Students at Lander-Grinspoon Academy Participate in Model Social Justice Seder

Northampton – On Wednesday, April 13 at 11 am, students from Lander-Grinspoon Academy (LGA), the pluralistic Jewish Day School in Western Massachusetts, will participate in a model Passover seder. Students will separate into the upper and lower schools to retell the story of the exodus from Egypt, practice prayers and songs they have been learning, and eat ritual foods.

The fifth and sixth graders will take the seder a step further by focusing on the present as much as the past. Fifth grade General Studies teacher Hilary Gollis will be leading the seder for the upper grades. She remarked: “The model social justice seder is an exciting opportunity to connect with an ancient Jewish ritual by looking at contemporary liberation movements. LGA’s students are young, but their hearts and brains are big and deep.”

Students and faculty alike are delighted to return to this annual ritual in person. The experience is especially important, because it allows students to bring deeper knowledge and appreciation to their family seders a few days later. With active participation a hallmark of the seder experience, LGA students enliven and enrich the ritual in their home, making Passover an even more meaningful time of year.

Executive Director Rabbi Debra Kolodny reflected, “How exciting that our upper graders will be learning that the mitzvah or requirement to “tell the story as if we ourselves were fleeing slavery in Egypt” also requires us to be compassionate, empathetic and good allies to those facing oppression today.”

“Principal Deborah Bromberg Seltzer said, “TIkkun Olam/improving the world, is a Jewish principle deeply imbedded in the fabric of LGA. Conversations about problems in the world and what we can do to help fix them take place regularly in all classes. Students routinely participate in a variety of opportunities where they make a tangible difference. In recent years, our students have spoken at climate marches, made food for houseless individuals, written letters to politicians, taught about the importance of solar power, baked for community helpers and more. Learning more deeply about liberation struggles beyond Northampton is both an extension of how we teach all year, and a special opportunity to bring our beloved Jewish traditions alive.”

Lander-Grinspoon Academy is an independent Jewish day school in the Pioneer Valley welcoming children of families from all Jewish traditions and backgrounds. Our mission is to provide a rich, academically rigorous, and values-based education integrating general and Jewish studies in a nurturing environment.  Currently accepting applications grades K-6 for the 2022-2023 school year.