• International Seder:

Have a look at 'Pesach Traditions Around the World' to find out a little bit about the Pesach tradition Jews all over the world practice.

As well, have a look in Jewish history books and cookbooks. Talk to your parents and grandparents about what traditions they used to practice at Pesach when they were younger. Explore the heritage of the Jewish people for yourself, see what wonderful things you can find ... and have fun enriching your own Pesach Seders with the many different traditions practiced by our people all over the world!

• Seder Mystery Bowl:

Something fun to do at Pesach is to give everyone at your Seder a piece of paper and pen just as you are all sitting down at the table to start reading through the Haggadah. Tell everyone that they have five minutes to think of a question or discussion topic about Pesach and write it down on their piece of paper.

When the five minutes are over and everyone has written something down, gather up the pieces of paper, fold them up, and put them in a bowl. Later, during the Seder Meal, the Leader of the Seder can pull out one of the pieces of paper, read the questions or discussion starter out loud, and invite everyone to talk about it. When the conversation begins to slow down again, the Leader of the Seder can pull out another piece of paper from the bowl ...

• Pesach News Program:

Before Pesach, write your own news program starting with something like, "We interrupt the regular program with an important news bulletin ..." A good time to say this would be just as the Leader of the Seder starts reading the Pesach story out of the Haggadah or just as he starts explaining the story of Yeshua. However, it is important - absolutely vital - to check with the Leader of the Seder that it is okay for you to interrupt him and tell the Pesach story yourself. Hopefully, he'll think it's a great idea and will want to help you in any way he can!

Once you've got the attention of everyone at the Seder by interrupting the Leader of the Seder and the Pesach story or the story of Yeshua, continue with your news program. Remember that you are trying to tell the stories central to the Haggadah and the Messianic celebration of Pesach - so don't leave anything important out! Tell the story in the style of radio or TV news report. Comment on all the 'unusual' things that have been happening. Have a look at our suggestions and then come up with some ideas of your own:

• A Jewish man walking into Pharaoh's palace and demanding that he free the Jewish slaves
• the water in Egypt turning to blood and the other plagues
• the ceremony that the Jewish people have been told to perform with lamb's blood on their door frames to protect them from the angel of death
• the birth of a new nation as the freed Jewish slaves leave Egypt and follow G-d into the desert ...

Or

• ... a Rabbi (Yeshua) being hailed as the Messiah He enters Jerusalem
• Rabbi Yeshua holding a Seder with His disciples in the upper room of a local man's house
• the arrest and trial of Rabbi Yeshua
• His execution by the Romans and His burial
• the rumor of the Rabbi's resurrection and the confirmation that He is alive and that He is the Messiah ...

Don't forget to interview lots of "eye-witnesses". This is actually the really fun bit! Before Pesach, when you are writing your news program, decide who you want to interview. Choose different people who are going to be at your Seders and give them 'parts' in your news program. At the Seder, say something like, "I managed to interview someone who may be able to tell us a little more ..." and look at the person who has the part of the interview candidate. At that point they should take over and say whatever it is you have arranged for them to say. Anyone at the Seder can take several parts. Have a look at our suggestions for interview candidates and then have a think about some ideas of your own:

• a Jewish slave
• an Egyptian slave-driver
• Moshe after he talks to G-d in the Burning Bush
• Pharaoh after Moshe first walks into his palace and says, 'Let my people go ...'
• Jews and Egyptians during the plagues
• a Jewish man or women after they have been told to kill a lamb and put the blood on their door frame
• an Egyptian man or women after they hear that the last plague is going to be the death of every eldest son in Egypt
• Moshe and Pharaoh the morning after the last plague
• a Jewish man or women as the Jewish people pack up and walk out of Egypt a free nation

Or

• ... a Jewish man or women who saw Yeshua's entry into Jerusalem
• a servant serving at the Seder in the upper room
• a Roman soldier who arrested Yeshua
• one of Pilot's servants who saw Yeshua's trial
• a Roman soldier who officiated at Yeshua's execution as well as a Jewish man or women who stayed close by and saw the execution
• a Jewish man who helped to bury Yeshua in the Tomb
• the women who found the tomb empty
• the disciples when they heard the news about the empty tomb
• Jewish men and women as they see Yeshua alive and well and believe that He is the Messiah ...

