At Oholei Yosef Yitzchok Lubavitch in Crown Heights, Pesach preparation is not something the children only read about or review in class. It becomes something they can make, hold, understand, and bring home with real excitement.
This year, our students once again prepared for the Seder in a hands-on and meaningful way. Alongside learning the Haggadah and the halachos and minhagim connected to Pesach, they were busy creating their own simanim for the Seder, preparing salt water, roasting a zeroa, and wrapping their own ten pieces for Bedikas Chametz.
One of the most special parts of the experience was each child’s personalized Haggadah. The students worked on their own Haggadahs with the ideas and details they learned in class, and with their own pictures inserted inside. That made it personal in the deepest way. The Haggadah was not just something they would use at the Seder – it became their Haggadah, something they helped build and truly connect to.
A special energy filled the classroom as the children worked on each part of the preparation. They were not just learning about the simanim – they were making them, and getting ready to come to the Seder table with knowledge, confidence, and pride, excited to share what they had learned with their families. By the time they went home, they carried far more than projects – they brought home excitement, ownership, and a real connection to Pesach.
In addition to the hands-on preparation, the students also spent time learning the minhagim of the Rebbe connected to the Seder, with a focus on the hanhagos of Beis Harav and the ways these minhagim shape a Chassidishe Yom Tov.
At OYYL, we believe that Torah becomes strongest when it is learned in a way that children can live. As the Rebbe teaches, מעשה הוא העיקר. When learning is real, tangible, and connected to action, it stays with them.
This is the kind of chinuch we strive to give our students every day: learning that moves from the classroom into the home, and from information into experience.
As our Cheder continues to grow, we are enrolling boys and girls from Nursery through 8th grade.
