Ideas for Your Seder
One of the prime functions of the seder is to educate our children. Entertainment is a legitimate part of education, so fun should be part of the agenda of the evening. The Haggadah, itself, is not a script, but rather a framework through which we tell the story and explain its meaning. Please do not feel limited by the Haggadah. To the contrary! Allow it to be a door through which you are ushered into a realm of creativity and spirituality. Let your imagination roam free and do as the Torah bids us: "Teach your children on that day..."
Below are some ideas to get you started.
- Have the children illustrate sheets listing the 15 parts of the seder, then hang these on the wall and refer to them throughout the evening.
- Make a mural of the story of the Exodus.
- Spice up your seder with some unconventional songs.
- Rabbi Mark Hurvitz's hyperlinked Haggadah.
- Uncle Eli's Haggadah.
- Run, do not walk, and buy yourself A Different Night: The Family Participation Haggadah by Noam Zion and David Dishon (both the Haggadah and the Leader's Guide are wonderful resources -- you'll wonder how you ever prepared an exciting seder without these). Published by the Shalom Hartman Institute.
- Reed Sea Seder (lots of photos of how we did this)
- Make your own Magid section (here's an example of one made by 5 children for their family sedarim) to tell the story of the Exodus.
- Rabbi Louis Reiser has a marvelous idea: He taped packing paper to the wall, surrounding the room in which the seder took place (you could use craft paper that comes in a roll). He drew Moses at one end of the room. As people arrived, had had themselves somewhere on the paper. During Maggid, he asked everyone to stand next to his/her self-portrait and he conducted "interviews" asking: What was it like for you to be a slave? Please describe the last night before you left Egypt. How does it feel to be free of the Egyptian taskmasters? Then everyone "marched out of Egypt."
- Rabbi Scott Gurdin has prepared a Dr. Seuss-style rhyming Haggadah, beautifully designed and illustrated. Click here of the pdf file.
- Passover Songs
More about Passover: