7/29/2019 Passover Book Encourages Participation

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JEWISH STANDARD MARCH 22, 2

Passover book encourages participationAuthor says questioning is key

LOIS GOLDRICH

Sharon Marson loves questions.

I love where they brin you and

how they can really open up your think-

in to thins, said Marson, schoolwide

enrichment coordinator at the Salanter Akiba

Riverdale Academy in the Riverdale section

o the Bronx. (The school is more commonly

known as SAR.)

We think o creative thinkers as people who

are simply ited, and it is a component. But its

also a skill, she said, and we can be trained

in the skill.

For her new book, More Than Four Ques-

tions: Invitin Childrens Voices to the Seder,

Marson took questions she had compiled rom

students and reerred them to small roups o

younsters or their reactions and answers. The

whole process took six years.Many o the children with whom she worked

were rom Teaneck; she worked with most o

them toward the beinnin o

her work on the book.

Addressin issues rom Why

do we have a seder? to What

does it really mean to be ree?

the children ranin in ae

rom 5 to 15 ave serious

thouht to each answer, oten

providin deep answers, Mar-

son said.

I appreciated what they had

to say, she said. They arent like

us. Theyre not thinkin, Was

this riht or was it not riht? They can tap into

their expressiveness and spirituality in a ree

way.Explainin how to use the book, Marson

writes that when teachers and her students ask

questions, I know that their curiosity is aroused

and they are enaed as active learners. In those

moments o enuine inquiry, a door opens and

reedom can be experienced.

The book beins with a question, demonstrat-

in immediately that children may well see thins

in a dierent way than the adults at the Passover

table: Why do we open the door or Elijah? Cant

he just come in? asks Daniella, ae 11.

The author said the children in the ocus

roup clearly enjoyed the project. One youn-

ster told her, We eel like we have a chance to let

our brains y out o our heads. Another child,

recallin the rabbis in the Haadah who dis-

cussed the exodus rom Egypt until daybreak,

said, We have so much to say well be here until

the mornin prayers.

Marson said she selected children she elt

a special connection with who were partic-ularly open to this kind o thin. By workin

with younsters she knew throuh teachin, or

who were the children o amily

riends, I could create a space

where they would eel sae to

explore.

I had a warm relationship

with them, she said, addin that

she created a comortable mood

with jellybeans on the table

so they would be able to o to

that deep spot. Many elt ood

about that in the moment. One

child, she added, said, Wow. I

said reat thins.

Fourteen-year-old Gila Weinrib o Teaneck,

who participated in a ocus roup when she was

in kinderarten, said she remembers enjoyinthe experience a ood deal. It was a lot o un,

Gila said. It made me realize

the importance o Pesach.

She added that she ound that

answerin the questions was

easier than she thouht.

Amram Zeitchik, 14,

another contributor, also rom

Teaneck, remembers that ater

the children answered Mar-

sons questions, we would

talk about the answer. It helped

me learn more about what we

were discussin.

Amram, who oes to school

at SAR, was 7 when he was in the ocus roup. He

said that the experience made him understand

rom the time he was youn that its ood to

ask questions. Thats how you learn new thins.

Marson, who also is the author o The Wis-

dom o a Starry Niht: Usin the Power o GreatArt or Sel-Awareness (Barnes & Noble Publish-

in, 2004), suested that inquiry can really

challene children, people, to think in ways they

hadnt beore.

Im really interested in the idea o havin an

open mind and bein able to think creatively,

she said, notin that the book came about when

she added students personal questions to the

traditional Haadah bein prepared or SARs

model seder.

I decided to incorporate their questions, she

said. It ave it personal meanin as opposed to

just collective meanin.

It went over beautiully, she added. The

parents really enjoyed it because it was their chil-

drens voices.

It also was clear that the school principal liked

the book, returnin to it several times. Inspiredby this interest, Marson decided to pursue the

project urther.

I think its fllin a

she said. I havent see

thin else like it out ther

open-ended exploratio

The author said th

o questions childre

depends on the type o

The more concrete thin

ask questions about ri

the sequence o what

and why. The more re

type o child will ask

ended questions like

does it mean to be really ree?

We need both parts, she said. Qu

are a vehicle o exploration. By askin que

we deliver the messae that askin is v

We dont have all the answers, but we

ure thins out.Marsons book includes several kinds o

tions. On the bottom o each pae, b

the childs question, is one rom Marso

sel, challenin the teenaers and adult

table to think more deeply about each iss

the other side o the pae, below the chi

responses, are relevant quotations and s

Further reections on some o the issu

included at the back o the book.

Marson suests that it would be hel

review the book beore the holiday bein

in questions that miht be particularly

priate or each seders participants.

It would be so excitin i people we

to learn somethin rom the book, or b

ered by somethin rom it, that deepen

connection to God or strenthens their

mitment] to strive or a more sensitive livin, she said.

Sharon Marson

JSTANDARD.COM