Lesson video

Hello, there.

My name is Mr. Robertson.

I love RE and I am delighted to welcome you to this RE lesson today.

Today's lesson, we are continuing our unit about Pesach, how do Jews remember God's covenant.

And this lesson today is all about preparing for Pesach.

And we're going to be learning all about how some different Jewish families get ready for the big festival of Pesach.

Come and join me.

Can't wait to start.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain how and why different Jews prepare for Pesach.

As always in our RE lessons, we have some keywords to help us really understand what's going on.

I'm going to say a keyword first, and then I'd like you to repeat it back to me as clearly as you can.

Shall we start?

Okay.

Our first word is Pesach.

Brilliant.

Our second word is seder.

That's amazing.

And finally, chametz.

Brilliant.

Well done, everyone.

So shall we find out what these words mean?

Well, Pesach is a Jewish festival that remembers the time when the Jews were freed from slavery in Egypt a long time ago.

Seder is a meal that Jewish families have at the beginning of Pesach.

And chametz is foods made with yeast or things that rise, like bread or cake.

You'll see these keywords come up, time and time again, throughout our lesson.

And I think, by the end of it, you'll know exactly what they mean.

So our lesson today about preparing for Pesach has two parts.

In the first part of the lesson, we're going to be thinking how might Jews prepare their house for Pesach?

Now, this lesson in RE uses a social science way of knowing.

But what do we mean by social science?

We'll let Alex is going to explain it for us.

Alex says, "Social scientists are interested in how people live and how context, like where they live or when they lived, affects this.

We can better understand people's worldviews by looking at photographs or analyzing data.

We can survey or interview people to find out more about their worldview.

" And in this lesson, we will use some illustrations and interviews to learn about the Jewish festival of Pesach and how different Jews prepare to celebrate it.

So let's meet Sofia and Alex.

They're talking about how they prepare for special events.

Alex says, "When we got a puppy, we had to make sure the garden was secure.

We went around the house and made sure that there was nothing it might eat accidentally.

" I wonder if you've had a pet and whether you've had to get your house ready for it.

Sofia says, "When my baby sister was born, we had a room ready for her with a cot and we had to make sure the house was safe.

" So Alex and Sofia have had different experiences about preparing for a special event.

I wonder if you've ever had to prepare your house for a special event.

It might be somebody coming to visit.

It might be a new pet.

It might be a special event that you celebrate.

Why don't you pause the video and talk to the person next to you about your experiences of this?

What did you do?

(timer ticking) Well, we're going to be focusing on the Jewish people today.

Every year, Jews all around the world remember the time when their ancestors became free.

I don't know if you can see the picture there, but it shows the Prophet Moses, and he helped to lead them out of Egypt, across the sea, into freedom.

This story is found in the Torah, and it's a really, really important story for many Jews.

The festival that's associated with this story is called Pesach, and some people call it Passover, and you may have heard that term as well.

Okay, let's check our understanding so far.

What is Pesach?

A, a festival of the resurrection of Jesus.

B, a new year celebration.

C, a festival of Hebrew people's freedom.

You might want to pause the video and think of the correct letter.

What did you put?

Yes, it's C, brilliant.

Pesach is a festival of the Hebrew people's freedom.

Well done.

So let's find out a little bit more about how different Jews prepare for Pesach.

A really good way to do that is to interview some different Jews because then we get a range of different opinions and we can hear what different Jews do in their different houses.

Alex and Sofia meet Victoria, who has a Jewish worldview.

"Hello, Victoria.

Thanks for coming to talk to us.

" Alex and Sofia say, "Is there much to do to prepare for Pesach, Victoria?

" Victoria says, "Pesach lasts for eight days.

During that time, we will eat different food.

Getting the house ready for Pesach is a job for all the family.

" So it sounds like there is quite a lot to do, doesn't it?

We've got an image of Victoria here.

I wonder what she's doing.

What do you think she's doing and why might she be doing it?

Again, you might want to pause the video and have a think and chat with your neighbor.

Well, I can see that Victoria's got some rubber gloves on, hasn't she?

And she's got a cloth, and I think she's cleaning her oven.

I wonder why she's doing that.

Victoria says, "I'm cleaning my oven really carefully.

