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    Teaching The Value of Freedom at The Seder: by Rabbi Reuven Spolter, Director of Recruiting and Special Projects

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    This document discusses teaching children about freedom and redemption at the Passover Seder. It suggests having a child temporarily sent to their room without explanation as a lesson, then discussing how the experience gives them a new appreciation for freedom once allowed to return. While this technique is not recommended, the document argues that all parents impose some "suffering" on children to help them grow, just as God initially subjected the Israelites to slavery before redeeming them. The goal is for children to understand both the meaning of suffering and the value of redemption through personally relating to the Passover story.

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    Teaching The Value of Freedom at The Seder: by Rabbi Reuven Spolter, Director of Recruiting and Special Projects

    Uploaded by

    outdash2
    258 views1 page
    This document discusses teaching children about freedom and redemption at the Passover Seder. It suggests having a child temporarily sent to their room without explanation as a lesson, then discussing how the experience gives them a new appreciation for freedom once allowed to return. While this technique is not recommended, the document argues that all parents impose some "suffering" on children to help them grow, just as God initially subjected the Israelites to slavery before redeeming them. The goal is for children to understand both the meaning of suffering and the value of redemption through personally relating to the Passover story.

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    This document discusses teaching children about freedom and redemption at the Passover Seder. It suggests having a child temporarily sent to their room without explanation as a lesson, then discussing how the experience gives them a new appreciation for freedom once allowed to return. While this technique is not recommended, the document argues that all parents impose some "suffering" on children to help them grow, just as God initially subjected the Israelites to slavery before redeeming them. The goal is for children to understand both the meaning of suffering and the value of redemption through personally relating to the Passover story.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    258 views1 page

    Teaching The Value of Freedom at The Seder: by Rabbi Reuven Spolter, Director of Recruiting and Special Projects

    Uploaded by

    outdash2
    This document discusses teaching children about freedom and redemption at the Passover Seder. It suggests having a child temporarily sent to their room without explanation as a lesson, then discussing how the experience gives them a new appreciation for freedom once allowed to return. While this technique is not recommended, the document argues that all parents impose some "suffering" on children to help them grow, just as God initially subjected the Israelites to slavery before redeeming them. The goal is for children to understand both the meaning of suffering and the value of redemption through personally relating to the Passover story.

    Copyright:

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    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    Teaching the Value of Freedom at the Seder

    Thoughts for the Pesach Hagaddah


    By Rabbi Reuven Spolter, Director of Recruiting and Special Projects

    Imagine the following Seder "teaching" technique. (Full


    disclosure: my wife has forbidden me from actually doing this at
    our Seder this year. Or any year.)
    ‫לכן אמר מתחילה עובדי עבודה זרה היו אבותנו; אף על פי שהיו‬
    ‫ ומה שגזר עלינו הקדוש‬,‫אבותינו בני חורין היו עובדי עבודה זרה‬
    ‫ שעל אותה שיעבוד חס עלינו‬,‫ברוך הוא שעבוד לטובתנו היה‬
    ‫ ונתן לנו את‬,‫ והכנסנו תחת כנפיו‬,‫הקדוש ברוך הוא והוציאנו‬
    After Kiddush, sometime after eating the Karpas and .‫ ובנה לנו בית הבחירה לכפר על כל עוונותינו‬,‫השבת ואת התורה‬
    breaking the middle matzah, you turn to one of your For this reason it says, " Originally our forefathers were
    children arbitrarily, point to her angrily and say, "Go to your idolaters"; even though our forefathers we free, they were
    room. Now!" nonetheless idol worshippers, and that which God decreed
    "Why? What did I do?" upon us was for our own benefit. For, through this
    "Get in your room I said! And the longer you take to get subjugation the Holy One had compassion upon us and
    there, the longer you'll be there." redeemed us, and brought us under the canopy of His
    After either a small or large argument, your child will storm wings, and gave us the Shabbat and the Torah, and built for
    off, likely in anger, perhaps in tears. us the Temple to atone for all our sins.
    Wait five minutes. Then call the child, giving her permission
    to return to the Seder, and ask her the In essence, God punished us in order to redeem us. He took away
    our freedom in order to give it back to us in a
    
