Question:
To all my friends....enjoy your Seder!
Karen :)
The Daily News
Mock Seder teaches kids with chocolate
By Rick Cousins
Contributor
Published March 31, 2007
Julia Freedkin, 4, loves chocolate. Her face shows just how much. In a practice session for upcoming observance of Passover, which begins at sundown Monday, she and the rest of the children at Clear Lake’s Congregation Shaar Hashalom enjoyed a mock Chocolate Seder.
After all, the taste of bitter horseradish, which is used in the Seder, or Passover meal, can be a lot for young children to absorb. Rabbi Stuart Federow, a chocolate lover himself, searched for a novel way to pass on ancient teachings and traditions, but with an attractive, modern twist.
Hence, chocolate — all kinds of kid-friendly candies, from a Kosher brownie mix to bittersweet squares bearing the Dove brand name, plus Hershey’s syrup and a chocolate egg. The four cups of wine are represented here by four cups of kid-pleasing chocolate milk.
“Judaism has always been kid-oriented and family directed,” Federow explained. “That’s why the Passover Seder, the Chanukah candle lighting and the Feast of Booths are all at home.”
Judaism flows from the home, not the temple or synagogue, differentiating it from other faiths that may find their deepest expressions in group activities, public ritual or corporate liturgies.
And, the Rabbi teaches, there’s no better way to elicit the interest of kids and adults than by employing chocolate.
Wearing an apron emblazoned “Anything tastes better dipped in chocolate”, Katy Izygon, the principal of the religious school at Hashalom, helped lead the Seder.
“We have chocolate dipped matzos (unleavened bread), a chocolate egg and a chocolate/pecan/walnut mix and a bitter chocolate bean,” she said as she prepared the sample plate.
“It was very different, but a lot of fun,” Susan Kitmacher of Clear Lake said of the Chocolate Seder. “They did an excellent job.”
Her 14-year-old daughter, Abby, has never missed a year at the Seder with her family. But she still enjoyed the sweetened practice session.
“I don’t like all the food at the real meal,” she said.
When asked about possible future substitutes, she considered and offered, “Maybe s’mores would be good.” (S’mores being that traditional campfire delicacy constructed of graham crackers, chocolate pieces and marshmallows.)
Actually, the whole idea of such a sandwich may trace not to an English earl, but to the Jewish scholar Hillel, who lived during the first century B.C. This first proto-sandwich probably consisted of matzo, lamb and bitter herbs. But at the Chocolate Seder, the kids enjoyed two pieces of matzo dipped in chocolate with marshmallow cream jammed between.
At one point, Federow read from the mock Seder script:
“As an additional gift, God gave us Milton Hershey, who perfected chocolate and made it accessible to all.”
At the annual family Seder, the youngest child is assigned to ask four questions, traditionally beginning with: “Why is this night different from all other nights?”
But today the Rabbi is asking questions of the children.
“Who were the 10 plagues of Egypt against?” he asked. “No, they weren’t against the people of Egypt — they were against the gods of Egypt. So if there was a sun god, then the plague would be darkness.”
At what age, Rabbi, do kids finally learn to like horseradish?
“Even adults don’t like it,” Federow answered.
But since the bitter vegetable is a stand-in for the taste of slavery, that’s just as it should be.
+++
Symbols of the Seder (Traditional And Chocolate)
Traditional Food — Chocolate Substitute — Meaning
• The Drumstick — Kosher brownie — Mighty arm of deliverance
• Egg — Chocolate egg — Cycle of seasons
• Bitter herbs (horseradish) — Bitter chocolate — Taste of slavery in Egypt
• Parsley/salt water — Strawberry/chocolate syrup — Tears of the Jews/rebirth
• Lettuce — Green M&M — Second bitter herb as above
• Nuts, apples, cinnamon mix — Chocolate-nut mix — Mortar used to build brick cities
Source: The Chocolate Seder compiled by the Hillel Council of New England
Copyright © 2007 The Galveston County Daily News
happy passover
have a wonderful night all
richard
Karen :)
Answers:
The Daily News
Mock Seder teaches kids with chocolate
By Rick Cousins
Contributor
Published March 31, 2007
Julia Freedkin, 4, loves chocolate. Her face shows just how much. In a practice session for upcoming observance of Passover, which begins at sundown Monday, she and the rest of the children at Clear Lake’s Congregation Shaar Hashalom enjoyed a mock Chocolate Seder.
