Passover festivities for the whole family
Category: Activities, Performances, & Events
This year the celebration of Passover runs from April 22 – April 30, 2024. The holiday is one 3,300 years old and honors the sacrifice and the liberation of the Jews from Egypt. Every year Jews around the world celebrate this amazing accomplishment by their ancestors, with songs, games, the lighting of the menorah, and food (mainly matzoh).
PJ Library has created a “Passover Hub” filled with kid-friendly activities and a fun way in which to tell the story of Passover. Included in this hub are plenty of recipes (including an easy way to make matzoh), a video playlist for kids to learn more bout the Passover Seder, and a book list to get more information about history and the story of how the exit from slavery occurred. With the recipe cards families will be able to try new dishes and experience some fun together creating them for the Sedar and beyond. There are also printable activities and a Passover card game.
The goal of PJ Library is to include all members of the family in this important holiday and to bring preschoolers and younger kids into the festivities in ways they can understand and acknowledge. They are family focused with plenty of resources for Jews and non-Jews to gain more from the celebration of Passover.
While shopping for matzah, families will see something different this year on boxes of Streit’s Matzohs. They have added the PJ Library logo in support of the company and how it includes plenty of ways for families to enjoy the holiday together. They can also sign up for a subscription from PJ Library through the information on the Streit’s Matzoh boxes.
From PJ Library:
For centuries, families have used a Passover guidebook called the Haggadah, to tell the story of the holiday and pass down the traditions and lessons of the story to their children, relatives, and friends (the Hebrew word haggadah literally means “telling”). One of the leading sources for family-friendly Haggadahs across the United States and beyond – nearly 50,000 families have said this was their first Haggadah, and PJ Library has shipped nearly one million Haggadahs to over 200,000 families over the past six years — PJ Library will once again offer anyone celebrating the holiday a downloadable PDF version of IN EVERY GENERATION: A PJ LIBRARY FAMILY HAGGADAH. Aside from the traditional prayers and readings, this interactive guide to the Passover seder offers up specially curated videos of songs and blessing and explanations that help make the holiday a fun, engaging and family-friendly experience. For those interested in purchasing paperback versions, both the regular PJ Library Family Haggadah ($7.99) and a Large Print Edition ($10.99) are available for sale on the PJ Library storefront on Amazon.
Finally, PJ Library curates age specific books for its subscribers from birth through age 8. Last year children ages 3 to 4 received a delightful spin on a classic Yiddish folktale “In Our Teeny Tiny Matzah House”, written by Bill Wurtzel and illustrated by Claire Wurtzel (Apple & Honey Press) in which Kitzel the cat can’t hear himself meow, as his house is too noisy. But it’s about to become noisier because Passover is about to begin! And, kids ages 6 to 7 were sent “A Persian Passover” (Kalaniot Books), set in 1950’s Iran, written by Etan Basseri and illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh, which finds Ezra and Roza looking forward to celebrating the holiday until they have an unfortunate mishap with the community matzah baking oven. If families don’t want to miss out on getting books each month, including for future holidays, they can sign up today at https://pjlibrary.org/.
Passover is a celebration that includes the entire family, from babies to great-grandparents, and friends of all ages as well. When everyone gathers around the table for the traditional Passover Seder, it’s a time of unity and joy. There is plenty of history in the retelling of the story through the Haggadah, but there are also some fun moments when family members get to play the parts or take turns reading from the Haggadah. Every family has their own traditions, which form a foundation for future generations to follow.
It’s coming soon and time for everyone to begin preparing for the Passover season and festivities.
Have a prosperous and enjoyable Passover. Shalom.
About the author
Francine Brokaw writes about products, books, travel, and entertainment. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County.