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Resource Category: Passover

Passover is a time to focus on our collective story, but it can also be a time for us to explore our own. On Passover, we remember our freedom from the physical bondage of Egypt, but without acknowledging the mental bondage many of us are still trapped in we will never truly be free. That is why we built these resources, to help individuals utilize the themes and motifs of Passover traditions to examine their internal stories of slavery and experience an Exodus like no other.

“The Exodus from Egypt Occurs in Every Human Being, in Every Era, in Every Year, and in Every Day.” – Rabbi Nachman

Blue Dove Passover activities and resources are available on Haggadot.com to help you bring mental health into your personal Passover experience!   Haggadot.com offers easy-to-use templates and ready-to-print booklets that are perfect for your seder.

From Chaos to Seder: Pesach, Addiction, and Removing Our Personal Chains

We are going to know a new freedom” -Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 83. I have always marveled at the paradox that our nation’s liberation from the bondage of slavery is marked by the quintessential period of restriction. A holiday that requires us to adhere to strict guidelines and detailed instructions with such profound exactitude and measure. To distance ourselves from something that in the rest of the year we get to engage in unconditionally. This is freedom? In working firsthand with individuals in addiction treatment as they battle for ultimate freedom, I now understand that the answer to this question is a resounding yes.
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Dayenu: I am Enough

“Dayenu” means “it would have been enough,” and in the song we express gratitude for everything God did for us as we escaped Egypt. Gratitude is not something that comes naturally to everyone, and it is good for our mental well-being to call attention to the things in our lives that we are grateful for regularly.
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Magid: Telling Your Own Story

The religious and historical significance of retelling the story of Passover is apparent to anyone who participates, but little recognize the mental health benefits of reframing and shaping our narratives - especially narratives that are traumatic. This allows you to take ownership of your trauma, and doing so at the Seder should prompt us to consider how we can tell our own stories and take ownership over them.
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The Four Mental Health Children of the Seder

Reading about these four children, we get to learn more about ourselves and how we can build more holistic, inclusive and affirming Jewish communities. These four archetypes aren’t here to teach us about children; they are here to teach us about our role in passing Judaism and its traditions l’dor va dor (from generation to generation).
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The 10 Mental Health Plagues

When we remember the plagues of Egypt on the Seder night, we are remembering the miraculous things that G-d did for us in Egypt. However, for some of us there are things plaguing our own lives that are far worse, and as much as we spend Passover talking about the plagues of Egypt, we should also talk about the mental health plagues of today.
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