On my first day as a teacher at the Jewish Kids Group, I realized the most difficult part about my task for the week would be teaching nine-year-olds the evil reality of slavery. The experience of the Jewish people is riddled with poverty, exile and persecution, and the holiday of Passover recounts both the joyous exodus from Egypt but also the plight of the Jewish people in bondage. The freedom my people now enjoy and cherish is inextricably linked to the suffering my ancestors endured throughout history. In other words, a holiday like Passover cannot be understood or properly celebrated without recognizing the wickedness of Pharaoh and the atrocities he committed. But, how was I, a newly hired teacher, supposed to appropriately impart
