Passover begins at sundown on Wednesday, April 5.

This page contains a variety of resources from Rabbi Ruhi Sophia, Rabbi Solomon, and others to assist you in creating your own seder experience. 

Seders

The Passover Seder is one of the most important home rituals in the Jewish tradition. Two people together are enough to make a seder! For those of who are on your own or unable to do the seder yourselves, we are offering two ways to participate in TBI seder this year! 

On April 5th, the first evening of Passover, Rabbi Solomon is leading a virtual Community Seder. Enjoy a short seder with the community, then have dinner on your own. Sign up below.

On April 6th, the second evening of Passover, Rabbi Ruhi Sophia is leading an in-person Community seder. Enjoy singing in community, guided discussion and a catered dinner. Sign up below. Deadline to signup is Thurs, Mar 30, 5:00pm.

Services

There will be Passover services at the following times:

10:00 am on the 1st day (Thursday, April 6)
9:00 am on the 7th day (Wednesday, April 12)
9:00 am on the 8th day (Thursday, April 13) including Yizkor/memorial prayers (YouTube link is here)

Masks required in sanctuary.

Kasher the Kitchen w/Rabbi Ruhi Sophia

Sunday, April 2, 9:00am or 10:30am

Do a mitzvah and learn about koshering for Pesach! We need up to 8 people per shift.

»  Sign up here

Cantor Mark Levy’s Old World Passover Concert

Sunday, April 2, 4:00pm

Have you ever heard the Four Questions chanted in Yiddish or Ladino? Or Chad Gadya, Echad Mi Yodea, Adir Hu? These are the traditional songs of Pesach, sung in Hebrew around the Seder table each and every year to commemorate the Exodus from slavery in Egypt.

 FREE for TBI members; $10 for non-members.

Attend the TBI First Night Zoom Seder led by Rabbi Solomon
Wednesday, April 5, 5:30pm 

The TBI Virtual Community Seder will be using A Different Night Haggadah, by master educators Noam Zion and David Dishon. You can download it for free. Look at it in advance and familiarize yourself with the format, art, and great questions! Pages 12 – 15 will help you prepare your home and heart for the experience. 

The seder will take no more than an hour. 

Please see “Wednesday, April 5th” section in the step-by-step list below so that you’re ready to go at 5:30pm on the 5th. 

»  Sign up here

Attend the TBI Second Night Seder in person led by Rabbi Ruhi Sophia
Thursday, April 6, 5:30pm 

Tired of making seder on your own the past few years? Looking to be in person with a larger community? At the TBI Second Night Seder we’ll provide the Haggadah, set up the seder plate and provide a catered dinner. All you need to bring is your voice and your questions. The seder will begin at 5:30pm. Light nosh will be available from near the beginning, and dinner will be served by 6:45 pm. We’ll finish by no later than 8pm. Because we need to get accurate numbers to the caterer, we cannot accept late registration. We also cannot accept drop-ins. Please plan ahead and register by Thursday, Mar 30, 5:00pm.

»  Register here to attend the seder

Getting Ready for Pesach, Step by Step

Here is Rabbi Ruhi Sophia’s guide for those who are managing their own seder for the first time. Download guide here.

ASAP:  

  • Decide what Haggadah you will use and acquire it (see some suggestions farther down on this page)
  • Have a household conversation about goals for the seder, which could include: 
    • Traditional Passover liturgy 
    • Singing Passover songs together 
    • Being silly together 
    • Having an interesting conversation about how we do liberation today 
    • Any other you come up with (My family’s seder goals are usually all of the above, and our Seders are very long! You decide what your goals are, and how much of the liturgy to focus on, how much open conversation time, etc.) 

In the next two weeks: 

  • Clean your house as best you can, getting rid of food containing the five forbidden grains: wheat, spelt, barley, rye and oats, or gathering all of them to one definable location in your house and… 
  • Sell your chametz (either entrusting me or Chabad to do so on your behalf). You can authorize me to sell it here by April 2nd.
  • Plan a menu for seder night. I grew up having vegetarian seders (some of my favorite recipes are Spinach Cheese Squares and Quinoa Stuffed Mushrooms). You can also google lots of other Pesach recipes online. Or you can keep it minimalist: eat the traditional seder plate foods plus just some soup and salad. 
  • Acquire non-perishable seder foods: matzah, maror, and wine/grape juice  

In the final days leading up to Pesach: 

  • Finish cleaning your house 
  • Clean out your oven (self-clean cycle, if it has one) 
  • Kasher any dishes that you can, (and you decide how far to go with this) and/or pull out Pesach dishes  
  • Acquire or plan to acquire perishable seder foods: parsley, shank bone (or beet for veg version), eggs (if not vegan), charoset ingredients (see below for recipes) 

Tuesday and Wednesday, April 4th and 5th:  

  • Make charoset (It likes a day or two to sit and absorb flavors. There are many recipes, from many Jewish traditions. Ashkenazi recipes like this one usually have fewer ingredients, whereas Sephardi recipes like these feature more dried fruit and spices.)  
  • Boil eggs (if not vegan) 

Tuesday eve after dark, April 4th: Bedikat Chametz:  (here’s the liturgy and here’s a demonstration).

