FAMILY HISTORY Consider a family story in your life that you’ve heard over and over but happened before you were old enough to know about it. Your grandparents coming to America? The story of how your parents met? A trip you took as a baby? Reflect on how the telling of that story takes place in your family. Are there specific pictures you look at? Do certain people tell one part of the story and others another part? Are there any special informative techniques surrounding when and how this story is told? Compare how you relate to family history with how we relate to the communal history of the Jewish people? Are there similarities? Differences? How do the stories in the Haggadah differ from stories you tell about things that have actually happened to you? WHERE ARE YOU GOING? We are told to view ourselves as if we have been redeemed from Egypt ourselves, but the prooftext the Haggadah brings states: “And He took us out from there, in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He swore unto our fathers.” This indicates that it’s important not only to see ourselves has having left Egypt, but we have to think about where we were going. There was a purpose to leaving Egypt beyond escaping slavery and hardship. Name two situations in which you experienced hardship or difficulty that ultimately ended. It probably felt good when those difficulties were over. But what happened afterward? Did you “enter” a better situation? Was there a goal to your “exodus” or did you just return to your humdrum, everyday life? Think about how having a purpose may help people cope with adversity—are there ways that you can conceptualize your purpose in life to help you get through hard times?
TEACHING IT REAL Think about the following prompt: “My family and I make the exodus story real by…” What can you do to make the Exodus real for your younger siblings? What aspects of the exodus would you emphasize to help them feel as if they themselves actually left slavery in Egypt? Are there questions you would ask, or games you would play? How might they act out the exodus in a way that drives home the experience? l TEACHING TIP: It is more powerful to verbalize a response, not simply to think it in one’s head. However, teenagers can be especially self- conscious about articulating their thoughts in a group or in public. Remind all the seder participants that actually saying things out loud helps clarify and crystalize your thinking, enhanc- ing your understanding ideas. Since this is the night להראות , we need to speak up and express ourselves. Minimize self-consciousness and anxiety about responding. Let everyone know that after asking a question you will wait at least 20 seconds before soliciting responses.
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AZRIELI GRADUATE SCHOOL OF JEWISH EDUCATION • HAGGADAH COMPANION
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