Putting the “Play” in Plagues…
Yesterday marked the first night of Passover, a Jewish holiday that tells the story of freedom from enslavement by the Egyptians. To celebrate, families host a meal called a Seder, from the Hebrew word “order,” and the sharing of the Passover story and blessings follows a specific sequence. During a Seder, we eat symbolic foods like horseradish (to remind of the bitterness of slavery), eggs (to represent sacrifice and life), and the traditional matzah bread.
As a child (and still now!) my favorite part of the Seder was the recounting of the 10 Plagues. According to the Old Testament, when Pharaoh denied the Jews their freedom, God sent 10 plagues to change his mind. Growing up, The Plagues was always the highlight of our meal thanks to my mom’s creative table decor, which featured plastic “guests of honor,” each representing a different plague. From wild beasts roaming among the dinner plates to creepy crawly rubber locusts, the plagues got more and more elaborate each year, and my favorite has always been #2… the frogs!
This year I hosted my very first Seder and, while it was no match for my mom’s impressive spread, I’m pleased to say the frogs from ThinkFun’s Hoppers Junior game were fabulous dinner guests and a big hit!
When a froggie thumb wresting match breaks out, it’s time to end the Seder!
What quirky traditions does your family have around certain holidays? Please share!
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Charlotte, Charlotte. Charlotte said: You inspired my Passover table! http://bit.ly/9iqtVd RT @justprecious: @ThinkFun @GIFTHERO such a great idea to bring Hoppers Jr to passover [...]
Love this Charlotte – thank you so much for sharing your photos – and including the Hoppers frogs for this wonderful tradition!!!
AB
Love it! We all love Passover–definitely a favorite holiday in our home, even for my non-Jew husband. One of our traditions is that in addition to the afikoman, my kids make a Matzahman out of the box and hide him from thee adults. This uearthere were clues for us. We also have always gifted books rather than money for the afikoman finders, of course all the kids find it!
I love it, why didn’t they have this when I was growing up
Love the little hoppers! At a seder we attended this year, one of the songs was new to us. Called “No frogs,” it was set to the tune of “Hey, Jude”! A big hit is always the “Ballad of the Four sons” set to the tune of “My Darlin’ Clementine”!