Celebrating Our Ancient Story: Passover

Consider Celebrating Passover with your family this Spring.  

Why Celebrate it?  

The symbols and order of foods teach humility and gratitude, remembrance of Christ and our original Ancient story.  They compliment everything we Christians believe.

How do you do it?      Gather the foods.  Make the Unleavened bread or buy Matzah.  Make the Haroset or use Applesauce.  Buy some lamb meat.  (I get my lamb from a local Greek take-out.)    Pre-read the stories of Ancient Israel in the Bible.  
Passover Simulation from Foundation Builder Guide 2015.
Here are a simple simulation I wrote for the Mother's Home-learning Resources in the Foundation Builder Guidebook Principle 7

The OBJECTIVE and purpose of this simulation is to give the Mothers and children an experience with a “Jewish” feast and the symbolism connected with it. As the food is eaten, have the lead mother or designate another to tell the stories of the Hebrews and ask questions about the symbolic foods.  If you hold both feasts in one day, it is suggested that in between these two Feasts, the children are taken outside or to another area to participate in the Mattock Dance while the next feast is set up.
SUGGESTED SET-UP:  Place utensils, napkins, and saucers with salt water like condiments on the “tables.” Prepare the plates as a Seder plate with the seven different foods, then pass out plates to children.  For background understanding of purposes and symbolism of Jewish Passover Feasts, read the Haggadah, Celebrate! by Gilda Berger (Jewish author) or Celebrating Passover by Marianne Monson-Burton (LDS author).
INSTRUCTIONS: Passover Feast: Gather, present and eat these seven symbolic food items for a Passover Feast. Tell the following stories: Israel’s Flight from Egypt, The Unleavened Bread, The Last Supper .
  1. Unleavened bread – This symbol originally represented the needfulness of Israel fleeing with their bread not yet risen. Bread without yeast can last a long time and leavened bread goes bad. Today, it can represent the Savior as the Bread of Life and the corruption of sin and the Incorruption of the Savior, just as the unleavened bread is easily incorruptible.
  2. Greens – (Romaine Lettuce or Parsley Dipped in salt water) Dipping the greens in salt water represents the tears of Israel in Egypt under bondage. The greens represent the hope and rebirth of freedom as the hope of spring after a long winter.
  3. Grape Juice – This represents the covenant the Lord made to Israel (Exodus6:6-8)
  4. Haroset – This represent s the mortar in Egpyt, another reminder of their slavery.
  5. Horseradish – This represents the bitterness of bondage/slavery and sin.
  6.  Egg – This symbolized a new life and the temple, which are both derived from the Hebrew word home.
  7. Lamb – A lamb was used for the sacrifices in the Temple. This lamb had to be the first born with no blemishes, no broken bones, etc. This Paschal Lamb represents the Christ, the lamb without blemish who paid the price for our redemption and who is the bride price for Israel.
  
Passover Simulation from Foundation Builder Guide 2015.
Passover Simulation from Foundation Builder Guide 2015.
Tell the Stories of Israel being set free from bondage while eating the Passover foods.  
  • "Let my people go." - Moses Exodus Ch 7 - 11
  • The Passover meal: Exodus 12
Found on Google Search
Eat the foods and discuss. Ask questions like:
What do you notice? Why did our family of Israel eat these bitter herbs? Why unleavened bread? Why the lamb? Do we feast together as a family today? When? Where?
Let your children come up with the answers!  When learning symbolism, it is important to allow them to make their own connections.  If you want to tell them what it could mean, STOP and tell a story instead.  That way, the visual images of the stories will invite, engage the mind, heart - appealing to the senses of your children, and it will be so much more meaningful and memorable!!

You can also add the stories our future feast with Christ through these:  
  1. The Parable of the Ten Virgins - emphasizing the Wedding Feast,
  2. Fairy Tale: King Thrushbeard (A story of the Bridegroom, His dealings with Israel and His coming Wedding Feast). mp3 of King Thrushbeard 
Photo credit: Walter Rane   
Then, DON'T FORGET the DANCING!  Dance in between the stories and meal, and at the end if you want!   No worries, dancing is our Original Culture!!

