I haven’t done a giveaway on this blog in forever! Figured the time has come!
THE PRIZE: a CD of one of my most popular talks, “Why Bother to Reach Your Potential?”
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO: Leave a comment with your absolute favorite part of Passover/the Seder that you’d definitely repeat next year. It can be a Seder gimmick, a favorite food, a trip or outing with the kids – anything that made Passover/Pesach fun and special that you think others would love to know about.
For another entry, share to FB or Twitter and leave a separate comment that you did.
Giveaway closes soon – Saturday night of this week – because I’m leaving to Israel on Sunday! So you’ll see me again in a couple of weeks.
Can I answer on my 20-month-old son's behalf? Matzah!!!!!! It was love at first sight. He saw it on the Seder table and wanted it, and when he tasted it, he loved it. He kept asking for it all week long. And yes, I definitely think he'll be eating it again next Pesach.
Had the seder with friends. was very nice
Probably not kosher for Os because it messes with the rules, but before guests arrive I pre-hide as many Afikomens as there are kids attending, each one wrapped in a napkin identical to one in which we wrap "the real" afikomen. Then when it's time to look for it, all the kids get to find one. I've seen too many afikomen-related tears, and remember dreading the afikoman because I knew I had no chance against the bigger kids. Why have anyone be a loser? And I don't have the stress of having to hide it during the meal.
Actually, there's no halachic requirement to hide the afikoman, and no prohibition on multiple pieces of matzah. Everyone does have to eat some of the real afikoman, but normally it isn't enough so we add other matzah as well. So I think the only change Os would have to make would be to keep track of which is the real one.
Oh, hmmmm, that's actually a tricky one. I bought a bunch of little plastic animals and used them to decorate the table, and the kids thought that was fun. Something else that was great for the kids was erev Shabbos, some older girls took the kids to the dollar store and they made "Makkos Bags," with a little cute thing to represent each plague: A little cup with red paper and a straw to represent the plague of blood. Bandaids to represent boils, a plastic frog to represent frogs (obviously). It was a great erev chag activity and fun on Yom Tov as well.
I shared it on FB
and also on Twitter. 🙂
For two meals we walked to great friends in Cleveland Heights. The weather was beautiful, thank God. It was a fabulous way to break up the long day. Not only did we enjoy being with our hosts, we had great conversations with our kids during the walls. Depending on where we are living next year, I'd love to do that again. If not, at least I'd incorporate two long family walks.
I absolutely love to goofy song parodies that we sing throughout the seder to popular tunes like "Leaving on a Jet Plane." My husband has created a family song book and leads our sedar in such a lively, fun way, thanks to Rabbi Sruly Koval! And even though it's totally not Kosher, the family has a very long tradition of giving money to the kids. My husband transformed the tradition by giving out dollars for ever answer to a question that he asks (right or wrong answer, it doesn't matter). The children are so engaged by this and the adults get a kick out of singing the funny songs to tunes they know and love. Everybody wins. It's as good as it gets!
My best experience this Passover was attending a good friend's grandson's bris. I found a corner in the kitchen where I could look out into the main part of the home and watched as people poured in. I didn't want to engage in a lot of conversation and distract myself from what I was feeling.
It was the second day of Pesach. Everyone was dressed up and looked so beautiful. It was a gorgeous day and the sun shining into the home was so uplifting. I assumed everyone was so tired, after being up so late two nights in a row and coming from another large meal, but instead of going home to nap, tons of family, friends and members of the community walked over to this home to share in this important mitzvah.
I was transformed back in time, feeling a tremendous connection to my ancestors. This tradition; the eternal covenant between G-d and the Jewish people started with Abraham and continues today, even among the most unaffiliated Jews.
I kept looking at the crowd and thinking, we may look different than our ancestors of years ago, but we are continuing this tradition which has been celebrated for thousands of years. I felt a deep connection to generations of people that lived long ago.
My best experience this Passover was attending a good friend's grandson's bris. I found a corner in the kitchen where I could look out into the main part of the home and watched as people poured in. I didn't want to engage in a lot of conversation and distract myself from what I was feeling.
It was the second day of Pesach. Everyone was dressed up and looked so beautiful. It was a gorgeous day and the sun shining into the home was so uplifting. I assumed everyone was so tired, after being up so late two nights in a row and coming from another large meal, but instead of going home to nap, tons of family, friends and members of the community walked over to this home to share in this important mitzvah.
I was transformed back in time, feeling a tremendous connection to my ancestors. This tradition; the eternal covenant between G-d and the Jewish people started with Abraham and continues today, even among the most unaffiliated Jews.
I kept looking at the crowd and thinking, we may look different than our ancestors of years ago, but we are continuing this tradition which has been celebrated for thousands of years. I felt a deep connection to generations of people that lived long ago.
The cleaning…. Honestly! I had made up my mind that this year I wanted to really get excited and look forward to pesach and embrace it as a favourite holiday so I had to shake off that inevitable dread of cleaning. I just decided to embrace it and all my kids got into the spirit. It was all very positive, I didn't stress out (except for once or twice, I am after all only human) and afterwards I just felt really proud of myself and sitting around the Seder table in a clean house (mostly! I am after all only human) with all my kids so excited to participate in the Seder I really felt an enormous sense of accomplishment in having "made pesach". Not just cleaning the house and cooking, but creating a wonderful energy in our home that was truly worthy of this special chag.
Mazel tov something sweet!! You are the winner! Email me your mailing address at ruchi@outoftheorthobox.com so I can send you your free CD! Thanks for participating everyone!
The spirit of Pesach was especially important and strong for me to rid myself of personal restraints like thought patterns, fear, or low self-esteem. While it is still work in progress, this is something that still carries me onwards.