By Rabbi David Evan Markus
"What will this year's Passover seder be like?" It's a question I've heard asked many times (sometimes asked directly to me, other times not). Here are some coming attractions in the form of Four Questions (and answers).
"What will this year's Passover seder be like?" It's a question I've heard asked many times (sometimes asked directly to me, other times not). Here are some coming attractions in the form of Four Questions (and answers).
Much like it felt important to offer "coming attractions" before the High Holy Days, this year it feels important to offer "coming attractions" for our community Passover seder of April 23. It'll be my first with Shir Ami, and it'll be Shir Ami's first Passover celebrated hand-in-hand with our partners at First Presbyterian, some of whom perhaps never attended a Passover seder before. Those are reasons enough.
And one more: when we gather on the night that we ask why this night is different from all other nights, we also will gather in a year that is different from all other years. For the first time in over a half century, Israel is at war. Antisemitism has surged. National sufferings of all kinds abound. This year perhaps more than any other in recent decades, the "freedom" that Passover celebrates is both organically obvious to us and also profoundly complex. (More about that in my Passover column.)
So as we approach this year's Passover together, I want to offer Four Questions (and, some answers) about what you can expect at our seder journey.
From my heart to yours, may this Season of Freedom bring us – and all the human family – to celebrate a freedom worthy of our highest ideals and aspirations.
Where will our materials come from?
Our seder will build around the same 15 steps – from kindling candles to hand washing to matzah breaking to telling stories to featured foods to concluding songs – that anchor seders worldwide. (Why 15 steps? Because 15 is the numerical value of the Hebrew letters for Yah / יה – a name of God. Also because 15 was imagined to be the number of steps to ascend to the Temple. By 15 sacred steps, we ascend to liberation.)
This year's materials will draw from four main sources: (1) Shir Ami's printed sheets last revised April 2020; (2) my Passover slide deck, built on the Reform Movement's "Gates of Freedom"; (3) new materials by the Liturgical Working Group of Bayit; and (4) "Seder Interrupted" via the Academy for Jewish Religion ("AJR").
A word about the last two sources: they're both personal to me and relevant to all of us. Bayit is a trans-denominational incubator of new spiritual materials that we curate to be timelessly modern. I'm honored to serve as a senior builder for Bayit and past Board chair, and some of these materials will be my own. it's not just that I "like my own cooking, however: among this year's Forward Magazine favored Passover materials, Bayit's offerings came out on top. :)
Like Bayit, AJR – the seminary where I have the great joy to teach – took on developing new Passover materials in the wake of October 7. The Forward had great things to say about the AJR materials as well.
Why can't we just use the same materials we've used before?
Every Haggadah (Passover book of "telling" the story) is different: as of last count, there are over 9,000 published versions – plus the countless ones folks create year by year. While core parts of the seder remain fixed century to century, the telling itself is supposed to evolve year by year.
This year especially. This year's geopolitical situation will be at our seder tables not because I say so, but because it's on everyone's mind and heart anyway. A seder that doesn't speak authentically to what's happening can't be fully honest. While there are lots of things I can't and wouldn't ever say about political matters, there are basic propositions for which I hope everyone – regardless of politics, nationality, religion or ethnicity – can support at our seder. We can't fix the complexity, but at least we can be together in it.
Plus, this year's seder will want to be especially inclusive and transparent because among us will be dozens of strangers-turned-friends who've never experienced a Passover seder before. Our seder will be very much Jewish, and that includes making welcome and joining together in telling humanity's ancient story of liberation from bondage. These adaptations require gentle changes in the materials.
Plus, for everyone's ease, we will be using the big screen – like we did for Hanukkah Live – so everything will be on slides. No need for books crowding tables. (Bring your glasses.)
What tone should I expect?
Fun, welcoming, musical, poignant, meaningful, ethical, adamant, celebratory, relevant, at times maybe challenging – just like any Haggadah. And also like any Haggadah, materials can be read as either surface or deep, either inclusive or exclusive. Tone will be partly what you bring to it, so bring your whole hearts and an intention to have fun together. (Also please consider dancing shoes.)
