Jewish Elementary Students Hold Model Seder Ahead Of Passover
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Jewish elementary school students held a model Passover Seder Wednesday at Har Zion Temple in Penn Valley in advance of next week's big holiday.
Judy Groener, head of Perelman Jewish Day School, says their annual model Seder led by the students gets the children ready for the traditional Passover meal they'll be having next week with their own families.
"It's the order of the telling of the story of leaving Egypt. The exodus from Egypt, and it's a ritual that Jews have been performing for probably 2,000 years," Groener said. "It becomes history experienced in community."
Ten-year-old Rena says the Seder is one of the most important Jewish family rituals of the year.
"Because we're Jewish and it's important to celebrate our history," she said. "The dinner is only part of it. There's a lot of reading from the Hagadah."
"In fact, the Hagada is the oldest liturgical in continual use in Judaism," Groener said.
"We're talking about everything that happened to get us out of Egypt," Rena said.
Groener says she loves this tradition, mostly because the kids get so into it.
"And the wonderful thing about elementary school is that they're not blasé," she said. "They're still excited about everything!"
