On her arm was a Seder plate, educational Passover handouts, the Haggadah, chocolate-covered matzah, masks, puppets to host the CRP Passover Seder.
In the kitchen, Ronny Fisher, Assistant Manager, was preparing the items for the Seder plate, including the chicken bone representing the shank bone, the roasted egg, and charoset. After Deborah and Ronny worked together to set the table, the young men arrived.
“They were curious about the charoset, which represents the mortar that we used in building structures that the slaves used back in Egypt,” Deborah said. “The charoset Ronny made had apples, raisins, and grape juice. Normally, you have nuts, but we have nut allergies. So, the kids were asking, ‘What is it?’”
As Deborah told the story of Passover recounting the Jewish people’s exodus from Egypt, she described the items on the Seder plate. The young men had more questions.
“I was talking about how the holiday celebrates freedom over slavery, so an appropriate question is ‘What is slavery?’” Deborah said. “The kids were great. They helped read the blessings.”
Being a Speech Pathologist, Deborah uses storytelling to support language development and socialization skills. As she’s reading the blessings and the Passover story, the young men respond and ask questions.
“Moses said, ‘Pharaoh, let my people go,’ and the kids then say ‘Go,’ and Pharaoh said ‘No, no, no, I will not let them,’ and the kids fill in ‘Go,’” Deborah explained.
As always, everyone looks forward to Deborah bringing out masks and puppets representing the ten plagues, including frogs, locusts, and lice.
And new to this year, the young men and staff listened and danced to Louis Armstrong’s “Go Down Moses.”
Louis Armstrong wore a Star of David necklace throughout his life to represent his gratitude towards a Jewish family from Lithuania who took him in as a child. They lent him money to purchase his very first cornet.
Thank you to Deborah, Ronny, and the CRP staff for putting together another amazing Passover Seder for the young men.