I want to make sure there are no crumbs anywhere in the kitchen.

These crumbs are called chametz.

Many Jewish families try to remove chametz from their houses before Pesach.

" Mm, I see.

She's trying to get her house really, really clean to remove these crumbs, these chametz.

Alex and Sofia say, "Why is chametz not allowed during Pesach?

" Victoria says, "When Moses led the Hebrew people from Egypt, they had to leave very quickly.

They didn't have the time to let their bread rise, so they made flat bread called matzah instead.

" Oh, okay, so this links back to the story.

That makes a lot of sense.

We can see a picture here.

What can you see is going on in this picture?

I can see some people eating some flat things, they must be matzah.

To escape, the Hebrews had to leave quickly.

Removing all the chametz from the house reminds Jews that their ancestors had to leave quickly.

So that makes sense.

So in the story, the Hebrews had to leave quickly.

They didn't have time to make the usual bread.

They had to make something called matzah.

And so, they want to remove all the bread, crumbs, from their houses to remind them the Jews had to leave quickly as well.

Let's check our understanding so far.

True or false?

Jews eat chametz during Pesach.

Is that true or false?

Think about what we've just been saying.

Well done.

It's false, isn't it?

And why is it false?

Jews don't eat chametz during Pesach to remember that the Hebrew people left Egypt quickly and didn't have time for the bread to rise.

They want to remove the chametz from their house, all the crumbs, as much as they can.

We're going to meet a different Jewish person now.

This is Rebecca.

She's also Jewish.

Alex and Sofia say, " Do you just clean your kitchen to get rid of chametz, Rebecca?

" Rebecca says, "No, we clean the whole house.

My parents work hard, so my bedroom is my responsibility.

I have to vacuum under my bed and my cupboards to make sure there are no traces of chametz.

I like to eat toast in bed.

" Okay, so it's not just the kitchen then that needs to be cleaned, it's the whole house.

And Rebecca's job is to clean her bedroom and make sure there's no crumbs, no chametz at all.

Oh, I've got another image here.

What can you see here and what might be going on?

And could we make a link to chametz?

Well, I can see two children, and it looks like they've got lots of toys in the bath.

I wonder if they're cleaning them.

This is Rafi.

He describes what his family do to prepare.

He says, "In my family, we clean our house like Rebecca and Victoria.

We even take all our toys and fill the bath with hot, soapy water.

We want to make sure there is no trace of chametz at all, so our dolls and toys get a good wash.

" Okay, so I see, so Rebecca and Victoria clean their houses, but in Rafi's family, they go even further.

They take all the toys and put them in the bath, just to make sure there's no crumbs in any of the pieces of Lego or the toy cars or in the doll's hair.

So everything is really, really clean.

Let's just check our understanding again.

What is chametz?

Is it A, a festival of Hebrew people's freedom?

B, crumbs from bread or other food with yeast in it?

Or C, a special type of cleaning?

Mm.

Pause the video and have a think.

What did you put?

Well, chametz, it's the crumbs from bread or other food with yeast in, and that's what the Jewish people were trying to remove from their houses, wasn't it?

Well done if you got that right.

Okay, let's have a little activity.

So we've got two illustrations we've been looking at.

On the left, you can see Victoria.

And on the right, you can see Rafi and his sister.

I'd like us to think about what they're doing and why.

I've got some sentence starters to help you.

So, Victoria and Rebecca prepare for Pesach by.

.

.

What do they do?

We've got a clue there with Victoria.

And can you also remember what Rebecca said she did to prepare for Pesach?

And what about Rafi?

What does he do to prepare for Pesach?

There's a clue with the picture there as well.

And why do they do it?

Can we finish this sentence?

Victoria, Rebecca, and Rafi do this because.

.

.

Maybe you might be able to use the word chametz as well.

Good luck, everyone.

Really look forward to hearing some of your sentences.

Wow, thank you for working so hard.

I've got some example sentences here.

I wonder if yours looked anything like mine.

I've said Victoria and Rebecca prepare for Pesach by cleaning the oven and their houses really carefully.

Rebecca cleans her room.

Rafi prepares for Pesach by cleaning the house and also putting all his toys into the bath to clean them.

