Passover Seder + Devil's Arithmetic

During Passover, families around the world sit together to tell the story of how the Jewish people were freed from slavery in Egypt.  At the seder, there is singing, questions, stories from the Torah, and even a hide and seek...

Jewish holidays begin at sunset with candle lighting.  As darkness fill the evening sky, burning candles spark brightness inside.  The candles' warm light stands for hope and freedom.  On the first night of Passover, an extra blessing is added to remember how special it is to celebrate a seder for the first time in a year - or even the first time ever.  ~PJ Library

Passover celebrates the exodus, the deliverance from slavery of the Hebrews in Egypt over 3,000 years ago. The holiday lasts for eight days, and begins with a special meal – the Seder. The story of the exodus is read from a book called Haggadah. Passover symbols are placed on the Seder plate in the middle of the dinner table.

In addition to the Seder plate, salt water, wine, and matzah are on the table. The matzah is broken, and the larger piece (called the afikoman) is wrapped up, set aside, and hidden. One lucky child will receive a surprise for finding it later!

Four glasses of wine (or juice) are an integral part of the meal. An extra goblet is put on the table for the prophet Elijah, a symbol of hope and faith. The youngest child present asks four questions to facilitate reciting the Exodus story.

For this unit, we are using The Devil's Arithmetic as our spine read.

Access the complete unit study in the Jewish Holidays in Literature Bundle!

Each of the ten unit studies in this year-long bundle centers around a book for middle school level and includes videos, cooking projects, hands-on activities, writing assignments, and more.  There are also resources for younger children in eight of the ten units (not in *).

• Introduction to Judaism
• Solomon and the Trees + Tu B’Shevat unit
• The Queen of Persia + Purim unit study (sample)
• Devil’s Arithmetic + Passover unit study
• The Secret Shofar of Barcelona + Rosh Hashana unit study
• The Yom Kippur Shortstop + Yom Kippur unit study
• The Mysterious Guests + Sukkot unit study
• All-of-a-Kind Family Hannukah + Chanukah unit study
• Broken Strings + Fiddler on the Roof + Persecution unit study*
• The Golem & the Jinni + Kabbalah unit*