    following: "How do you feel? Wouldn't you
    like to celebrate the fact that you're now new, fundamentally different way. He couldn't
    free to return to the Seder? Hasn't your time just give the Torah to Ya'akov's sons in Cana'an.
    in your room given you a new appreciation Retelling the story of the Their children (us) would never have accepted it
    for your newfound freedom?" fully. Only through the crucible of suffering and
    Redemption to our children
    the joy and relief of redemption could we come
    isn't about reading the text of to appreciate God's greatness and the
    If your child has calmed down enough to speak,
    her answer will probably be "no." Before the Hagaddah and sharing redemptive nature of the Torah.
    celebrating her freedom, she'd want to know commentary on the text. It's All this makes me wonder: how much do we as
    why she was sent to her room in the first place. about personalizing the story parents impose suffering upon our children in
    It's hard to celebrate redemption from a order to make them grow?
    so that our children can come What cruel parent imposes suffering upon her
    perceived injustice.
    But isn't that exactly what we do at the Seder.
    to appreciate both the children? you wonder. We all do, as well we
    We're supposed to relive the Redemption from meaning of suffering that should. What child wants to sit and do her math
    Egypt. We're supposed to act like kings on the they taste in the Matzah, and homework? Which self-respecting teenager
    night of the Seder, luxuriating in our newfound wants to wash the dishes, or sweep the floors on
    the value of redemption they
    freedom. But in order to appreciate the good, erev Shabbat? What child wants to spend time
    must feel as they lean back in her room (or without internet or cell phone
    the Mishnah (Pesachim 116a) tells us that we
    must first begin with the bad: ‫מתחיל בגנות‬ and drink their wine. access, God forbid!) as a punishment for some

    
    ‫" – ומסיים בשבח‬we begin with the criticism and minor or major infraction?
    conclude with the praise." With which We "subjugate" our children by "forcing" them
    "criticism" do we begin the Seder? The Gemara to do countless things that they would prefer to
    presents two answers: avoid in order to help them grow. In fact, if we failed to "subjugate"
    and "oppress" our children; if we gave them complete freedom to
    ‫רב אמר מתחלה עובדי עבודת גלולים היו אבותינו [ושמואל] אמר‬ act as they pleased and do whatever they wished, we would be
    ‫עבדים היינו‬ abdicating our parental responsibility. We would be bad parents.
    Rav said, "Originally our forefathers were idolaters" and All of this brings me back to our original scenario. The gemara I
    Shmuel said, "Our forefathers were slaves." mentioned above concludes with a story:

    Examining Shmuel's explanation, I wonder: Sure, we were slaves. ‫אמר ליה רב נחמן לדרו עבדיה עבדא דמפיק ליה מריה לחירות‬
    And yes, God redeemed us from slavery. But why were we in ‫ויהיב ליה כספא ודהבא מאי בעי למימר ליה? אמר ליה בעי‬
    slavery? How did we get there? Was it not the same God that ‫לאודויי ולשבוחי אמר ליה פטרתן מלומר מה נשתנה‬
    redeemed us Who also sent us into slavery in the first place? Rav's Said Rav Nachman to Daru, his slave: A slave whose owner
    explanation seems to answer this question. We entered into freed him, and gave him money and gold – what should he
    slavery because we were idolaters. In essence, God initiated the say to [the owner]? He answered: he must thank him and
    process of ‫ שעבוד מצרים‬in order to redeem us. Commenting on the praise him! [Rav Nachman] said back, you have exempted
    section of ‫ מתחילה עובדי עבודה זרה‬in the Hagaddah, Rabbi Yishaya us from reciting the Mah Nishtanah.
    of Tarani (‫ )רי"ד‬explains:
    The story in the Gemara sounds to me much like my "educational"
    ‫ מה שבח הוא זה שהכניס אותנו המקום למצרים‬,‫לפי שיש לשאול‬ scenario. Retelling the story of the Redemption to our children isn't
    ‫ ולמה‬,‫ לא יכנוס ולא יוציא והרי אנו בני חורין‬.‫ואחר כך הוציאנו‬ about reading the text of the Hagaddah and sharing commentary
    ?‫נשבח על אותה הוצאה‬ on the text. It's about personalizing the story so that our children
    For one might ask, what praise is there that He brought us can come to appreciate both the meaning of suffering that they
    into Egypt and only then redeemed us. Let Him not bring us taste in the Matzah, and the value of redemption they must feel as
    in nor redeem us, and we would have remained free. Why they lean back and drink their wine.
    should we offer praise for this redemption?" Which makes me wonder: while I won't send my child to her room
    on the night of the Seder (remember, I've been forbidden to do so),
    Good question. Rabbi Yishaya answers: wouldn't I be a better parent and "teller" of the story of the
    Redemption if I did?

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