7G Tanach Enrichment With Morah Shira Greenspan

The dates of פסח are mentioned in the following places in the תורה:
שמות יב:א-יד, לג:ה, במדבר כח:טז, דברים טז:א-ח, טז:יב
Many events in our history, specifically those included in תנ"ך, do not share with us the specific date on which they occurred. Let us assume that when the תורה does share the time or date with us, there is a significance in that time that comes to teach us something.

Many events, beyond the historical Pesach in Mitzrayim, took place on ט"ו and/or ט"ז of ניסן (the same date as פסח). This is sometimes stated explicitly in the פסוקים and is sometimes only known to us because of מסורת חז"ל. These events include such favorites as: the birth of Yitzchak Avinu (בראשית כא:א-ו), the siege around Yericho (יהושע ו:א-ב), Gidon's appointment as shofet (שופטים ו), the historical Taanit Esther and fall of Haman HaRasha (אסתר ד:טו-יז, ה:א-ח, ז:א-י), and Daniel b'gov ha'arayot- Daniel in the lions den (דניאל ו: ה-כט). 

Over the past three months, ten seventh grades girls have been working through these sources as part of an enriched anchor activity, created under the direction of educational expert, Lisa Morgan. The goal of their learning was to determine, based on the various texts, what the underlying theme of this time of year really is. What common thread is there among such seeming disparate events in our national history? The girls then created seder symbols that represent their Pesach themes so that their message of Pesach can be experientially incorporated into their families' sedarim. Noa  and Eliana  created paper chains made of dolls representing the members of their family joined by hearts and heart shaped pillows to represent the theme of ahava. Leia made place cards for everyone at her seder with personalized messages to help bring happiness, her theme of choice, to the night. Chana created a fully functional game board, symbolizing that this time of year is a time of overcoming obstacles. Avigayil  highlighted this time of year as a time of the downfall of our enemies and creatively made domino-figurines of the various enemies who Hashem knocked down on the dates of Pesach. Ayelet made a puzzle of a picture that she drew with the inspiration of her sister's art of people around the world coming together for this idea of national unity is the theme that she chose. Maayan decorated the pot of a newly blooming flower to symbolize rebirth and renewal. Maya Wind created an artistic torch as fire, a recurring motif among the Pesach sources in Tanach, is dichotomously destructive and redeeming. Finally, Temira  made a goblet of fire that beautifully juxtaposes the icy glass with the hot flames of fire, for this time of year is a time of seeing Hashem clearly. 

These creative seder symbols were presented at our class's model-seder and will be shared with their respective families at the real Pesach seder.

Morah Shira would like to thank Lisa Morgan for all of her support in empowering and guiding the creation and implementation of this project. Morah Shira would like to also publicly express how very proud she is of the grit, insight and creativity that each of these talented girls expressed throughout this project. Kol hakavod!