Don't forget that no one ever said Pesach has to be 'serious' all the way through. It's okay to be funny! You could interview Pharaoh standing on his throne to avoid the frogs, or an Egyptian person hiding under their newspaper during the hail storm. An important thing to remember is that you will probably have family members and guests of all ages at your Seders ... don't get carried away during the descriptions of the plagues in Egypt or Yeshua's execution and say anything frightening or disgusting. Remember that young children are scared easily and that they may remember 'a scary story' for many years. The Seder is supposed to be a time for celebration and you want everyone to enjoy your news program as much as you do!

When you have told the stories, end your news program with something like, "Thank you for listening to this important news bulletin. To return to our regular program ..." Have fun!

• Israelite Seder:

For one of your Seders plan a simple, Mediterranean Seder Meal with lots of onions and garlic and olive oil in it. You could have matzah (of course!), chicken, half a dozen different salads, and exotic fruit to follow. When it comes to lay the table for the Seder, don't lay the proper table in the kitchen or the dining room. Instead, lay a low coffee table for the Seder in the lounge or family room. Don't forget a white tablecloth and the things needed for the Seder - candles in candlesticks, the Seder Plate, wine and glasses, matzot and Haggadahs.

Place rugs on the floor all around the Seder table. Heap floor cushions and sofa cushions up on the rugs as seats. Ask all the family members and guests coming to your Seder to dress in Israelite dress. You can find costume ideas in Bible Story Books and Israelite costumes are fairly easy to make from ordinary clothes, blankets, towels, curtains and table linen. Find a dozen candles and put them in safe places around the room.

* Ask an adult to check that the candles are safe and to light the candles before the Seder. A responsible adult should always keep a watchful eye on the candles to make sure that they stay safe. Make sure that the candles are out of the reach of any little children and that they are out of the way of clothes, hair, books, pictures, curtains and anything else that could burn. *

At the Seder, everyone should sit on rugs and cushions on the floor round the low Seder table. If possible, you should turn the light out and enjoy the Seder in the light of the two candles on the Seder table and other candles round the room. Try to read through the Haggadah as if you are reading it for the first time. Talk about the Pesach story as if it is happening to you. Use everyone's Hebrew names or give everyone an Israelite name for the Seder. Invent 'relationships' for guests so that they won't feel left out - couples can be 'aunts and uncles' and children can be 'cousins'. As you eat the Seder meal, talk together and invent the 'story' of your family during the first Pesach. Make all 'modern' subjects off-limit and enjoy your very own Israelite Seder!

• Pesach Challenge:

You should have fun making a list of questions - although you must make sure that you make a list of answer as well that you can refer to. It would be very embarrassing if you could not remember what the answers to the questions were! The list questions should probably be quite long. You probably need to have around fifty questions in your 'Pesach Challenge'. If you have a lot of people at your Seders - over twenty, for instance - then you will want even more questions.

Don't forget to include questions that are easy, intermediate, difficult and impossible. You want to challenge everyone, but not so much that no one has fun. An example of how questions can be easy, intermediate, difficult and impossible looks something like this:

• Easy: 'Name one of the ten plagues that G-d inflicted upon ancient Egypt ...'
• Intermediate: 'Name the ten plagues in any order ...'
• Difficult: 'Name the ten plagues in the correct order ...'
• Impossible: 'Name the ten plagues in the correct order backwards ...'

You'll need to split everyone at the Seder into teams of about six people each. Try to make sure you have people of different ages and abilities in each team. Ask your 'Pesach Challenge' questions. The team who calls out the correct answer first gets a point. The person who called out the correct answer gets a point for themselves for answering correctly and a prize for thinking about the answer, such as a kosher chocolate. Anyone who answers a question incorrectly also gets a prize as well, for thinking about the answer and trying to answer correctly, but not a point. Try to make sure that everyone has fun taking part in your 'Pesach Challenge' and try not to let the teams and individuals get too competitive ... Pesach is not the time for competition, but for leaning and having fun together with family and friends as we remember the Pesach story and G-d's goodness.

Keep track on a piece of paper of how many points each team and each individual has. When you've asked all the questions add the points up and distribute prizes. There should be a prize for the winning team, a prize for the person who answered the most questions and a prize for each person who takes part in your 'Pesach Challenge'. The prizes do not need to be very big - fun pens, pencils and erasers, pretty hair rings or hair clips and stickers for children and teenagers, miniature resin figurines, tiny picture frames, or key-rings for adults. Kosher-for-passover sweets or chocolates are popular with everyone!

