LOCAL
APRIL 7, 2017
Rivka Netanel, from left, Rochi Lapidus, Tzippy Modes and Rikki Rakowsky, fourth-graders at the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, make dough for matzah. | Photo / Hebrew Academy of Cleveland
Jewish day schools celebrate Passover AMANDA KOEHN | STAFF REPORTER akoehn@cjn.org | @AmandaKoehnCJN
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assover is a teaching holiday with tons of food-related symbolism and lessons about the challenging history of the Jewish people. This year, Jewish day schools in the area had many craft projects, games and matzahbased activities for students to learn more about the holiday. FUCHS MIZRACHI SCHOOL First- and second-graders at Fuchs Mizrachi in Beachwood experienced the siman of karpas firsthand by trying different types of vegetables and dipping them in salt water. Some tried vegetables they would have never thought could be used for karpas. GROSS SCHECHTER DAY SCHOOL Students at Gross Schechter Day School in Pepper Pike studied the holiday’s laws and customs through reading short stories about slavery in Egypt and the Exodus story, through writing, class discussions and reading the Haggadah. They were engaged through singing, playing bingo, drawing, art projects, watching Israeli videos and more. They learned about the significance of the number four in Passover through writing and drawing from a poster which includes the four questions (“Mah Nishtanah”), four names to the holiday, four cups and four sons/daughters in the Haggadah. As culmination, students will experience a model Seder with the traditional food and will read the main portions from the Haggadah, sing many of the songs and understand the main ideas from the Haggadah. HEBREW ACADEMY OF CLEVELAND Whether it be matzah baking or creating personalized Haggadahs, students in all grades at the Hebrew Academy
of Cleveland are involved in hands-on educational experiences to prepare for Passover. Preschool students are busy with model Seders, “cleaning” their classrooms of chametz with water spray bottles, learning the Four Questions and other Passover songs, and creating Haggadahs and other Passover projects, such as pillows and afikoman bags. Elementary students throughout the Judaic studies division are creating Haggadahs including the Haggadah text, pictures and the laws and customs practiced during Passover. Fourth-graders baked matzah under the direction of parent Rabbi Shmuli Friedman. They learned the how-to’s as well as the laws of matzah baking and got to take home a piece of matzah. The girls’ classes also will have a review of the Passover laws and customs with an interactive game. Students at Beatrice J. Stone Yavne High School in Beachwood and Yeshiva High School at Oakwood in Cleveland Heights are learning the laws of Passover in depth and are preparing customized Haggadahs with divrei Torah (words of Torah) to be shared at the Seder. JOSEPH AND FLORENCE MANDEL JEWISH DAY SCHOOL Every grade at Mandel JDS in Beachwood will learn the story of Pesach. They are getting ready for the holiday by cleaning classrooms and removing chametz. Students also will participate in the ritual of bedikat chametz (checking for chametz) and burning of the chametz. They also will participate in a Seder for each grade. In the upper grades, students are discussing some of the meaning behind the rituals – like what is the current meaning of slavery and freedom? Or, what are the differences between physical and spiritual slavery?
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