What to read your children this Pesach

Pesach is a special time of the year for children: they are allowed to stay out late, presents are expected and there are always more occasions than usual to spend more time with family and relatives. It is a time for family and being together, which can be used also as an opportunity for learning about the traditions of the holiday and Judaism in general. For this post, I collaborated with Kar-Ben Publishing House to bring you the best reading list for the holidays. With a good book, the memories are even stronger.

A Different Kind of Passover 

Pesach night is a different night from all the other nights, but this time, Jessica is sad that she would not be able to show to his grandfather how good she is at telling the four questions in Hebrew. For her, Pesach means to be together with the family, especially with the grandparents. 'Even though seder night is supposed to be different from all other nights, what I love most about Passover at my grandparents' are the things that are always the same'. But this time, the grandfather is sick in bed and he cannot lead the Seder, it seems. However, Jessica found a solution to bring back the ambiance of the old times, involving the grandpa into this year Pesach. A delicate story about family love and respect, explained through beautiful and dramatic illustrations. 

A Place for Elijah

During a power cut occuring during the first night of Pesach, the neighbours are pouring one by one through the door left ajar on purpose to welcome the propher Elijahu. Not all of them are Jewish but they are well welcomed around the table. They are more and more of them coming, and even the chair left free for the prophet is taken. But this is all for good and surprisingly, it seems that Elijah is around...

A Place of Two Seders

When parents are separating, children always suffer but how the situation will be further managed is only the responsibility of both parents. A girl - unnamed - is worried how she will spend the holidays now, after her mother and father got divorced. Hopefully, there are two Seders therefore Pesach can be spend in two places. One year after the other, she is adjusting to the new painful reality but as her mother wisely said 'families are charoset. Some have more ingredients than others, some stich together better than others, some are sweeter than others. But each one is tasty in its own way'. Besides a glossary of terms, the book has also a couple of charoset recipes, including a very special Yemenite one. A book recommended for 5 to 9 years.

ABC Passover Hunt

On Pesach, children are preparing very well not only for the four questions, but also for understanding the various customs and episodes part of the seder. This book is an excellent resource to check the knowledge about the holiday, with questions and answers, puzzles and other entertaining challenges. It is aimed for children just learning to read, but also to the smaller one, only recently introduced to the holiday. If you plan to have a special seder for children, this book is a must, as it is well written, smart and can be used for group activities. 

The life of Hasidic Rebels

As I dedicated a lot of time lately to stories about returning to faith, I did not hurry up to finish very fast the story of Unchosen. Plus, I had the bad idea to buy the book at the same time with Unorthodox and thus, I kept the bad taste of the clumsy Satmar story.

But, beyond those subjective aspects, the book is authentic and well written, with good stories and real characters, with their own stories. Each rebel has his or her story that impresses the reader and makes you think why and how things turned bad. And, this is what I consider a good writing: when long after you finish the book, you still recount vividly all the details of the story.

If it would be to make a short list of the main transgressions made by those who did not want to follow the Hassidic way of life, there are: eating treif, dressing non-tsniut, entering into contact with the opposite gender for casual or intimate relationships. Not a few of the rebels belong to the Satmar - which could actually explain why they cannot stand any more the strict version of Hasidism, but in general their personal stories lack the kindness of a family and friends and a rabbi that could give the support and comfort when needed. The 'Unchosen' do not want to convert to another religion or to become an Atheist, but simply try to find a middle road and a personal interpretation of Judaism, beyond the strict following of the rules required by the community and the family . 

I was very much surprised by the loneliness of many heroes of the stories, despite living for a long time within such close communities. Very often, they are left even lonelier after they run away and thus, they try to find other people that went through similar experiences of working together and helping the others. The connection to Judaism remains, regardless of the degree of daily observance. It is something that I always feel that it is very important, regardless of the garb or of the length of the skirt: first and foremost, you should have the heart open and the rest will come. If you start by saying and thinking and living according to the belief that you simply ought to follow a certain routine and ignore the human diversity, most likely you will run as far as possible without understanding what you left behind.