Virtual Passover Resources from the EDCJCC

Overview of the Seder
Unorthodox Podcast – Socially Distant Seder (This episode walks you through the steps of the Seder)

How to (virtually) host your seder

Make a decision about what platform you’re using (see below to decide)! Send out the information for how to join and make a calendar invite.
- Tell folks what to have on hand (if possible)- matzo, parsley, charoset, salt water, horseradish
Assign tasks. Who is leading each cup of wine, the parsley, the breaking of the matzo?
- It’s important to have one person “hosting” who calls on people to talk one at a time.
Practice! Have a rehearsal a day or two ahead of time by making a recipe together.

Platforms

Skype
Pros: Free; 50 people can call in; share screen feature
Cons: Must create an account

Zoom
Pros: Up to 100 participants for free; share screen feature
Cons: 40 minute cutoff without paid plan

FaceTime
Pros: Up to 32 users; fun add-ons like effects and emoji
Cons: Everyone must have Apple products; cannot pre-schedule call and send out a join link

Google Hangout
Pros: Auto-captions for hard-of-hearing folks; don’t need a new account if you already have gmail; up to 25 people
Cons: Max of 4 faces on screen; no option to see all faces at once

House Party
Pros: Easily integrated games feature to add entertainment to your seder
Cons: Only 8 participants; cannot pre-schedule call and send out a join link

Facebook Messenger
Pros: Easy to use if everyone is already on Facebook
Cons: Only 6 participants; everyone must have a Facebook account

Join virtual seders

First Night Seders:
Virtual Seder with Washington Hebrew Congregation
Burning Manischewitz – JewBelong.com’s Virtual Passover Seder
Liberated – A Passover Seder with Sixth & I
Seder on Demand with Washington Hebrew Congregation
SederStream 2.0: the Den’s Virtual Passover Seder

Second Night Seder:
EDCJCC Second Night Community Seder

Haggadot

EDCJCC Haggadah in Slides
Tablet Magazine’s Passover Hagaddah – Amazon
Tablet’s digital download
Haggadot.com to make your own! Or pick one that’s Downloadable
10 minute kosher seder
HIAS
Jew Belong 1 hour seder
JWA
The Kveller Haggadah – A Seder for Curious Kids – Amazon
PJ Library
The 2 Minute Haggadah
Sammy Spider’s First Haggadah – Amazon
Velveteen Rabbi Hagaddah (also available as slides)

Seder Plates

Get items for your seder plate delivered right to your home:
Wagshalls
Whole Foods – parsley, horseradish, and charoset
Parkway Deli
Charbar will include Seder plate items if you order dinner

Buy a new seder plate:
Modern Tribe
Judaica Web Store
Traditions Jewish Gifts

You don’t need a traditional seder plate – try DIY’ing your own!
DIY Seder plate
Making seder plates w/kids

Passover Shopping/Delivery

Forward – A Guide To Online Passover Shopping Amid a Pandemic

Duke’s Grocery Passover menu
Anxo and Prescription Chicken Passover pack
Baker’s Daughter Passover Package
Equinox Restaurant – Order your Passover in a Box by March 22
Ridgewells
Baked By Yael Matzah
Call Your Mother – Order by March 24
Balduccis
Bread Furst
Prescription Chicken
Char Bar – Order by March 21
Moti’s Market – Order by March 17
Kosher Meat from KOL Foods
Passover products from Grow & Behold
Fresh local produce delivered to your door – they’ve got parsley!
Whole Foods, Giant Food, and Safeway are still taking online orders and delivering food. There are some delays, so order early!

