An important idea in Judaism is something called “Hithadshoot” that has spread out to mainstream Jews from its origins in the Hassidic movement. The root of the word is “Hadash”, meaning new; “Hithadshoot” has to do with the idea that we should constantly be renewing our understanding and appreciation of our world.

This idea came home to me during this past month as I worked with the sixth graders on a special Passover project. I was in the midst of reading a book of historical fiction by Sue Monk Kidd, called The Invention of Wings, set in South Carolina in the early 1800’s. The book follows the relationship between the central characters, a slave girl and her young mistress, through many decades. Sometimes I had to put the book down as I was overwhelmed by the terrible degradation of the slaves and the attitude of the slave owners that conveniently kept the system in place. I suddenly realized how this book had given me a renewed insight into the meaning of slavery, a word I used in teaching about Passover, but whose sting had softened over the years. I was saying the words, “We were slaves in Egypt”, in a hollow way, words without feeling. The sixth graders seemed to get what I was saying when I shared these thoughts with them.

What to do with this “awakening”? I am following through with sending out letters to some chocolate companies, a project done in conjunction with our Academy students who learned about child slavery in chocolate production during their Chocolate Seder. After all, isn’t helping others one of the goals of our experience on the Seder night?

Hag Kasher V’Sameah, A Happy and Tasty Passover!

– Hana