Enjoy your 'Pesach Challenge'!

• Plagues Alive!

The idea is that you find a way to physically illustrate and 'bring alive' as many of the plagues as possible. For instance:

• Blood:
  

Place a jug or glasses of red water on the Seder table. You can use plain water, with lots of red food colouring in it. In this case, the more red food colouring you use the better (or worse!) it will look. People always find this quite gross!

• Frogs:

Toss lots of little plastic or rubber frogs onto the table. You can buy toy frogs in most toy shops for a few pence each. The cheaper you can get them, the better. Obviously, the more frogs you can toss onto the table, the more of an impact they will have. The rubber frogs are best because they have a little bit of bounce to them when they hit the table and they feel tacky, like real frogs ...

• Lice:

Toss rice onto the Seder table. This shouldn't present a problem if you don't eat kitniyot over Pesach - since it is permissible to own and use kitniyot over Pesach, as long as you do not eat it. You certainly won't be eating the rice you toss onto the Seder table! It bounces and rolls and frequently ends up in laps and shoes, not to be found until clothes and shoes are removed at bedtime. Some people think it's a bit too much like lice!

• Flies/Wild Beasts:

There are two options for this, depending on what translation of the Haggadah you use and whether it refers to the fourth plague as Flies or Wild Beasts ...

• Flies:

If you go for flies, toss lots of plastic flies into the Seder table. Plastic flies can be bought in packets in toy shops. They usually look horribly like the real thing. They'll get everywhere, which is also quite like the real thing. In fact, you'll be picking up plastic flies in dark corners for weeks after Pesach!

• Wild Beasts:

At the right moment give the children some wild animal masks (lions, tigers, gorillas etc. ... not 'monsters'). Ask the children to put the masks on and roam round the Seder table, making wild animal noises. Make it clear that the children may roam and make noises, but may not pretend to attack, kill or eat! It will still be quite real enough to everyone else at the Seder ...

• Cattle Disease:

Have some plastic or rubber farm animals - cows and sheep - ready and at the right moment put them on the table. If you lie them on their backs, everyone will know that they are dead ...

• Boils:

The main problem with boils is that they are red and they itch. Before Pesach get some plain round, red stickers, from an office supplies shop. At the Seder, give everyone a couple of stickers to stick on their arms and hands. They will look like big red boils and after a very few moments they will tickle and itch. Don't leave the stickers on anyone's skin long enough to cause serious skin irritation ...

• Hail:

Guess what looks like hail?! That's right, table tennis (ping-pong) balls! You can buy table tennis balls in most sports shops and toy shops. As with the toy frogs, the cheaper they are and the more you buy the better. Toss them onto the Seder table and they bounce and roll just like giant hail stones!

• Locusts:

It should be possible to buy plastic locusts or grasshoppers at a toy shop. For this, it doesn't really matter whether you get locusts or grasshoppers ... made out of plastic, they look the same! As with the toy frogs and plastic flies, toss the plastic locusts into the Seder table. They'll bounce and quiver and look quite convincing!

• Darkness:

The best thing to do is to give everyone a blindfold to tie over their eyes and then turn all the lights off without warning and plunge everyone sitting at the Seder table into pitch blackness. Make sure that any little children will not be too frightened. Don't turn the lights back on too quickly. Let everyone stay in the dark just a little longer than is 'fun' to give an idea of what it would be like to be surrounded by complete and intense darkness ...

• Plague of the Firstborn:

There is a way of illustrating the last plague that G-d inflicted upon Egypt - the death of every firstborn son in the whole land - but you will want to be careful not to cause distress to anyone at the Seder. All the firstborn males should leave the Seder table and go into another room for a moment. That gives everyone else a chance to see the gap left behind in the family as firstborn husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, grandfathers, grandsons, uncles, nephews and cousins disappear. It gives the firstborn males a chance to see the smaller families left behind without them. We remember the plagues during the Seder because it is important that we never forget that G-d's redemption of the Jewish people was only accomplished because of sacrifice ... because lives were lost. Everyone should think of that for a moment (just a little moment!) before the firstborn males all come back to join the Seder. Then you can have a grand reunion and carry on with your Seder!

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• Pesach Skit:

• Questions, Questions!

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