What will the pace of the evening be?
These times are set in consultation with Board leadership:
5:30pm Check-in and seating
6:00pm Seder begins – hard start at 6:00pm sharp
7:30pm Dinner – we'll try to begin eating a bit before
8:15pm Afikoman and transition back to Seder
9:00pm "Next Year in Jerusalem" – if not before!
And one more: when we gather on the night that we ask why this night is different from all other nights, we also will gather in a year that is different from all other years. For the first time in over a half century, Israel is at war. Antisemitism has surged. National sufferings of all kinds abound. This year perhaps more than any other in recent decades, the "freedom" that Passover celebrates is both organically obvious to us and also profoundly complex. (More about that in my Passover column.)
So as we approach this year's Passover together, I want to offer Four Questions (and, some answers) about what you can expect at our seder journey.
From my heart to yours, may this Season of Freedom bring us – and all the human family – to celebrate a freedom worthy of our highest ideals and aspirations.
Where will our materials come from?
Our seder will build around the same 15 steps – from kindling candles to hand washing to matzah breaking to telling stories to featured foods to concluding songs – that anchor seders worldwide. (Why 15 steps? Because 15 is the numerical value of the Hebrew letters for Yah / יה – a name of God. Also because 15 was imagined to be the number of steps to ascend to the Temple. By 15 sacred steps, we ascend to liberation.)
This year's materials will draw from four main sources: (1) Shir Ami's printed sheets last revised April 2020; (2) my Passover slide deck, built on the Reform Movement's "Gates of Freedom"; (3) new materials by the Liturgical Working Group of Bayit; and (4) "Seder Interrupted" via the Academy for Jewish Religion ("AJR").
A word about the last two sources: they're both personal to me and relevant to all of us. Bayit is a trans-denominational incubator of new spiritual materials that we curate to be timelessly modern. I'm honored to serve as a senior builder for Bayit and past Board chair, and some of these materials will be my own. it's not just that I "like my own cooking, however: among this year's Forward Magazine favored Passover materials, Bayit's offerings came out on top. :)
Like Bayit, AJR – the seminary where I have the great joy to teach – took on developing new Passover materials in the wake of October 7. The Forward had great things to say about the AJR materials as well.
Why can't we just use the same materials we've used before?
Every Haggadah (Passover book of "telling" the story) is different: as of last count, there are over 9,000 published versions – plus the countless ones folks create year by year. While core parts of the seder remain fixed century to century, the telling itself is supposed to evolve year by year.
This year especially. This year's geopolitical situation will be at our seder tables not because I say so, but because it's on everyone's mind and heart anyway. A seder that doesn't speak authentically to what's happening can't be fully honest. While there are lots of things I can't and wouldn't ever say about political matters, there are basic propositions for which I hope everyone – regardless of politics, nationality, religion or ethnicity – can support at our seder. We can't fix the complexity, but at least we can be together in it.
Plus, this year's seder will want to be especially inclusive and transparent because among us will be dozens of strangers-turned-friends who've never experienced a Passover seder before. Our seder will be very much Jewish, and that includes making welcome and joining together in telling humanity's ancient story of liberation from bondage. These adaptations require gentle changes in the materials.
Plus, for everyone's ease, we will be using the big screen – like we did for Hanukkah Live – so everything will be on slides. No need for books crowding tables. (Bring your glasses.)
What tone should I expect?
Fun, welcoming, musical, poignant, meaningful, ethical, adamant, celebratory, relevant, at times maybe challenging – just like any Haggadah. And also like any Haggadah, materials can be read as either surface or deep, either inclusive or exclusive. Tone will be partly what you bring to it, so bring your whole hearts and an intention to have fun together. (Also please consider dancing shoes.)
What will the pace of the evening be?
These times are set in consultation with Board leadership:
5:30pm Check-in and seating
6:00pm Seder begins – hard start at 6:00pm sharp
7:30pm Dinner – we'll try to begin eating a bit before
8:15pm Afikoman and transition back to Seder
9:00pm "Next Year in Jerusalem" – if not before!
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