Lesson video

Hello there.

I'm Mr. Robertson.

I'm so fantastically excited to be with you today.

We've got a really amazing and interesting lesson for you.

It's part of our big inquiry question, Pesach, how do Jews remember God's covenant? And this lesson is called Celebrating Pesach in Britain today.

And in this lesson, we're going to be looking at how Jews celebrate in the UK and how they may have adapted what they do to take account of changes in how they feel about things.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain how and why some Jews have adapted the Seder meal.

We have four key words today.

I'm going to say the key word first, and I'm gonna ask you to repeat it back to me.

Shall we start? Brilliant.

Our first word is data.

Super.

Our second word is Pesach.

Brilliant.

Our third word is Seder.

That's correct.

And finally adapted.

Brilliant everybody.

So what do all these words mean? Well, data is information or facts we collect to help us understand something better.

Pesach is a Jewish festival that happens every spring.

It remembers the time when the Jews were freed from slavery in Egypt.

Seder is a special meal Jews eat during Pesach.

And adapted means changed or made different to fit new needs or ideas.

Hopefully you'll be able to use these words really confidently by the end of this lesson.

So this lesson about celebrating Pesach has got two questions we're going to be looking at.

And our first question is this: do all Jews have a Seder meal at Pesach? So this lesson uses the social science lens.

What is social science? Alex is gonna explain how we use it in religious education.

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 analysing data, and we can survey or interview people to find out more about their worldview." So how is that relevant for this lesson? Well, in this lesson, we're going to interview different Jews to investigate how Jewish families have adapted the Seder, and we're also going to be looking at some data as well.

Let's meet Izzy and Alex.

They want to investigate how many Jews celebrate Pesach in Britain today.

And they think of some questions a social scientist might ask.

So Alex says, "Do all Jews in Britain celebrate Pesach?" That's a really good question, isn't it? Because we've gotta find out about actual people.

Do they all do this or do some people not? Izzy says, "Would you still have a Seder if you don't believe in God?" And that's a really interesting question as well, because we know that all Jews aren't necessarily religious.

So what do they do? I wonder how we could find out the answers to these questions.

Where could we go to find out some information? Who would help us? So Izzy asks another question.

She says, "What is data? How is it helpful?" Alex says, "Data is information we collect to help us learn about people, places, or things.

We can collect data through asking people questions using a survey.

A question might be, 'What is your favourite animal?' Or 'How do we get to school?'" Data can help us learn more about Pesach in the UK.

So let's just check our understanding.

What is data? Is it A, a game we play at school, B, information we collect to learn about things, or C, a kind of food people eat at Pesach? Pause the video and have a think.

Excellent.

It's B, isn't it? It's information we collect to learn about things.

Well done if you've got that right.

Izzy's continuing to ask some questions.

She says, "Is there a survey that asks Jews about Pesach?" Alex says, "Yes, a survey asked 5,000 Jews in 2024 about what they believed and what they do in their daily life.

It's really useful data to understand Jews in Britain today." Oh, isn't that helpful? 5,000 people is quite a lot of people, so hopefully that will really help us.

And it was done in 2024, so it was really recent as well.

Let's see what it says.

So the survey asked the question, "Do you attend a Seder meal at Pesach most or all years?" And there were two options.

Option one is, yes, I attend a Seder most or all years, and no was I don't attend most or all years.

Which of the two numbers is bigger? Excellent, we can see 71% of Jews said, yes, I do attend a Seder meal, and 29% said no.

So actually the majority, the biggest amount of British Jews do attend a Seder meal at most years.

And that means we can say most Jews do attend a Seder meal, because 100% would be everybody, so that means all Jews have a Seder meal, and 71 is a really high number, isn't it? So that means that most Jews do have a Seder meal.

So that's really interesting.

Let's just check we understood what those numbers were telling us.

I've got a true or false question for you.

All Jews have a Seder meal at Pesach.

Think about what those numbers were telling us.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a think.

Excellent.

It's false, isn't it? But why? Because the data showed that 71% of Jews had a Seder meal at Pesach.

So most Jews do, but not all Jews.

So brilliant if you understood that.

Izzy and Alex discuss the data about the Seder meal.

Alex says, "The data tells us how many Jews have a Seder meal, but it doesn't tell us why.

How could we find that out?" And Izzy says, "We could interview some different Jews and ask them." Brilliant idea, Izzy.

Because if we interview people, that's gonna help us understand more.

So the first person we're going to meet is Rafi.

Rafi is an Orthodox Jew.

And Izzy says, "Hi Rafi.

What does the Seder meal mean to you?" Rafi says, "Seder night is one of my favourite nights of the year.

It symbolises the older generations passing down the traditions and knowledge of Judaism to the younger generation.

We all celebrate it together." Well, that's really interesting what Rafi is saying there.

So one thing he's saying, it's one of his favourite nights of the year, but the deeper meaning he's saying there is it's about passing down traditions, all about being Jewish from the older to the younger generation.

Really interesting, Rafi.

And Alex interviews Sherri, so she's not religious, but she goes to the synagogue sometimes.

