Easter and Passover have many interesting traditions. Reasons for these holiday customs are explored.
Passover is here, and many busy teachers have not had time to promote diversity by having a mock seder. The good news is that students can understand the reason of and meaning for Passover by viewing a virtual seder! Actually, on this site, a seder plate can be viewed, and by clicking on the words Seder Plate, the history of each of the six components of the plate is explained. Very interesting and informative.
Equal time, of course, should be given to Easter. A virtual Easter egg hunt is available in which the participant must find ten Easter eggs. A little history of Easter traditions is discussed throughout the hunt, for example, at the beginning there is an explanation of what the reason for Easter eggs is.
While on the topic of Easter symbols (and there really are a lot of them!), it is true that the Easter Bunny was chosen as the Easter animal due to the fertility of the rabbit! This idea was brought over to the United States by Germans, who settled in Pennsylvania Dutch country. Children believed that the Eater Bunny would lay a bunch of eggs in a nest (later to become the basket with the plastic grass which cat owners should not let their cats eat) that the children created for that purpose.
Now, what about the chocolate? It is believed, although not conclusively, by Kate Hopkins that a) the Germans, renowned for their excellent chocolate sense, brought the chocolate over with the holiday and b) due to Easter being the end of Lent, and since chocolate is traditionally an item that is given up for the 40 days, people would celebrate by indulging on Easter.
Happy Holidays!