Victoria, Rebecca, and Rafi do this because they want to remove all the chametz from the house.

chametz is crumbs left over from bread and other products with yeast in.

Did you manage to say something like that?

Did you explain how the different families clean their houses and did you also manage to mention the idea of removing chametz?

If you did, brilliantly well done.

For the second part of this lesson, we're going to think about how might Jews prepare for the seder meal.

We've got another image here.

I wonder what you can see here.

There's Rebecca on the right.

What's going on?

Why might this be happening?

And again, could you make a link to chametz?

You might have said there's somebody cleaning the car, isn't there, getting it really, really clean?

Why might you want to get your car really clean before Pesach, I wonder?

Rebecca says, "It's not just in the house that crumbs can gather.

We often eat snacks in the car.

So, a week before Pesach, my parents take our car for a really special clean.

Every corner of the car is vacuumed until there are no traces of chametz anywhere.

We're not allowed to eat any snacks into the car until after Pesach.

I think my dad would like the car to stay clean all the time.

" Well, so we heard about Rebecca and Victoria and Rafi cleaning their houses, and Rafi cleaning his toys, but here, we've got even more, cleaning the car to make sure there are no crumbs hidden away in the car.

I wonder if your car ever gets dirty.

Do you get crumbs in your car?

You can imagine it would want a really good clean, wouldn't it, before Pesach?

Why does Rebecca have her car cleaned before Pesach?

A, to remove any crumbs or chametz.

B, it needs to be shiny for Pesach.

C, so that it is clean for the family to go to synagogue.

Think about what Rebecca just told us.

Excellent.

It's A, isn't it?

To remove any crumbs or chametz from the car before Pesach.

Alex and Sofia interview Rafi about Pesach.

They say, "What else is different during Pesach, Rafi?

" Rafi says, "Once the kitchen is totally clean, we get out a special set of plates, saucepans, and cutlery.

They are only used for Pesach.

They have never touched any chametz.

The rest of the year, they are not used.

" Oh, isn't that interesting?

So as well as having a really clean kitchen, in Rafi's family, he has a totally different set of plates, saucepans, and cutlery to use for Pesach that have never been anywhere near any chametz, crumbs at all.

Rafi says, "On the morning of Pesach before the seder, my family take the last pieces of bread and wrap them up in silver foil.

They're hidden around the house.

It is a treasure hunt for the last chametz.

" Wow, what a great idea.

So making a bit of fun to treasure hunt for the very last bits of chametz once the house is tidy.

Love that idea, Rafi.

We can see some photographs here.

They're all different types of food.

I wonder what each of those different types of food is and I wonder what they might all have in common.

Hmm, what do you think?

You might want to pause the video and talk to somebody next to you about this.

Well, all of these foods, let Rafi explain.

"During Pesach, we do not eat any food with yeast in it.

For example, that means we will not eat bread, pasta, pizza, cereal, or biscuits.

" So all of those different foods, which probably you eat quite a lot of, don't you?

They all have yeast in them.

And Jewish people don't eat food with yeast during Pesach.

So they can't eat any of these foods.

What have we got here?

That looks interesting, doesn't it?

It's called matzah brei.

During Pesach, most Jewish families eat matzah.

Matzah is bread made without yeast.

It looks a little bit like a kind of flat cracker for many Jewish families.

Matzah brei is a traditional Jewish breakfast food made with eggs, matzah, and milk.

Eating matzah reminds Jews the Hebrews had to leave their homes quickly before the bread had time to rise.

So during the eight days of Pesach, Jewish families won't eat bread or pizza.

They'll eat matzah instead.

And they do that to remember the time their ancestors, the Hebrews, had to leave their homes quickly and their bread couldn't rise either.

So it's a really physical way of remembering their ancestors' journey to freedom.

Rafi says, "I love eating matzah brei.

My mum has a special recipe handed down in her family.

We don't eat pasta, bread, or pizza.

Instead, we eat lots of food with potatoes and eggs.

It's fun for Pesach, but I'm glad we don't eat it all year.

" Interesting, Rafi.

Thank you for sharing that with us.

Rebecca says, "My mom makes a lasagna.

Instead of pasta, the sheets of matzah are soaked with egg, and then we have them instead.

