[HANASHIR:8668] Re: A dilemma teaching Chad Gadya

[Andy Curry <acurry...>]

Linda,

You can probably guess how I feel.  I second everything that Eric and Karen
and others have said.

You go, girl!

Andy

At 11:55 AM 3/28/01 EST, you wrote:
>Hevrei,
>I encountered an interesting situation earlier this week as I was teaching 
>Chad Gadya (in English) to the children at the JCC preschool (I teach music 
>there 2 mornings a week to toddlers through pre-K). 
>
>While the song is rather long, this particular version is "kid-friendly" 
>because it includes noises that the kids can chime in for each animal/object 
>in the song (i.e., "then came the dog -- WOOF WOOF -- that bit the cat -- 
>MEEEEOW -- that ate up all the kid -- ME-E-E-EH.....) 
>
>After I had finished singing the song with a group of 4- and 5-year-olds,
one 
>of the teachers (I don't think she's Jewish) said in front of the whole 
>group, "I don't think we should sing that song again. It's too violent."
>
>My immediate response to her (in complete surprise, never having encountered 
>any negative reaction to Chad Gadya in my12 years of teaching music) was, 
>"The song is in the Passover Seder, and it had been sung by children for 
>centuries." She rather adamantly insisted that it should not be sung again 
>with "this age group."
>
>Has anyone else encountered a similar situation -- and how have you dealt 
>with it? Sure, I can find plenty of other songs to teach instead of Chad 
>Gadya, but I feel a bit of an obligation to instill some element of 
>traditional Pesach music in these kids, and not stick merely with some of
the 
>more insipid pre-school Pesach music that's been written in recent decades. 
>(Interesting how this teacher feels the need to "protect" children from any 
>mention of "the Angel of Death" and the butcher who slew the ox -- the same 
>children who witness the gratuitous violence that is so commonplace in the 
>evening news, TV shows and video games, etc.)
>
>I'll be interested in your responses and suggestions. Thanks for providing 
>such a wonderful forum to discuss such issues. 
>
>Wishing a "non-violent" Pesach to all!
>
>Linda Salvay
>
>
>
>
Andy Curry, Kansas City
acurry (at) san-carlos(dot)rms(dot)slb(dot)com

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