Passover Lesson Objectives To Understand why Jews celebrate Passover To know what happens during the Passover festival

Starter Think of meal that has been special to you and think why? what was remembered? Some examples are: Your Birthday Family Meal where everyone is together Wedding Religious Festival Write down in your book A recent meal that was special to me was ___________ it was special because___________

Keywords Leaven – leaven is what makes bread rise, and become fluffy Matzot – is unleavened bread, bread without any yeast in Seder – is the special Passover meal Hagadah - the book in which the special order of the Seder meal is written

Jewish Festival - Passover Passover or Pesach as it is sometimes called is a Jewish festival celebrated in Spring time. The main part of the Passover celebration is the meal. This is called the Seder. The special order of the Seder meal is written down in the Hagadah, this tells the story of the Exodus. The celebration is called ‘pass over’ because it reminds the Jews of the last of the ten plagues, when the angel of death passed over the Jews and killed the Egyptians first born Task – Write out the worksheet in your books filling in the gaps you have 10mins

Seder Meal We are going to re-enact the Seder meal in class. This means you have to be sensible, as we are dealing with food and drink. All the food and drink is ok for anyone of any religion to eat.

Seder Meal Each food on the seder plate is symbolic, it is used to remind the Jews of something. FIRST - A drink is taken from the wine The wine is drunk as reminder of the freedom of the Jews and of the four promised which God made to Moses. The first drink reminds the Jews of the promise by God “ I will bring you out from under the burden of the Jews”

Dipping the Parsley The next step in the Seder meal is to dip the parsley in the salt water. The Parsley is a symbol of the way God cared for the Jews when they were travelling in the desert. Dipping it in salt water is meant to remind the Jews of the tears they shed whilst they were slaves

The Matzah Breaking of the Middle Matzah— The leader breaks the middle of the three cakes of unleavened bread and hides half of it. This hidden half is called the afikomen. It is a Greek word, meaning “dessert,” or “after-dinner entertainment.” This is hidden and after the meal the children of the family search for the afikomen.

The Story of Passover is retold, from the Hagadah.

The Second Cup: Another sip is taken from the wine this represents God’s promise of deliverance from the Egyptians. “I will rescue you from their bondage” (Exodus 6:6).

MATZAH Matzah is eaten, symbolic of the haste with which the children of Israel left Egypt

Bitter Herbs They are eaten with matzah, symbolic of the bitterness of the forced labour of the Israelites

Charoseth This tasty mixture of apples, nuts, and spices represents the mortar used to make the bricks to build Pharaoh’s buildings. It is eaten with matzah.

The Egg The egg, is eaten in memory of the daily Temple sacrifice, which is no longer offered . It is also a symbol of new life and springtime.

Bone A shank bone is also on the seder plate. It is not eaten but is usually taken from whatever meat is being eaten by the family in the main meal. It is a reminder of the lamb which was killed so its blood could be put on the doorposts

The Third Cup A third sip of wine is taken this symbolises God’s promise of redemption to “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm”

Praise God Praises are read from the Psalms.

The Fourth Cup A final sip is taken of wine this symbolises God’s promise of release to Moses “I will take you as my people”

“NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM!” Conclusion A large family meal is now eaten. The children then also hunt for Afikomen the broken piece of Matzot The Seder Then Concludes as all sing in unison, “NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM!”

Use page 27 in ‘Discovering Religions – Judaism’ Textbook to help you Class Work Now each of you will receive a paper plate. I want you to draw each item you would find on the Seder plate and write next to it what it symbolises. Things to include Parsley Bitter Herbs Charoset Saltwater Matzot Wine Egg Bone For each of them write: This is______ it symbolises_______ Use page 27 in ‘Discovering Religions – Judaism’ Textbook to help you