The purpose of this Seder is to discuss issues related to marginalized groups, specifically for the 10% of the world's population that has a disability or a few.
Why Talk about Disability Rights on Passover? Deborah Goldberg
April 10, 2014 http://blogs.rj.org/rac/2014/04/10/why-talk-about-disability-rights-on-passover/
Moses is never mentioned in the Passover Haggadah. At first glance, it’s a little strange that Moses’s name or involvement in the Exodus is never discussed in the Passover Haggadah. I was taught that there is no mention of Moses for two reasons: (1) Because at our Seder, we want to remember the miracles performed by God and that God was ultimately responsible for our redemption and; (2) Because we are supposed to imagine ourselves as having gone out of Egypt and using Moses’ name places the Exodus at a certain point in history. Whatever the reason, it’s an interesting omission to think about as we prepare for Passover.
Moses is an integral figure to our Jewish identity—he led the Jewish people out of Egypt and watched them enter the Promised Land; he went up to Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments and is one of the only people to meet God panim el panim, face to face. I am always struck by the description of Moses as someone with a speech impediment. When God comes to Moses and tells him to go speak to Pharaoh and tell him to set the Jewish people free, Moses answers by saying: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and free the Israelites from Egypt? I am slow of speech and I am slow of tongue” (Exodus 4:9-10).
I try to imagine what our history would have looked like if the conversation between Moses and God had gone differently, if God has accepted Moses’ limitations rather than instructed him to go to Pharaoh with his brother Aaron at his side. What if God had allowed Moses’ disability to overshadow his capabilities? We can no more imagine our history without Moses’ leadership than we can imagine our Seder without maztah.
Today, there are 650 million people worldwide living with a disability, some ten percent of the world’s population. As we sit down with our family and friends this Passover, let us think about people with disabilities throughout the world. As we retell the story of the exodus from Egypt and reflect upon the contributions made by Moses to our history, we must also remember the millions of people living with a disability around the world today and let the Passover story inspire all of us to build an inclusive world where everyone’s abilities and talents are celebrated.
Questions to consider:
1.Do we live in an inclusive world today?
2.If Moses were a student approaching a teacher with a speech impediment today, how would the teacher respond?
How can we include people with disabilities in our Seder?
“Meredith Englander Polsky, co-founder of Matan, a New York nonprofit that advocates for Jewish students with disabilities, says the seder is “the perfect opportunity for inclusion” because it involves multiple senses and learning styles: “taste, touch, acting things out, singing, speaking and listening.””
http://www.jewishjournal.com/culture/article/tips_for_hosting_a_disabilities_friendly_seder
p. 3 Order of the Seder
Autism activity?
p. 4 Kiddush – First Cup of Wine
p. 6 Handwashing, Dipping the Vegetable, Breaking the Middle Matzah
p. 8 Four Questions
Questions that a person with a disability might ask- oftentimes people with autism need everything, including major changes in their daily routine explained explicitly to them. In the four questions we answer those questions year after year to ease the stress of the changes in our daily schedules.
p. 11 “We were slaves”
p. 11 Four Sons – What is “people first language?”
What category might someone with disabilities fit into?
The wise son- The autistic savant
The wicked son – The child with behavioral issues
The simple son- The child with mental retardation
The child who doesn't know enough to ask- someone who cannot speak or prefers to absorb the information rather than question it
Include a short version of the Passover Story here
Two Views of Moshe's Speech Impediment
by Rabbi Joshua A. Adler
My cousin Rabbi Howard Jachter of Rinat Yisrael in Teaneck, New Jersey, asked a question. Moshe Rabbenu, the future leader of Bnai Yisrael, had a speech defect, he said, so why didn't God cure him, even after Moshe used his impediment as an excuse for not taking on the mission to speak to Pharaoh about freeing the Israelites slaves? If God was able to make so many miracles and perform so many wonders leading up to the Exodus, then why didn't God cure Moshe's speech defect? Instead, God said that if Moshe could not speak then his brother Aharon would accompany him to Pharaoh and do the talking for him. Why?
When we check all the verses in which Moshe confronts Pharaoh we find that although there were times when Aaron does the talking there are other times when Moshe speaks to Pharaoh himself. From the fact that Moshe was able to speak and in fact did speak, Rav Jachter concluded that as time passed and Moshe became increasingly involved in the negotiations with Pharaoh, he was able to speak normally. His immersion in his mission, freeing his enslaved brethren, gave him the strength, the determination, and the ability to conquer his disability. It was because his life now had a purpose. Before this, he had lived as a shepherd in Midian, taking care of his father-in-law's sheep. He was without a special aim or purpose. When his life began to have a purpose, eventually Moshe overcame both his fear of the Egyptian king and his speech impediment.
As further proof of Moshe's ability to speak, Rabbi Jachter cited the book of D'varim (Deuteronomy), the fifth book of the Torah, which consists of speeches Moshe made just before he died. They show that by then he had become an accomplished speaker.
Rabbi Jachter used this interpretation as a way to inspire people who suffer from disabilities. He said that they, like Moshe, with determination and dedication to a worthy cause, may be able to overcome their disabilities and be able to live what would be at least as close as possible to a normal life.
Rabbi Jachter's interpretation was new to me. Over the years I have used Moshe's speech impediment in some of my divrei Torah in a different way altogether. I used it as a model of a way to distinguish a true and honest leader from a glib demagogue, and as a warning that people should be wary of people who know how to speak and can mesmerize their listeners, keeping them spellbound so they don't pay attention to their messages and their lives. We must judge a person who aspires to be a leader like a book - not by his cover but by the contents of his speech. Unfortunately, as we have learned from history, too many people follow or vote for a leader who is a dynamic speaker rather than for his character or his message. Moshe is cherished not for his speaking ability but for teaching our ancestors Torah, a way of living an ethical and moral life, something that has been part of our cherished Jewish tradition for more than 3,000 years.
With this d'var Torah you have received not one but two interpretations of Moshe's speech defect. Our differing views are illustrative of the traditional Jewish approach to our Holy Scriptures, which recognizes that there are indeed shivim panim laTorah (There are 70 faces to the Torah) and elu v'elu divrei Elohim Chaim (these and also these are the words of the Living God.
Rabbi Joshua Adler lives in Jerusalem.
Questions to consider:
1.What's an example of a disability that can be overcome? What is one that cannot be overcome?
2.Rabbi Jachter says that Moses overcame his speech impediment while Rabbi Adler implies that Moses was a good leader despite continuing to have the speech impediment because the content of his message was strong. Does the way someone talks impact your perceptions of that person? Would it effect your ability to follow that person as a leader?
p. 19 The Plagues
Act out the plagues-- we need some sensory activities
p. 20 Dayenu (optional)
Bang on the tables – sensory
p. 23 Pointing out what we have on the table
p. 26 Second Cup of Wine
p. 26 – Hand washing, Motzi, Maror
p. 28 Hillel Sandwich, Festive Meal
Build a pyramid for dessert – sensory
Finding the Afikomen- doing the dyslexia maze
p. 34 Third Cup of Wine
p. 44 Fourth Cup of Wine
p. 46 Next Year in Jerusalem!!
Optional Stay and Sing