(Image from MyJewishLearning.com)

Jews across the world are preparing to sit down with their families and read the Haggadah this Passover. Although this is annual experience, it is never exactly the same as the year previous. In fact, for those attending a Seder at someone else’s home, there is no telling what the reading of the Haggadah will mean to their hosts, and they likely won’t know until the Seder begins. Reading the Haggadah can, after all, mean decoding the Hebrew words, or speeding through the text and getting right to the meal, or long discussions that allow us to better comprehend the story, or discussions around how the texts apply to our lives and current events.

But whatever the interpretation, at its core Passover is a holiday that revolves around a story (the Exodus), a book (the Haggadah), and a concept (freedom).

For many Jews, literacy is a priority. Many congregations across the South champion the cause of literacy in their community. We shake our heads in disappointment and sadness when we talk about children who don’t have someone to read with them regularly. But, when we talk about literacy, we are talking about a few dimensions: decoding, fluency, comprehension and application. Decoding refers to associating sounds with letters and blending them to create words. Fluency refers to the pace of reading and the ability of a reader to read a word without forgetting the words that came immediately before it.  Comprehension is the level at which a reader understands the meaning of the words. Stronger readers will also apply what they read to their life’s knowledge and experience. They will determine whether it is consistent with what they know and have experienced in the past or whether it speaks to something new.

Older students helping younger students: Read, Lead, Succeed

When we read with children, we might know how advanced their reading abilities are. However, particularly with struggling readers, it isn’t always clear. In fact, there are times when as adults who have been reading for a while, we wonder whether our time reading with children is productive, whether we made them feel badly because they couldn’t read as well as we had hoped they would. But, we can learn a few tips that help ensure that both the child and the adult have a positive reading experience. There is a lot of information out there but the proven tips are usually gleaned from research by individuals with the specific expertise of teaching reading. This is just one resource with reading tips, and you can certainly find some more by searching the internet for “research based reading tips or interventions.”

I wish all who will read the Haggadah this Passover, a meaning-filled Seder. I would also like to wish us all renewed energy as we continue to battle illiteracy in our world and particularly in our communities. After all, the ability to read brings not only stories and books to life – but also brings readers a very real freedom.