frogs. The Pharaoh got scared and decided he would let the Jewish people go. But then he changed his mind. So, God sent creepy, crawly things like locusts and lice to Egypt. And, again, the Pharaoh said, “Ok, I will let your people go!” But then he would change his mind again. So, another day, wild beasts appeared. Then disease and darkness came.

(Yes, I intentionally left out the death of the first born since I, like a number of modern-day parents, feel it’s a bit too overwhelming for a young child’s psyche.)

(5)  Finally, the stubborn Pharaoh ordered the Jewish people to leave Egypt. This time he seemed to mean it! Still, the Jewish people figured they had better leave in a hurry—just in case he changed his mind again. So, they grabbed what they could of their favorite possessions and left Egypt. They didn’t even have time to finish baking bread for the long journey. They only had enough time to make a flat cracker called matzah. Quickly, they tied the matzah to their backs and ran from their homes.

(6)  Sure enough, the Pharaoh started to regret his decision. So, he commanded his soldiers to go after the Jews and bring them back. The soldiers jumped into their chariots and chased after the Jews.

Meanwhile, the Jews reached a large sea. It was too big to swim across and they did not know what to do. So, they prayed to God to help them. Suddenly, a miracle occurred. The waters of the sea split apart. Two walls of water stood on each side, with a dry path in the middle. The Jews ran safely across the sea and were no longer slaves.

(7)  Meanwhile, the Egyptians in their horse-drawn chariots were not far behind. But when the Egyptians got to the sea, the dry path disappeared. The waters of the sea immediately closed back up and the Egyptians in their horse-drawn chariots were swallowed by the deep water and drowned.

(8)  Today, so many thousands of years later, every year, Jews around the world hold a Passover seder to remember that the Jewish people were once slaves and to say thank you for the freedom we have today.

The idea is NOT to be happy about the horrible things that happened to the Egyptians. We don’t celebrate that the Egyptian people suffered because their Pharaoh would not let the Jewish people go free. We celebrate our freedom AND we remember that the story has some important things to teach us.

(9)  For one thing, it is never right to make other people slaves. For another, we should not make someone else’s life unhappy. We should never be bullies.

We know, though, that there are and will always be bullies in the world—whether in school or at work or in the playground. Even presidents of countries can be bullies. What do we do about that? We must stand up to them and fight for our rights and the rights of every person to be free and treated properly.

(10)  Being free means that we can choose what we want to do. Like to get a good education, to take swim lessons or ballet lessons or jujitsu. Or become an artist, a fashion designer, a scientist or a fireman! (You can substitute any hobby or career that your kids or grandkids have expressed an interest in; these came from my grandkids’ interests.)

Being free also means that we can decide that today or tomorrow or the next day, we are going to do one nice thing for someone else and help to make our hometown a better place for everyone.

To engage your children’s hearts a bit more, fast forward to the seder itself and consider adding this wonderful innovation that I’ve incorporated into our seders. When you open the door to welcome Elijah, the prophet, rather than just sing about him and hope that Elijah redeems the world, have each person—including the small children—share one thing he or she will do to make the world a better place this year. I’m betting you will be impressed by the thoughtfulness and creativity of the children’s answers!