Kids Dance, Rap, and Build Their Way to Freedom
In Mumbai, India, a group of Jewish kids giggle and clap as they gather around their newly-built “Freedom Machine,” a complicated contraption engineered at the latest Pesach CKids club. They lift a Haggadah and it triggers a chain reaction—with a ball of hail rolling into a car that drives down a blue ramp replicating the splitting of the sea, knocking down 15 seder step dominoes before stopping abruptly.
Mumbai was just one of the hundreds of Chabad houses around the world that utilized the CKids club in anticipation of Pesach.
“The kids were thrilled to watch the story of leaving Egypt come to life,” says Alti Majesky, director of Chabad Ghana. In classic CKids fashion, the education element of each piece was woven seamlessly into the activity, with each component of the Freedom Machine symbolizing a different aspect of the Pesach story—from the plagues to Kriyas Yam Suf to the 15 Seder steps.
“We had over 40 kids of all different backgrounds coming together and really getting it,” says Mrs. Chanie Katzman, director of Chabad Lubavitch of Staten Island.
The cutting-edge curriculum was designed by the CKids creative team at Merkos 302, where writers, editors, designers, and educational consultants worked together to put together a professional, easy-to-execute program that would leave a lasting impression on kids.
“Pesach happens every year, and it’s always an exciting challenge to see which fresh angle we can spin on the CKids club productions,” says Rabbi Zalmy Loewenthal, director of CKids.
Besides the engineering components, the Pesach club featured a rap-along video that got kids familiar with the 15 steps of the Seder. After designing and executing their freedom machines in teams, kids also got the chance to bring home their own kits to recreate the fun at home.
“We wanted kids to have something at the Seder that they could engage with,” says Bracha Yurkowicz, director of the CKids clubs. “The kids need to be the stars of the show!”
After the 90-minute club came to an end, kids were familiar with the idea of the inner Pharoah and the freedom from slavery that we can all achieve today. “The idea being imparted here is that Pesach isn’t just a story that happened 3,000 years ago,” says Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, executive director of Merkos 302. “It’s a message we can live with every single day.”
Check out Ckids.net/passover for Pesach resources for your Chabad House
