Back in suburban Englewood Cliffs in the 70's, I was surrounded by many friends and classmates who celebrated the Jewish holidays. Here in Jersey City, things are not quite the same. Izzy is only one of a handful of kids in his school who do celebrate the Jewish holidays. Most of his friends and classmates don't know much at all about them. And so I set out to open their eyes and mouths to the joys of Passover.
Along with D., a classmate's mom, we coordinated a morning of Passover fun. D. was in charge of an art project (matzoh rubbings..cute!) and I handled story telling and a matzoh tasting. After a brief explanation of the holiday (many of the children are 3 after all), I read a fun Passover story called The Mouse in the Matzah Factory, which follows a mouse as he oversees the wheat from field to bakery and so on. I followed up the story with a a matzoh/bread comparison.
I brought in a loaf of bread and a box of matzoh. We examined each..sniffing, touching, tasting. It was so satisfying to see Izzy's classmates happily crunch on the matzoh with whipped cream cheese. We also snacked on homemade chocolate-chip macaroons and then I sent each child home with a small waxed paper bag of chocolate-caramel covered matzoh. After all, what better way is there to remember this special holiday?
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5 comments:
I find it a bit ironic that you sent home treats with the children. Didn't you go nuts when your son came home with some treats from school? I think it was a cupcake.
Random cupcake versus homemade organic chocolate-covered matzoh..
Careful readers will note that I have no problem with treats, given the proper context. And we all know I prefer homemade, organic ones.
And the cupcake in question was not for any birthday or holiday as far as I could tell.
The chocolate-covered matzoh, however, was a small token of the holiday, homemade, with organic ingredients. I labeled the bags with an ingredient list and sealed them so that the parents could decide what to do with them at home. Hardly the same as the cupcake story.
I think it's EXACTLY the same. Handing out what YOU think should be handed out. You were not consulted in the cupcake scenario and the other parents were not consulted in your scenario.
Personally, I would be upset that you were handing out caramel to my daughter. She already has 3 cavities and I'd be pretty upset that you were contributing to more. Organic or not...
Love it! I am a Catholic girl who LOVED learning about Passover as a kid. I hope to be invited to a seder someday, somewhere!
Eileen: Who knows, maybe one day you can be our guest!
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