Prepping for Passover

Passover is only days away, and many all over the world are starting (if they haven't already done so!) their preparations for this holiday. For many, this centers primarily around shopping lists, grocery stores, and menus - after all, food, in many ways, is the centerpiece of the holiday, both in terms of what we cannot eat (all of that delicious chametz!) and in terms of what we DO eat (extravagant, delicious seder meals).

This week, JFL will publish several posts surrounding preparations for Passover, including everything from which haggadah will be used to guide your seder experience to how to engage and include your children in this holiday. We hope you will find something new and exciting to enrich your Pesach experience!

For the very first suggestion, we go to the world of technology. There have been many great (and, unfortunately, a few lackluster) innovations in Jewish Education that have to do with the wide array of technological devices at our finger tips. One such example comes to us from Behrman House Publishers and Booksellers, one of the largest suppliers of Jewish educational material to many synagogues across North America. They even have a part of their website for families, including resources for holidays and Jewish learning.

This year they have launched an iPhone (and iTouch) application to help students of all ages and backgrounds learn and perfect the Four Questions. iMah Nishtanah is a new iPhone (and iTouch) app that lets you read and listen to the Four Questions whenever and wherever. At just $0.99, the app provides Hebrew and transliteration. It also allows you to record your practice sessions for immediate assessment. You can review the song, word-by-word or line-by-line. This helps you work your way up to full mastery by listening, reading, and singing along.

Whether you are a teacher, a parent, or just worried about being the youngest person at the table, pick up iMah Nishtanah at the Apple apps store [http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/imahnishtanah/id354124579?mt=8] and start preparing for a night unlike any other.

So... get practicing!