After all, the taste of bitter horseradish, which is used in the Seder, or Passover meal, can be a lot for young children to absorb. Rabbi Stuart Federow, a chocolate lover himself, searched for a novel way to pass on ancient teachings and traditions, but with an attractive, modern twist.
Hence, chocolate — all kinds of kid-friendly candies, from a Kosher brownie mix to bittersweet squares bearing the Dove brand name, plus Hershey’s syrup and a chocolate egg. The four cups of wine are represented here by four cups of kid-pleasing chocolate milk.
“Judaism has always been kid-oriented and family directed,” Federow explained. “That’s why the Passover Seder, the Chanukah candle lighting and the Feast of Booths are all at home.”
Judaism flows from the home, not the temple or synagogue, differentiating it from other faiths that may find their deepest expressions in group activities, public ritual or corporate liturgies.
And, the Rabbi teaches, there’s no better way to elicit the interest of kids and adults than by employing chocolate.
Wearing an apron emblazoned “Anything tastes better dipped in chocolate”, Katy Izygon, the principal of the religious school at Hashalom, helped lead the Seder.
“We have chocolate dipped matzos (unleavened bread), a chocolate egg and a chocolate/pecan/walnut mix and a bitter chocolate bean,” she said as she prepared the sample plate.
“It was very different, but a lot of fun,” Susan Kitmacher of Clear Lake said of the Chocolate Seder. “They did an excellent job.”
Her 14-year-old daughter, Abby, has never missed a year at the Seder with her family. But she still enjoyed the sweetened practice session.
“I don’t like all the food at the real meal,” she said.
When asked about possible future substitutes, she considered and offered, “Maybe s’mores would be good.” (S’mores being that traditional campfire delicacy constructed of graham crackers, chocolate pieces and marshmallows.)
Actually, the whole idea of such a sandwich may trace not to an English earl, but to the Jewish scholar Hillel, who lived during the first century B.C. This first proto-sandwich probably consisted of matzo, lamb and bitter herbs. But at the Chocolate Seder, the kids enjoyed two pieces of matzo dipped in chocolate with marshmallow cream jammed between.
At one point, Federow read from the mock Seder script:
“As an additional gift, God gave us Milton Hershey, who perfected chocolate and made it accessible to all.”
At the annual family Seder, the youngest child is assigned to ask four questions, traditionally beginning with: “Why is this night different from all other nights?”
But today the Rabbi is asking questions of the children.
“Who were the 10 plagues of Egypt against?” he asked. “No, they weren’t against the people of Egypt — they were against the gods of Egypt. So if there was a sun god, then the plague would be darkness.”
At what age, Rabbi, do kids finally learn to like horseradish?
“Even adults don’t like it,” Federow answered.
But since the bitter vegetable is a stand-in for the taste of slavery, that’s just as it should be.
+++
Symbols of the Seder (Traditional And Chocolate)
Traditional Food — Chocolate Substitute — Meaning
• The Drumstick — Kosher brownie — Mighty arm of deliverance
• Egg — Chocolate egg — Cycle of seasons
• Bitter herbs (horseradish) — Bitter chocolate — Taste of slavery in Egypt
• Parsley/salt water — Strawberry/chocolate syrup — Tears of the Jews/rebirth
• Lettuce — Green M&M — Second bitter herb as above
• Nuts, apples, cinnamon mix — Chocolate-nut mix — Mortar used to build brick cities
Source: The Chocolate Seder compiled by the Hillel Council of New England
Copyright © 2007 The Galveston County Daily News
Answers:
happy passover
have a wonderful night all
richard
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