Recipes

Valerie & Tarryn’s charoset & horseradish
Marion Usher’s Passover Seder Guide
Tori Avey’s Tzimmes
Potato Kugel
Joan Nathan’s Matzah Ball Soup
DIY Matzah – Michael Solomonov
18 minute Matzah – URJ
Brisket with Spiced Coffee and Charoset Juice
Joy of Kosher Peach Banana Matzo Brie
Joy of Kosher Passover Guide
DIY chocolate matzah
What Jew Wanna Eat Passover Archive

Rainbow Seder Recipes

This collection of recipes was curated with the help of GLOE Committee Member Karen Eisner

Appetizers:
Manischewitz Poached Eggs – What Jew Wanna Eat*
Cauliflower Kugel Bites – Jamie Geller

Soup:
Schav (Sour Grass) Soup – Jewish Food Experience*
Borscht Soup – What Jew Wanna Eat

Salad:
Cranberry Blueberry Spring Salad – Peas and Crayons

Main:
Chicken Marbella – New York Times Cooking
Moroccan Style Brisket with Dried Fruit and Capers – Jewish Food Experience

Sides:
Cuban Yuca with Garlic Mojo Marinade – Jewish Food Experience*
Honey Garlic Roasted Carrots – Butter Your Biscuit

Dessert:
Citrus Salad – Food and Wine
All Season Lemon Bars – Jewish Food Experience*
Passover Apple Cake – A Baker’s House

* Recipes shared with permission from the Jewish Food Experience ®

For the kids (or the kids at heart)!

Items to print at home:
Afikomen word search
Coloring Pages
Maggid Paper Bag Dramatics
Pesach Taboo Game
Karpas and Maror Taste Test
Chad Gadya Puppets
Jew Belong Maggid Script
Charoset Bar
Passover Play
PJ Library Passover Playlist

Items to order:
Masks, temporary tattoos, trivia, and frog flippers
Modern Tribe: Passover for Kids

Tips for your Seder:

Get comfortable! Make a comfy fort or sit on the couch during the seder. There is no reason that the non-meal portions of the seder needs to take place at the table.

New Afikomen prizes. Instead of giving money for an afikomen prize, give a gift that the kids can spend time doing during the day. Maybe create an art project for them to do from things in the house and put it in a Ziploc bag for each gift. Maybe you have a storage closet of gifts that you were going to use for birthday gifts. Find something new and exciting that will also help fill time on another day.

Share your favorite part of Passover or your favorite Passover memory. Include your family in your seder by sharing these over Zoom/Google Hangout/FaceTime. If that’s not possible, ask your extended family to share these things with you in writing ahead of time or have them record a video and email it to you.

Ask “how is this night different?” Have your family write their story of how this year is different for all other years. Keep it someplace to re-read it next year.

Practice the four questions. Learn the 4 questions with 2021 Grammy Award Winner Joanie Leeds

Tell the Passover story in advance. You can use a PJ Library book or this PJ Library podcast.

Adapt the Pre-Seder Checklist. See what you have already or could repurpose from this PJ Library family checklist.

Make a mock seder plate. Have kids collect things around the house to make things that look like the items on a paper plate. For instance, take some grass from outside and have the kids glue to a plate to make karpas (bitter herbs). Another idea for the seder plate is give your child a magazine and have them cut out the items from magazines or newspapers. Here is another way to do it.

Make an afikoman bag. Hide the piece of the middle matzah that must be found before the seder can end. Take an old (clean) shirt and sew it together on 3 sides or cut strips on three sides and have the kids tie knots (like a no-sew blanket). Once done then have them decorate it with things you might have in your house like glue, pom poms, string and feather.

Find the ten plagues. Show pictures to the kids of what the plagues might look like then take a hunt around the house and try to find things that you can use as the plagues during the seder. You can also come up with your family’s own list of “modern plagues.”

Make a Kiddush cup. Take a clear plastic cup (or any plastic cup) and cut up construction paper. Have the kids glue on the construction paper to make their own Kiddush cup to use at the seder. You could also use it as Elijah’s Cup or Miriam’s Cup if you don’t have one.

Make it festive and different. Since this year is different then most years, it would be nice to have a different centerpiece on the table. One way to do that is by making a Passover scene out of legos, scarfs and other household items. Passover is also called “Chag HaViv (the spring holiday),” so you could make flowers for your table. Get five ideas for these flowers, made using what’s in your home, from PJ Library.

Additional resources and articles

Seder plate image credits (L-R): Moms and Crafters; Bible Belt Balabusta;