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.