Wednesday, April 5th: 

  • Burn your chametz
  • Nullify your chametz with the following declaration by 12:09 pm.
    • “All leaven and anything leavened that is in my possession, whether I have seen it or not, whether I have observed it or not, whether I have removed it or not, shall be considered nullified and ownerless as the dust of the earth.”
  • Set table, make sure you have: 
    • Shabbat candles
    • Wine/juice in glasses plus more for future glasses and Elijah’s cup
    • Salt water for dipping parsley and eggs
    • Napkins for people to wipe fingers after dripping wine for the 10 plagues
    • 3 Matzah in a covered stack
    • Special napkin or other cloth to be afikomen cover
    • Seder plate with parsley, maror, charoset, egg (or vegan substitute), shankbone (or veg substitute)
    • Some people put an orange on the seder plate, or other additions (see the supplemental materials)

Haggadot, Guides, and Music for your Seder

The most important thing about a seder is that it is an opportunity to internalize the Exodus story, make it come alive for today. There is a wide variety of Haggadah options and, depending on your household, different options will be right for you.   

IF YOU HAVE TIME AND CREATIVITY TO DO IT YOURSELF:  

  • Make your own Haggadah: Free site to compile your own Haggadah, based on traditional, liberal, or secular templates from haggadot.com. 
  • Sefaria: Here’s the full text of the Haggadah (most is translated; nothing is transliterated) 

IF YOU NEED TO DOWNLOAD A SHORT, KID-FRIENDLY SEDER: 

  • Saratoga Haggadah compiled years ago by Rabbi Ruhi Sophia’s parents! It takes more than 30 minutes, but not more than an hour to get to the meal. 
  • 30-minute Seder An abbreviated Seder, with the ritual completed before the meal; hard copies can be purchased, or you can purchase a pdf to download and make copies. 
  • An even-shorter Haggadah from PJ Library 
  • “A Guide to the Seder” by Jewish Federations of North America 

IF YOU WANT TO BUY A PHYSICAL HAGGADAH BOOK:

Supplemental Seder Materials: 

Videos and source sheets by Rabbi Ruhi Sophia (geared towards Talmud Torah students, informative for adults as well!). (And here’s a link to the entire playlist.)

Article by Rabbi Solomon to get ready for Passover. Tambourines of Hope: 10 Tips so Passover doesn’t Pass Us Over

Haggadah supplements from various Jewish non-profits  

  • Hadar’s Pesach Reader: A collection of essays and resources to prompt discussions at your seder and beyond
  • HIAS: Haggadah with an eye toward immigration and refugee issues
  • J-Street Haggadah:   You can download here for free. 
  • Truah: Has a human rights haggadah that you can print at home.
  • Mazon: Has a hunger seder you can download..
  • Hebrew College Passover Companion: Click here to get this collection of essays, poems, and midrashim dedicated to longtime esteemed faculty member Judith Kates.

Music: Find traditional and contemporary versions of Passover songs here. 

General Passover info from a Reform Jewish perspective: go here. It features many links, including history, customs and rituals, Passover family activities, food and recipes. 

The Ten Plagues: This one-page document has ideas for discussing the Ten Plagues with children. 

18 Doors: Lots of good material here, particularly for interfaith families. 

The Seder Plate

The big mitzvot of Pesach are to eat matzah during Pesach, and to get rid of chametz (leavened foods) in advance of Pesach. But there are other traditional foods featured during the seder. You can find out the symbolism of each in detail here; for your shopping purposes, they’re listed below:  

  • Kosher for Passover Matzah 
  • Maror (horseradish raw root or in jars) 
  • A shank bone (some vegetarian families use a beet, the only vegetable that bleeds, to remind of the Passover sacrifice) 
  • Parsley (a symbol of spring, used early in the Seder) 
  • Charoset (a sweet mixture recalling the mortar that our ancestors used in their labors. Recipe samples in timeline below)  
  • Hardboiled eggs, also symbolizing springtime, and traditionally the first food eaten as part of the festive meal (and dipped in salt water, like the parsley). 
  • Wine or grape juice 

Books (including some Haggadot) that we recommend

The Open Door: A Passover Haggadah, by Sue Levi Elwell and Ruth Weisberg

A Family Haggadah, Shoshana Silberman

A Different Night: The Family Participation Haggadah, Noam Zinn and David Dishon

The Jewish Journey Haggadah, Adena Berkowitz

The Art of Jewish Living: The Passover Seder, Dr. Ron Wolfson

Keeping Passover: Everything You need to Know to Bring the Ancient Tradition to Life and to Create Your Own Passover Celebration, Ira Steingroot

Creating Lively Passover Seders: A Sourcebook of Engaging Tales, Texts & Activities, David Arnow

Make Your Own Passover Seder: A New Approach to Creating a Personal Family Celebration, Alan Abraham Kay and Jo Kay

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