Passover across the Miles

As we close in on Passover eve, I hope everything is falling in place for your virtual Seder. Yes, this year will be different than all others, and we might end with the phrase בשנה הבאה בנורמליות (Next year with normalcy), instead of בשנה הבאה בירושלים (Next year in Jerusalem). The big thing is that our family gathers at Pesach must go on!

If you have followed this blog, I would like to know how it went! Did the virtual Passover work for you. If you used (or even looked at) my new Psalmatic Seder, what did you think. I will make a few edits for next year, so, comments will help.

A new Haggadah from the book of Psalms

In today’s blog, we will consider the final two questions from the list of questions that appeared in my April 1 blog:

5. On all other Passovers we converse around the room and share the Haggadah together … Why on this Passover will we converse from house to house?

Of course, the answer to this is social distancing due to Coronavirus prevents us from gathering together, as normal, in the same house. In this age of technology, we can still virtually gather, stringing multiple houses together electronically. I have shared ideas on how to do this in the last several blogs (beginning April 1).

This week I also watched a training video about using Zoom for a video platform. It is an hour long, visit the Centralsynagogue facebook page, and click on the video link. It is called: DIY Zoom Seder Tutorial. There are many great hints on how to do this, and other things to include in the Seder. Time of the video is about an hour.

The goal for this Passover is to see and talk to many others at the same time, while we stay in the safety of our virus free home environment. The idea is to graduate from individual cell phones to a central computer that captures everyone, and can be used in leading a family Seder, along with individual phones for message and pictures, connecting multiple homes and creating an experience which will almost mimic being in the same room.

8. On all other Passovers either bubbe does all the cooking, or we each bring our favorite dishes … Why on this Passover do we share recipes, each cook our own and share the tastes?

No, dinner won’t be the same! But we can try. There can be three approaches to this: a) Everyone cooks the same traditional foods; b) One person does the cooking, and the food is carted in individual containers to each house; 3) Everyone does their own thing, and compares their food with pictures and descriptions to see who’s is the best. {With option 3, a new tradition could be established!}

This year, of all years, is a good time to create a virtual cookbook. What are the traditional recipes of your Passover … and not just Pesach eve, but also the next seven mornings as we use Matzoh instead of bread. How do we make Matzo brei, macarons and other special foods. It might be time to get the next generation involved in cooking … since they are home from school.

In past blogs, you have seen, the table should be set with table cloth, cloth napkins silverware, fine china and our best glasses. Also candles, seder plate and matzo tash. We should spare nothing at making this a great Seder, although separated physically, we must celebrate together. And remember, there is coming a day when the CDC and WHO will let our people go, and we can eat together under the same roof once again.