Page 17 - RMBA Upper School Haggadah 2018

● Act out any parts of the seder that you can with props and costumes (for example have 2
blue sheets that can be held and allow par cipants to walk through them or walk around
with bags of matzah as a reenactment of Yetziat
Mitzrayim

● Set your seder table in a more invi ng way
● Have centers set up with legos, lincoln logs, or blocks to

allow par cipants to try to build models of pyramids or
scenes in Egypt
● Give frequent breaks where everyone gets up and moves
around. It’s hard to sit for so long
● Ask simple ques ons that are easy to answer
● Have visual aids for the 10 plagues
● Make sure your home is accessible to all and that the
sea ng is flexible and comfortable
● Consider adding some of the later songs into the Magid
sec on to break up the monotony of the story telling
● Ask poten al special needs guests if they have any needs
that you may not be aware of
● Make sure to have visually friendly and illustrated haggadot at the table to keep people’s
interest peaked, especially if they can’t follow what is being discussed
There are many ways to make slight changes and adjustments and with a li le advance planning
it’s really possible to make such a difference in the seder experience. As a Jewish na on we
understand exclusion and relate to being ‘le out’ or treated differently and how it makes us
feel as a na on. Therefore let’s combat exclusion within our own people and and make a
stronger effort to include as many as we can at our seder. Whether, poor, lonely, or with special
needs everyone deserves to enjoy the experience.
Ha Lachma Anya - Ellen Morgan (7th grade)
This por on of the Haggadah, Ha Lachma Anya, was added a er we were sent into exile a er
the destruc on of the first temple. The language in exile was Aramaic, not Hebrew. The Rabbis
wanted to make sure that there was a part of the Seder that everyone understood so they
began with Aramaic which was the language of the Jewish people at that me. Similarly, the last
song in the Haggadah, Chad Gadya, is also in Aramaic for the same reason.
The Matzah is called ANI because it is “poor.” It is the most basic food - just water and flour.
During the Ha Lachma Anya, we invite two different groups of people: anyone who is hungry
and anyone who needs to be part of a Seder or Korban Pesach. Why?
It is said “yehuda galta mani” - we were exiled because we did not do enough for the poor so for
that we invite the poor. It is also said that we didn’t celebrate Pesach properly and for that we
invite all those who need to par cipate in a Seder. We are using tonight’s Seder as an
opportunity to redeem ourselves for our past sins. It men ons the land of Israel to remind us

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