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Youngsters make crafts at Bethel Park store for Passover

By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 3 min read
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Harry Funk/The Almanac

Adina Teitelbaum works on her matzah box during an April 14 Passover event in Bethel Park.

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Harry Funk/The Almanac

Home Depot staff member Chanaya Sanders provides paint for the youngsters.

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Harry Funk/The Almanac

Batya Rosenblum and daughter Rachel

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Harry Funk/The Almanac

Esther Rosenblum works on her matzah box.

As the start of Passover approached, youngsters gathered at Home Depot in Bethel Park to make some holiday crafts.

And to show how smart they are.

“Who knows how many matzahs are on the Seder table?” asked Batya Rosenblum, co-director of Chabad of the South Hills – Jewish Center for Living and Learning in Mt. Lebanon , who led the April 14 activities.

“Three!” several voices answered.

“Raise your hand if you know how many cups of grape juice we drink at the Seder table,” Rosenblum instructed.

“Four!” several voice again said.

Later, came a somewhat trickier question, “Who knows the last three words that we say or we sing at our Seder?”

The answer is “L’Shana Haba’ah B’Yerushalayim,” but the English translation is four words: “Next year in Jerusalem.”

Rosenblum has partnered with Home Depot for the past several years to provide a fun and educational afternoon for children and their parents.

With the help of store staff members, the youngsters built and decorated boxes to hold matzah, the unleavened flatbread that is the staple food of Passover. Observance of the holiday, which commemorates the liberation of Jewish people from slavery in Egypt, is April 19-27 this year.

Seder is the feast that marks the start of Passover, also known as Pesach, on the evening of the 14th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar each year. Customs include drinking four cups of wine, which the youngsters can look forward to instead of juice once they turn 21.

As for matzah, the traditional recipe simply calls for flour and water.

“The matzah teaches us to be very humble, because when we eat challah,” Rosenblum said about the braided bread made with a variety of ingredients, “the flour rises and takes up a lot of space. And the matzah is very, very thin. If you open up a box of matzahs, there’s a lot of space for other matzahs. So when we eat the matzah, we try to act like a matzah.”

The children made decorative nametags as part of another holiday-themed activity.

“There’s a special connection to Passover because when the Jews were in Egypt as slaves, they kept their Jewish names,” Rosenblum said. “You should be proud wherever you are that you have a Jewish name.”

For more information about Chabad of the South Hills, visit www.chabadsh.com.

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