Enjoy these recipe's:
Haroset--
2 tart apples1/2 cup walnuts1/4 teaspoon cinnamon1 teaspoon honey1 tablespoon apple juiceCore apples (it is not necessary to peel them). Chop apples and walnuts together in food processor blender or by hand until finely chopped (the size of grape nuts) With a wooden spoon, stir in the cinnamon, honey and apple juice until well blended. Will serve 10-12 people. Serving is 1 teaspoonMix all ingredients.Add enough juice to bind the mixture.
Unleavened Bread--
Ingredients:1 teaspoon all-purpose flour for dusting*1 cup all-purpose flour*1/3 cup water, or more if needed1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or as needed (optional)1 teaspoon olive oil, or as needed (optional)Directions:Move an oven rack near the top of oven and preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C). Preheat a heavy baking sheet in the oven.Dust a clean work surface and a rolling pin with 1 teaspoon flour, or as needed. Place 1 cup of flour into a mixing bowl; set a timer for about 16 minutes (18 minutes maximum). Start the timer; pour the water, about 1 tablespoon at a time, into the flour. Stir the water and flour together with a fork until the dough forms a rough ball, remove the dough to the prepared work surface, knead rapidly and firmly until smooth, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. 
Divide the dough into four equal pieces; cut each piece in half again to get 8 pieces total. Swiftly roll each piece into a ball. Roll each piece of dough out into a 5-inch pancake, dusting the top and rolling pin with flour as needed. Gradually roll the pancakes out to a size of about 8 inches, increasing the size of each by about 1 inch, then letting the dough rest for a few seconds before rolling again to the finished size. Roll from the center out. The bread rounds should be very thin. Using a fork, quickly pierce each bread about 25 times, all over, to prevent rising. The holes should go completely through the bread. Flip the bread over, and pierce each piece another 25 times with the fork.With at least 5 minutes left on the timer, remove the hot baking sheet from the preheated oven, and place the rounds onto the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet onto the rack near the top of the oven, and bake for 2 minutes; turn the breads over and bake an additional 2 minutes, until the matzot are lightly browned and crisp.Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Lightly anoint each matzah with olive oil, using a brush, and sprinkle generously with salt.

Celebrating Our Ancient Story Together,




Great resources to read about Celebrating Passover from an Original Hebrew restored viewpoint:

An Original Way of Learning

Are you searching for more of a natural natural way of learning and teaching, which will protect the agency of your children and connect you all to our original culture and story?  

Maybe you are satisfied with your Government-led, left-brained approach to schooling and are not looking for better solutions, but if you are not satisfied and would like a more Original Way to learn, my husband and I have been busy creating a Hebraic principle-based guide to help Mother's (& Father's) teach all the Liberal Arts from the most original source in their homes.  It includes a Godcentric view of learning, called teaching in The Hebrew Way, through our original character building stories, storytelling, and discovery experiences in all the subjects.  

This Guide encourages:
Learning through relationship building connection and Play.  ~Exploring and discovering the Hebraic Principles of Creation:
  • Through Nature - through shape, number, symbols, exploring in mathematics;
  • Through Language - storytelling original stories, and includes storytelling lessons and videos for 8+ year old children  (Mother's too) and storytelling 22 stories of Israel, Positive scripting and words;
  • Through Movement - song, dance, simulations, games, project building, exploring all sciences.   
When you do this, then, 
+ Add your family/individual reading time with classics sharing wholeness, journaling, calculating, measuring, family & home work, etc. with Christ in the center,

What do you get?

= Whole-brain, Project-learning, Liberal Arts thinking skills, Charlotte Mason, Montessori style, Multiple Intelligence-learning.  Storytelling.  
And introducing:  The Principles of Creation delivered to children, Organic Environments & Materials, Skills of Discovery, Foundation Builder Guide's Positive-affirmation Songs & Stories.   
(All the while giving your children a Servant-Leadership Education) 
= Real Learning


It's called The Foundation Builder Guide.  It is a Symbolic-Learning at Home, original thematic unit resource, teaching symbolic principles for Mother's to use with their children.  (That means there can be endless of ways to use this because their are multiple layers of meaning with the symbols.)

 This resource can be used as a whole curriculum or a 
supplement in your family or home learning.   



See details on this Symbolic-Learning at Home resource here.












I know you will love this heart-nurturing experience in your family!  

Happy Day,

Our Story & Culture in the Bible

When was the last time you read the Old Testament?  How about the New?  Did you know of the foundation it has layed for cultures all over the world and how it's culture lead in Equality, Moral & Ethical Code, Justice, and Marriage & Family? 


               A set of scriptures lying on top of a pile of other activities, paired with the words “Uncover Buried Treasure.”


As I have read, pondered, explored, asked, sought, knocked and noticed through the record of the Jews known as Hebrew, I have truly been taught from the Ancients the story of Israel.  If it wasn't for my asking, 'What it was God wanted me to do,' heeding Paul's example, I don't know how I would have gone on this journey learning Our Story in the way I did.   And it has literally revealed to me how I am to prepare for my future service.  
Clarify your questions, then go digging everywhere for the answers in that book.

The Hebrew Way is in there.  

Reading the Bible cover to cover is great, but I do suggest finding your purpose for your search.   We have a great responsibility to seek after, understand and live the teachings in these stories.  We have a great responsibility to be that relatively few and small community, penetrating through the onslaught of false ideas and beliefs about God, His kind and our True culture and story.    

I would argue it is our purpose and mission. 
"Do we appreciate the fact that its God-inspired values—preserved by a relatively small community—survived ages of widespread turmoil and false beliefs to eventually spread teachings regarding God and morality throughout the world in preparation for greater revelations to follow?" 
                                                                  -Chris Conkling 
Read more in this article called The Book That Built a Better World