Chabot Holidays: Passover

Chabot Holidays. Episode 2. Passover! Passover starts tonight, and the whole family is coming with us! This year, we are having our Passover Seder at Yellowstone, all together! Look! The flying car is here! Everyone in! We want to get there long before Passover begins tonight. Seatbelts on, everyone! Doctor's orders! Ready for takeoff! And I have a very special co-pilot. Wheee! Baby Steinbot is helping fly the car! Up, up, up! What is Passover all about? On Passover, or Pesach, we remember how Hashem took the Jewish people out of Egypt, from slavery to freedom. Tonight at the Seder, we will all tell the story together. Everyone gets a part! Before Passover begins, look who is calling! Hello from outer space! I can see your flying car, way down there! Grandpa! Baby Steinbot is our co-pilot! What a strong little pilot! Have a wonderful Seder, and ask lots of questions! Grandpa is still exploring space, but he never misses a holiday hello. We are landing! Look at the mountains and the trees! Is that a big buffalo? That's a bison! And over there is Old Faithful. It's a geyser that shoots hot water high into the sky. Whoosh! The Seder table is ready, and the sun is going down. Passover is beginning! Seder means order. We follow the steps in the Haggadah, the book that tells the Passover story. And here is our Seder plate. Each food helps us tell the story. The bitter herbs are called maror. They remind us how bitter it was to be slaves. The charoset is sweet and sticky, like the mortar the slaves used to build with. And we dip a vegetable in salt water, to remember their tears. Now I get to ask the Four Questions! Why is this night different from all other nights? Why do we eat matzah tonight? Why do we eat bitter herbs? Why do we dip our food two times? And why do we lean on pillows? Wonderful questions! The answer is the Passover story. Let us all tell it together. Long ago, the Jewish people lived in Egypt. A king called Pharaoh made them slaves, and they had to work very hard. Hashem chose a humble leader named Moses, to help them. Moses went to Pharaoh and said, "Let my people go!" But Pharaoh said no, again and again. So Hashem sent ten plagues to Egypt, like frogs hopping everywhere! Froggies! At last, Pharaoh let the people go. They left in such a hurry, their bread had no time to rise. So it baked into flat, crunchy matzah! That's why we eat matzah on Passover! Then they came to the sea, and Pharaoh's army was chasing them! Hashem split the sea, and the Jewish people walked across on dry land, all the way to freedom! Hooray! They were free! Tonight we drink four cups of grape juice, to celebrate our freedom. And we lean on pillows, the way free people relax at a royal feast. Yay! Every year, we tell this story to our children, and one day, they will tell it to their children. The Torah tells us to tell our children about leaving Egypt. And tonight, you all helped tell it! Freedom is a gift. Thank you, Hashem! When I grow up, I will tell the story to my kids, too! The whole family, together under the stars. What a night! Remember, be thankful for your freedom, and never stop asking questions. And as we say at the end of the Seder, next year in Jerusalem! Happy Passover!