My family is vegetarian, so we make a vegetable lasagna.

It's fun making a Pesach version of lasagna.

" So that's interesting, isn't it?

So Rafi's family have matzah brei, which is a really special old-fashioned Jewish food.

And Rebecca's mom makes a modern dish like lasagna, but instead of pasta, she uses the matzah instead.

That's a clever way, isn't it, of eating a similar food, but with slightly different ingredients, so there's no chametz?

True or false?

Most Jews eat the same food as usual during Pesach.

Think about what we heard from those children.

Excellent.

It's false, isn't it?

And why?

Because most Jews don't eat chametz during Pesach, which means not eating food like bread, pasta, or pizza.

Many Jews eat matzah instead.

Look at this beautiful image.

I wonder what you can see here.

And I wonder what you think it might be.

Look really carefully.

Is there anything you recognize on it?

Maybe you've said, "I can see a table.

It's set with some beautiful plates, cutlery, napkins.

There's some glasses on it, it could be wine, and a candle.

And I think I can see some matzah in the middle.

" This table is set for the seder meal.

It's a special meal eaten at the beginning of Pesach.

The seder remembers the story of the Hebrews escaping Egypt.

Can you see the matzah in the middle of the table?

Rafi explains how he prepares for seder.

He says, "At my Jewish school, my class have been preparing for the seder.

We have to learn the four questions that the children will ask during the meal.

One of the questions is, on all other nights we eat chametz, why on this night only matzah?

We have to learn how to sing these in Hebrew for the seder meal.

" So another way that Rafi has to get ready is that, at his school, and he goes to a Jewish school, his class have been getting ready for Pesach and especially the seder meal.

And they've been learning some questions that they're going to sing during the seder meal.

And one of them is what we've been thinking about now.

On all other nights, we eat chametz.

Why on this night, only matzah?

So what is Rafi learning for the seder?

Is it A, the two questions, B, the three questions, C, the four questions?

Excellent.

It's C, the four questions.

Brilliant if you got that right.

So we're going to bring all our learning together now for the whole lesson.

You can see we've got some images here.

We have an image on the left.

What's going on in that image?

Can you remember?

That's of the ancient Hebrews in the story of the Exodus.

Then, we've got the matzah brei that Rafi eats during Pesach.

We have Rebecca and their family's car being washed.

And we got Victoria cleaning her oven.

Can we connect any of these images together?

You might want to cut them out and draw a line and write some connections between them.

What would link them to each other?

Can you think how they all tell us about how Jews might prepare for Pesach?

Could you use the word chametz?

Can you make any links between what Jews do nowadays and the story of the Exodus from Egypt?

Really look forward to seeing what links you come up with and what connections you can make.

Good luck, everybody.

Wow, it sounds to me like you came up with loads of different, brilliant ideas.

Here's some that I came up with.

I wonder if you found any of these as well.

You might have said that many Jews, like Victoria, clean their ovens and the rest of their houses to prepare for Pesach.

And they might use special plates and cutlery as well.

You might have said many Jews have their cars cleaned really carefully to remove any crumbs or chametz.

You might have said that many Jews will not eat pasta, bread, or any food with yeast in during Pesach.

They'll eat matzah instead, like that picture of the matzah brei.

And you might have made the connection with the story to say Jews do this to remember the story of the Hebrews leaving Egypt quickly before the bread had a chance to rise.

And so, the cleaning of the car, the cleaning of the house is all about removing the chametz, which links to the story that the Jews, at the time, had to leave really quickly.

And eating matzah reminds them of not having bread with yeast in it.

Brilliant if you made some of those connections and maybe you made some more as well.

Well done.

Let's summarize our learning today.

So we've learned that Pesach is a Jewish festival which remembers the story of the Exodus.

We've learned that many Jews prepare their homes for Pesach by cleaning their houses carefully and removing all chametz.

We've learned that many Jews will clean their cars and use separate plates, dishes, and saucepans for Pesach.

And finally, we've learned that removing chametz and eating food without yeast reminds Jews of the Hebrews leaving quickly before the bread had time to rise.

Thank you so much for being part of this lesson today.

I hope that you've learned something and you've found it interesting.

And I really look forward to seeing you in another lesson soon.

Bye.