Alex says, "Hi Sherri.

What does the Seder meal mean to you?" And Sherri says, "Even though I'm not religious, Seder night is important to me.

It's a tradition my family observes every year.

I feel part of a chain of ancestors going back 3000 years to the first Pesach." So that's interesting as well, isn't it? Because even though Sherri isn't religious and she doesn't believe in God, it's still important to her that it's part of her family tradition, and it helps her feel part of a chain of her Jewish ancestors going all the way back 3000 years.

So it's really important to Jews who are religious and not religious.

Let's check our understanding here.

The Pesach tradition has been passed down in families for more than 3000 years.

Is that true or false? Think about what we were just hearing from Sherri.

Pause the video and have a think.

Excellent.

It's true, isn't it? Because the Pesach tradition started a very long time ago.

Families remember this special story and celebrate it every year, passing it down from parents to children.

Okay, I'd like you to have a go at task now.

So Alex is doing some thinking about what he's learned so far.

Alex says, "Most Jews do not have a Seder meal.

Jews who are not religious definitely do not have Seder meal." Hmm, Alex, I'm not actually sure you've really understood what we've been doing so far.

Okay, I'd like you to help Alex understand why he's incorrect, and I'd like you to do two things for me.

I'd like you to use the data, so that was the numbers that told us who celebrated a Seder meal.

Now remember Alex is saying most Jews do not have a Seder meal.

What was the data saying? And secondly, he's saying, "Jews who are not religious do not have a Seder meal." Think as well about what the interview, the case studies were telling us.

Can you help him explain why he's not right? Look forward to seeing what you say.

See you soon.

What a lot of brilliant thinking.

So you might have said to Alex he's incorrect because the data showed that 71% of British Jews do have a Seder meal, which means that the majority, most Jews do have a Seder meal.

So helpfully, you've corrected him there.

And the second thing he said was that Jews who are not religious definitely do not have a Seder meal.

But actually if you think what Sherri told us, she's not a religious Jew, but she told us she did celebrate and she did have a Seder meal, and it was really important to her because she wanted to talk about her family traditions and it being about her ancestors.

So hopefully you managed to use that data and our interviews to help put Alex right.

Brilliant if you managed to do that.

Okay, so our second question is this: how is the Seder adapted for different people? So Izzy and Alex want to continue learning and they want to learn how Jews have adapted the Seder.

So they're gonna ask some more questions like social scientists do.

They're going to ask, "Do all Jewish families celebrate the Seder meal in the same way?" Brilliant question, Alex.

That's gonna help us understand some context about what's similar and different.

And Izzy says, "What happens if you celebrate Seder and you are vegetarian or vegan?" Hmm, what an interesting question.

Let's look carefully at these images of a Seder plate.

We've got a photograph and we've got a drawing, an illustration there.

Now I wonder what you can see here.

What is similar and what is different? You might want to pause the video here so you can really look carefully at them.

What's similar and what's different? Good using of your observations.

So you might have seen that some items can be found on both Seder dishes.

So look, we've got the sweet mixture, the charoset, that's on both.

It looks different 'cause one's a photograph and one's a diagram.

But we can see it's still there.

We can see we've got some bitter herbs on both, the horseradish and some other bitter herbs.

We've got some green vegetables, we've got some lettuce and some parsley.

But we've also got some items which are different.

So on this Seder, on this Seder plate, you can see that there's a beetroot that has replaced the shank bone, and we've got an avocado seed replacing the egg.

So on this Seder, we've got no lamb and we've got no egg, but otherwise it looks broadly the same.

Why do you think that these items have been replaced on the Seder? Why would someone replace the lamb and the egg? Hmm, what an interesting question.

Let's find out a little bit more.

So Izzy interviews Rebecca, and Rebecca is a progressive Jew.

Izzy says, "Why does your Seder plate look different?" Rebecca says, "I'm vegan, which means I don't eat meat or dairy.

So in my family, we've adapted the Seder plate for a vegan diet." She says, "The lamb shank symbolises the blood spread on the doorframes by the Hebrews," so that protects them from the final plague.

"The juice of a beetroot keeps the symbolism the same, but it's adapted for a vegan like me." So Rebecca doesn't want to use the lamb because that's meat, but she wants to keep the symbolism the same about remembering this idea that before they left for the Exodus, the Hebrew people smeared some blood around their doorframes.

And of course, a beetroot if you cut it up has a juice, doesn't it, to it, and so it keeps the symbolism the same.

But she's not having to eat meat.

She can eat beetroot, which is a vegetable, which is acceptable for a vegan like her.

Here we've got a picture of an egg and the seed.

Rebecca says, "The egg symbolises new life, but we use a seed or a flower, as new life grows from seeds.

The seed's the same, but it's adapted for a vegan like me." So Rebecca doesn't want to eat the egg 'cause she's vegan, but she can have a seed or a flower, which creates that same symbolism for her, 'cause they're all about new life, aren't they? New life grows from seeds, flowers show new life, and so it's the same symbolism but just a different item she's replaced.

