Passover | Parenting In the Loop

Passover Seder Plate

This week marks the celebration of Passover. I learned about the celebration of Pesach in my Catholic school religion class many years ago when we were discussing the Last Supper during Holy Week.

Both celebrations were Seders.

What I never learned about was the significance of the Seder plate.

So when a friend of mine brought me a Seder plate from her trip to Israel, I decided to learn how to prepare a Seder plate:

Shankbone or neck of poultry, is a reminder of the “mighty arm of G-d” as the Bible describes it. It is also symbolic of the Paschal lamb offered as the Passover sacrifice in Temple days
Haroseth a mixture of apples, nuts, wine and spices, is symbolic of the mortar the Jewish slaves made in their building for the Egyptians
Parsley a vegetable (parsley or potato is generally used), is dipped in salt water to represent tears.
Horseradish is a bitter vegetable (celery or lettuce can be used). Those who do not put chazeret on their Seder Plate sometimes put a dish of salt water in its place
Hard-boiled egg, interpreted this as a symbol of mourning for the loss of the two Temples (the first was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E., the second by the Romans in 70 C.E.). The egg symbolized this loss and traditionally became the food of mourners.
Bitter herbs represents the bitter life of the Israelites during the time of their enslavement in Egypt.

I find joy in the celebration of both holidays which are full of joy, hope and rebirth.

Happy Passover and Happy Easter to all who celebrate!

How To Prepare a Seder Plate –

Highlights of the week…sharing some of the reads of the last few days.

Ainsley closed her eyes, as if to shut out the embarrassment. The ongoing quest to understand why her young body was turning into a woman’s was not one of Ainsley’s favorite pastimes. She preferred torturing her 6-year-old brother and playing school with the neighborhood kids. (Ainsley was always the teacher, and she was very strict.)

Puberty Before Age 10 – A New ‘Normal’? – NYTimes.com.

“Tummy time” and “Back to Sleep” weren’t part of the playbook when Ginny Fountain gave birth a generation ago. This expectant grandma’s got a lot to learn about newborns, which is how Fountain, 64, wound up in a grandparenting class offered earlier this month at a hospital in Seattle.

Grandparenting 101: Teaching Grandma and Grandpa About Modern Parenting | Healthland | TIME.com.

But listening is a growing problem for young children to the extent that preschools are now finding it necessary to “teach” listening in some Pre-K programs. A parent recently left this comment on my post A Baby Ready For Kindergarten, College And Life: