Planners: Nicole Pavlovsky (El Al), Jenna Raimist (Atz' Chaim), and Adar Schneider (SF1)
We charged $5 for the event, even though it only costed $3. We donated the rest of the money to Stand Up as part of our community service, and part of us doing a mitzvah on one of the most important Jewish High Holidays!
6:00 PM- 6:20 PM: Atz' Chaim, El Al, and SF1 meet up at Mitchell Park (park in Palo Alto)
6:20 PM- 6:40 PM: Seder Plates Mixer: “We all know the story of Passover, why we celebrate and eat matzah, and why we have the seder plate on our table at dinner. Yes, it relates to us in a Judaic way, but have you ever thought about the seder plate in a different light? For each item on the plate, you will relate it directly to yourself where you will draw it on your own seder plate of life. For example, the Seder Plate of Jenna Nicole Raimist might have a picture of my goggles from swim team in place of the shankbone; my team and commitment make me physically stronger. In place of my saltwater, I would draw a diploma because the thought of graduating high school makes me cry of both sadness and happiness. Take some time right now to draw the seder plate of your life. After some time, you’ll be sharing in your groups. Be creative and teach us more about you that most people don’t know!”
Split girls into groups of 6-8 people. Do the generic name/school/grade, and then have them create their plates based on similarities. Come to a group consensus and make the plates. You will need: cheap plates, crayons/pencils/pens, and a sheet with a list of items on the plate:
Maror- something that makes you mad Matzah- the one word theme of your life Charoset- someone in your life that keeps you together Parsley- one girl you want to get closer to in your life Shankbone- something that makes you physically stronger Saltwater- something that makes you want to cry Egg- one thing that makes you innocent or something that you love that scares you Orange- something that makes you proud to be a BBG
6:40 PM- 7:10 PM: Passover Madlibs: Supply girls with paper, pens, and Passover terms. They must: leave spaces blank, make multiple stories, must relate to Passover in some way, must relate to story/have Passover terms, switch with other groups/rotate and fill out, and share with entire group of BBGs. Good luck!
7:40 PM – 8:10 PM: Matzah Houses: Split girls into groups of ~4-5 girls. Supply them with: matzah, Kosher for Passover candy, Kosher for Passover marshmallows, peanut butter, nutella, and knives. Each house must contain a door, at least 1 window, a chimney, a fence/gate, and a porch.
8:10 PM- 8:30 PM: Havdallah and cheers. Go all out with this! 3 BBG chapters in 1 place = YES. Have chapter leaders lead cheers EXTRA loud!
8:30 PM – 9:00 PM: Passover Ghost Stories: Split girls into groups, and have them come up with their own 10 plagues AKA the 10 worst things that can happen to a BBG. They have to create a ghost story based on their chosen plagues.
9:00 PM- 10:15 PM: Hey Soul Sista Program. Sisterhood/MBA Program.
(Tell girls that this is a serious program. Tell girls to light their candle if they relate to the story being told. Tell them to blow out their candle at the end of the story and relight the candle if you relate to the next story. Tell the girls who have their candles lit at the end of the last story to keep their candles lit)
ALL: Everyone close your eyes. Jenna: She is SO ugly. Adar: She talks all the time. She is SO annoying. Nicole: I can’t believe she would ever walk out of the house in that. Jenna: She is so self centered. All I ever hear her talk about is herself.
à STORY: (Adar lights her candle and says: “For the good and welfare of San Francisco BBG #1…”Share a story relating to this topic- about any hurtful gossip experiences that she’s encountered)
Nicole: She never stops gossiping. It’s like she does it for a living! Adar: She is such a slut. She would hook up with anything that moves. Jenna: I hope she knows that no one likes her. She is such a bitch.
à STORY: (Jenna lights her candle and says: “For the good and welfare of Atz’ Chaim BBG #2043…”Share a story relating to this topic- about any hurtful gossip experiences that she’s encountered)
Nicole: She is so two faced! And fake! Adar: She’s way too skinny. She looks like she never eats. Jenna: *step back* Wait… How can we be saying all of this crap? Adar: Especially when we’re standing here in front of all of our sisters who we love? Nicole: Yeah… and it’s even Passover. Jenna and Adar: Wait… How does that even relate? Nicole: Think about it. Passover, Yom Kippur, Tisha b’Av… What do they all have in common…? Adar: Well, you restrict and have to fast if that’s what you mean… Jenna: I still don’t understand… Nicole: Jenna, didn’t you just say that she’s way too skinny? Jenna: Yeah… Adar: OOOH. Do you guys think that people maybe take advantage of it? Jenna: No. Why would people take advantage of it? Do you mean not eat on purpose? I look at it as mostly a burden more than help. Don’t you? Nicole: Well, I have this friend…
à STORY: (Nicole lights her candle and says: “For the good and welfare of El Al BBG #1863…” Share a story about Jewish girls taking advantage of holidays where you need to fast and restrict, in order to cover their eating disorder from family and friends. STORY:
“For the good and welfare of El Al BBG #1863,
When it comes to the Jewish holidays, there are a few types of people. There are those who fast, and those who don’t. The ones that fast, either do it because they feel obligated to because of their religion, because they want to, or in some cases like mine, do it because it’s an easy way to cover up an eating disorder from everyone.
For a day, or for a week, Jewish holidays have saved me. They have given me a break. For just a day, I wouldn’t have to lie to everyone. I wouldn’t have to come up with crazy stories and lies for why I’m not hungry and don’t need to eat. I wouldn’t have to feel guilty about lieing to my family and friends- after all they support me in everything I do and have given me so much. I wouldn’t have to say “I ate a friend’s house “I’m not hungry” “I don’t feel good” “I don’t like this type of food” “I just ate” “I had a big lunch”, and the billion other excuses I’ve used to get away with not eating.
It’s become a sport, a test of my imagination. But after some point, people get suspicious. Excuses get more and more complicated and clever. After a while, it’s hard to hide behind baggy clothes to cover up my disintegrating body, my prickly bones bursting from my body. So when Yom Kippur and the other fasting and restricting holidays come along, all I need to say is “I’m observing ‘blank’ holiday”. No further questions are asked.
Yeah, it’s bad, and saying “I’m observing” in itself is a lie. I’m not observing. I know I’m slowly killing myself, piece by piece, and taking advantage of a sacred Jewish holiday to let myself continue with this lifestyle. I know it’s bad, but maybe one day it won’t have to be like this. Maybe one day nobody will have to be like this. Maybe one day everybody would ignore all the shit and gossip that they heard about themselves that led them to this condition in the first place.”)
After this, open discussion for all 3 stories. Take ~3 comments per story.
ALL: We have all heard these things before. Jenna: Some may have been said about your best friend. Adar: Some may have been said about your sister. Nicole: Some may have been said about you. Jenna: Your best friend may have said some of these things. Adar: Or maybe your sister said some of these things. Nicole: Or maybe you said some of these things.
Jenna: No matter who said it, it is not okay. Adar: Sometimes we don’t even realize how painful words can be to someone else.
Nicole: Please drop a piece of your crayon into the candle if you have ever been gossiped about. Jenna: Please drop a piece of your crayon into the candle if you have ever been lied to. Adar: Please drop a piece of your crayon into the candle if either one of these things hurt your feelings. Nicole: Please drop a piece of your crayon into the candle if you’ve ever gossiped about someone. Jenna: Please drop a piece of your crayon into the candle if you’ve ever lied to a friend. Adar: Please drop a piece of your crayon into the candle if you’ve ever regret doing or saying these things.
Nicole: She is SO nice! She always says hello to me in the hallway. Jenna: She always has a smile on her face. It really cheers me up when I’m in a bad mood! Adar: Her outfit was so cute! She has the best style. Nicole: She is the best person to call! Whenever I have a problem I call her and she always listens. Jenna: She is so smart. She always says the most intelligent things. Adar: She is the funniest person I’ve ever met! She always makes me laugh. Nicole: She is extremely talented. She excels with everything she does. Jenna: She is so adorable! I just love her! Adar: I never hear her gossip. It’s like she loves everyone!
ALL: Wouldn’t it be nice if we only heard people say these things!
Nicole: Please drop a piece of your crayon into the candle if anyone’s ever made you feel good about yourself. Jenna: Please drop a piece of your crayon into the candle if anyone’s ever gone out of their way to include you. Adar: Please drop a piece of your crayon into the candle if anyone’s ever apologized to you for something. Nicole: Please drop a piece of your crayon into the candle if you’ve made someone feel good about themselves. Jenna: Please drop a piece of your crayon into the candle if you’ve gone out of your way to include someone. Adar: Please drop a piece of your crayon into the candle if you’ve apologized for something you’ve done wrong.
Nicole: In the beginning, we listed off things that no one wants to hear about themselves. Jenna: You dropped pieces of crayons for gossip, lies, and hurt feelings. Adar: Later on, we listed things that you would like to hear about yourself. Nicole: You then dropped pieces of crayons for feeling better about yourself, being included, and apologizing. Jenna: We used the candles and crayons to show that the good things can always override the bad things. Adar: We hope that you keep your candles, and remember that you ALWAYS have sisters in... San Francisco BBG #1. (give brief speech about how SF1 and BBG have changed her and helped her for good) Jenna: Atz’ Chaim BBG #2043 (give brief speech about how Atz’ Chaim and BBG have changed her and helped her for good) Nicole: And El Al BBG #1863. (give brief speech about how El Al and BBG have changed her and helped her for good) Adar: And with that... CLEAN UP!
10:15 PM – 10:30 PM: Clean-up, and goodbyes!
NOTE:
1. We originally had this planned to be at a park. However, girls started complaining about how cold it was, so we decided to move to a house nearby the park. Because of that, we had to cut 1 program short in order to have full time for the last sisterhood program. We didn’t have time for the ghost stories, so we just cut that program completely.
2. We made a minor adjustment to the sisterhood program. We forgot to cut up the crayons into pieces, so we did that while girls were making matzah houses, so we didn’t get that many crayons done, so for the first part with all the negative things we used crayons. However, for the second part with all the positive things we raised hands when 1 of the things applied.