Let's check our understanding.

Which of these might be used instead of an egg on the Seder plate to symbolise new life, A, a seed, B, an apple, or C, a carrot? Pause the video and have a think.

Excellent.

It was A, a seed, wasn't it? In Rebecca's Seder, she put a seed instead of the egg.

Just another question for you here as well, a true or false question.

Changing the items on the Seder plate means they mean completely different things.

So we talked about replacing the lamb with beetroot and the egg with a seed.

Does that now mean they mean different things, true or false? Excellent.

It's false, isn't it? Why, because the items are different, but the symbolism is the same.

Remember that's what Rebecca was saying, that yeah, I'm not gonna have my lamb, I don't want to have my egg, but I want to still create the symbolism and remember the same things when I'm having my Seder.

(laughs) Isn't that a great photograph? This is somebody's Seder table.

And look, you can see they've made a picture of the Exodus.

Can you see Moses from Playmobil right at the front there leading the Hebrew people through the Red Sea to freedom? That is so cool, isn't it? So let's remind ourselves that the Seder tells the story of Pesach.

But for a long time, it was mostly men's voices and stories that were shared.

Some Jews wanted to make sure women's stories and experiences were also included, so they adapted the Seder.

Look at the photograph here.

We've got two glasses and they're labelled.

I wonder if you can see the words Elijah and Miriam.

At every Seder, there is a special cup of wine on the table called Elijah's Cup.

It reminds Jews of Elijah, who was a great teacher.

And you can see there the cup of Elijah.

So in pretty much every Seder all over the world, when Jews have their Pesach Seder, they will leave a cup of wine for Elijah who was a really important teacher and prophet, and that's just a tradition as part of the Seder.

But over time, people wanted to remember more helpers in the Pesach story, especially women.

That's why some families now add Miriam's cup filled with water.

Miriam was Moses' sister.

She was brave, caring, and helped lead the people to freedom.

And there's a story about Miriam in the Torah where she helps find a magic spring, then there's a miracle of water coming out.

So we can see that some Jews now add a new cup to their Pesach Seder, but instead of having just wine it, it has water, and that's to remember Miriam and her important role in leading the Hebrews, the Jewish people to freedom.

Who was Miriam in the Pesach story? Was she A, Moses' sister who helped the Hebrews, B, a queen, or C, a powerful Pharaoh? Think about what we've just learned.

Pause the video and have a think.

Excellent, Miriam is Moses' sister, and that's why some Jews are adding a cup for Miriam to the Passover Seder.

I'd like you to complete the sentences here about why Pesach is important.

I'd like you to think about whether we can use these words because, but or so to explain your ideas clearly.

So this is our first sentence: "For Jewish people, Pesach is significant because." So, what is Pesach and why is it important and significant to many Jews? What does it symbolise? Why do people, why do Jews celebrate it every year? And then I'd like you to go onto the next one.

"For Jewish people, Pesach is significant but," and here you might want to show how people might be doing things differently.

Think about what we've been learning today about how Jews might adapt the Seder.

And you might want to talk a little bit about what might have happened for vegetarian or vegan Jews, or what we've just been learning about the idea of adding the cup of Miriam to help understand women's role in a story more.

And then the third I'd like you to do is this, I'd like you to finish this sentence: "For Jewish people, Pesach is significant so," and here you might want to think about some of that data we found out.

Is this something that all Jews do, most Jews do, or hardly any Jews do? You can use any of the information you've learned around Pesach, but I've given you some ideas to help you.

And I'd like you to think about how you can finish these sentences, and if you want to add extra sentences and extra detail, that's brilliant to show your learning.

Okay, really looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

See you soon.

Oh, lots of brilliant thinking, everybody.

So here's some sentences that I've written, but hopefully you've got some of these ideas as well.

So you might have said: For Jewish people, Pesach is significant because it's a time to remember freedom from slavery and pass on stories from generation to generation.

You might have wanted to say: For many Jews, Pesach is significant, but it's been adapted and celebrated differently by different families.

For example, some vegan Jews have a beetroot instead of a lamb shank bone, and a seed instead of an egg.

Other Jews may have a cup for Miriam as well as Elijah to also remember women in the story.

And thirdly, you might have said: For many Jews, Pesach is significant so they have a special meal called the Seder meal.

And you might have gone on to say that the majority of British Jews have a Seder meal.

If you put some of these ideas together like that, that's brilliant and really well done.

Okay, let's summarise what we've learned today.

We've been learning all about celebrating Pesach in Britain today.

We've learned that to find out more about Pesach, we can look at data and interview different Jews.

We've learned that most Jews have a Seder meal, about 71% of British Jews have a Seder meal most years.

We've learned that Seder has been adapted to include everyone.

Vegan Jews can adapt the Seder plate, but the symbolism is the same.

We've also learned that today, women and girls help lead parts of the Seder.

I've really enjoyed learning with you today.

I hope that you've found this really interesting and you've also learned a lot, and I really look forward to seeing you in another lesson soon.

Thanks very much.