Why is This Year (and This Meal) Different From Most Other Years?

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For Jews, Passover is a special time, when relatives & friends gather to share the joy of our ancestor’s redemption from slavery in Egypt. This “Freedom Festival” is the most widely observed & best loved of the Jewish holidays. Food plays a quintessential role at Passover, not a peripheral one as with other holidays. Indeed, the celebration revolves around the partaking or prohibition of specific foods.

However, this year, most families, extended families and friends won’t be gathering around the communal table for a large dinner. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still celebrate Passover and have a meal together.

The first night of Passover is Wednesday April 8th and we have tips and ideas to help you celebrate the holiday “virtually” this year. And, BTW, everything we talk about applies to Easter dinner too.

TIP 1. Decide to do it – You’ll likely find that it’s easier and more fun than you think.

TIP 2. Delegate or “volun-tell,” as we like to call it – Don’t do it alone. The more people that have specific roles the less work for everyone.

TIP 3. Invite your guests – No excuses. They can join in no matter where they are and some will have a specific role:

  • The Seder Leader: for fun, call this person iMoses. Their job is to coordinate the running of the Seder

  • The Food Leader: they will coordinate each food each guest will bring and “share”

  • The Technology Leader: They will make sure that each remote participant has access to and knows how to use the technology so everyone can fully participate

TIP 4. Choose your technology – Zoom has become the video conferencing app of choice. It’s simple to download and fairly simple to use. Just be sure all your guests are comfortable with it in advance of the seder. I’m going to be using it for book club gatherings in the future so two other members and I have been practicing the last few days.

We’re all physically distancing these days but that doesn’t mean we can’t still stay social and enjoy the Seder meal together. Be sure to check our Instagram and Facebook post this week for more tips and ideas.

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Posted in Entertaining Tips, Holidays, Passover, Special Occasions, Tips & Tricks and tagged , , , .