Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.
Here's how my hometown temple organized an international Zoom Seder with over 600 attendees
Here's how my hometown temple organized an international Zoom Seder with over 600 attendees
Juliana KaplanApr 15, 2020, 19:23 IST
Facebook/Temple Israel of BostonRabbi Suzie Jacobson leading the virtual Seder.
Passover is traditionally marked by a more individual celebration than many Jewish holidays; it's generally celebrated at home, and not with a full congregation.
But in the midst of the pandemic, my hometown temple, Temple Israel of Boston, decided to hold what it called a "Virtual Grand Communal Seder."
The Seder had over 600 virtual attendees from around the world.
My rabbi, Suzie Jacobson, described to Business Insider how the Seder worked and what the experience was like.
Jews around the world found their Seder plans in disarray last week.
Seders traditionally mark the first and second nights of Passover - they're a ceremonial meal commemorating the Passover story. Seders are unique in that they're a ritual practiced at home, generally amongst loved ones. Every Seder is a little bit different, often marked by family traditions or unique additions to the Seder plate, like an orange or a pine cone.
But the coronavirus pandemic upended Seders around the world. Families couldn't gather or travel to homes where they usually celebrated. Instead of sitting around a table, many celebrants clustered in front of a laptop, Zooming in their loved ones. My family conducted a Zoom Seder with my grandparents, who are a state away instead of making our typical Passover pilgrimage to them.
Advertisement
I also noticed that my hometown temple, Temple Israel of Boston, found itself getting creative and hosted a "Virtual Grand Communal Seder." A Zoom link was sent to congregants, as was a link to a Haggadah - a Seder text that guides the meal - and the Seder was livestreamed on Facebook.
I had never seen my temple do this before for Passover, so I reached out to my rabbi, Suzie Jacobson, to learn more about the efforts.
The virtual Seder was an unusual step for the temple and for the holiday, Jacobson told Business Insider, but she added that it seemed fitting for the circumstances.
"I had been dreading Passover when I realized we were going to be going into this situation ... it's such an intimate holiday. It's in our homes," Jacobson said. She added that the first night of Passover is generally "the one holiday" for which Temple Israel doesn't have a large communal celebration. "We usually don't do a big one, because there hasn't felt like a huge need. Usually, we'll help people find a Seder. But in this situation, we wanted the grand communal Seder, because we really felt like it was a time to gather."
Here's how the temple used the unprecedented circumstances to conduct a massive virtual Seder.
Advertisement
Do you have a personal experience with the coronavirus you'd like to share? Or a tip on how your town or community is handling the pandemic? Please email covidtips@businessinsider.com and tell us your story.
Over 600 people around the world ended up tuning in to the Seder — including some who weren't even members.
"There was someone I saw who was in the Netherlands, someone's in South Africa, I think that might've been a relative of someone's, all over the country for sure — Texas and California and Washington and Chicago, I mean, people all over the country and all over the state," Jacobson said. "And people who had been members many years ago, someone wrote to me, 'I got married at your beautiful synagogue 30 years ago.' It felt like such an amazing, exciting moment."
It was the first Seder for some, while others used it to experience Judaism for the first time.
"[There were] a bunch of people who [said] it was their first Seder, some in the conversion process, or even people who are checking out Judaism during this difficult time," Jacobson said.
Jacobson added that others had their whole families join the Seder and recreate the familial experience.
"Families are able to find their way to be together — in person or across great distances — using our Seder as the core," Jacobson said.
"[We] wrote our own Haggadah, which was really a fun process of trying to create something that was meaningful. And also, we did [the Seder] in an hour and 15 minutes!"
One traditional moment in a Seder is physically opening the door for the prophet Elijah. This moment was a little bit different during the pandemic, as doors were opened symbolically.
But Jacobson said that the spiritual resonance of welcoming Elijah into one's home was even more "profound" in the midst of the pandemic.
"Elijah heralds in the Messiah, and is the one who comes in order to give the Jewish people hope for the future," Jacobson said.
She added, "The idea that, yeah, our doors are closed and we're not leaving them anytime soon, but we all have such hope and joy and excitement for the future." It was an important moment in the Seder, marking the shift in tone "from degradation to hope."
"It was a celebration of resilience and Elijah, at that moment, was a moment of hope."
While everyone at the Seder was obviously separated by computer screens, it was still interactive.
"We were all doing it. We were all doing it to different levels and people had their tables set. They would have, you know, say, four people in a family," Jacobson said. "They would set the table and they'd have their Seder plate, and then they put the computer at the end of the table like we were the fifth guest. And people would start interacting with each other while this is all going on."
Jacobson acknowledged that it was 0f course still different from an in-person Seder.
"By definition, we are all so at home, like so radically at home. And no, it's not the same," Jacobson said. "It's not the same as going to your grandparents table that you've been going to your whole life or having all your cousins around. Like, it's not the same."
But that physical separation didn't hinder any connection — in fact, it energized those attending.
"It was just really, really fun energy, just watching everyone really get into it. And the most amazing thing was, at the end, people didn't leave. We were like singing and singing, and then we're waving, and then we're like, really?" Jacobson said.
"Scrolling through and seeing everyone's face, and everyone's waving and singing and just like dancing. And then eventually, like we were like, 'Okay, we're going to end the call,' which is such a weird way to end a Seder. But it just showed us how much it meant to people — and people were so happy to be there."
The Seder actually made space for a more communal celebration, and allowed attendees to celebrate more privately afterwards.
"There was also something really lovely about, you know, clicking 'leave meeting,' and then going and sitting with my wife on the couch, and having a glass of wine and also having the sort of intimacy of family," Jacobson said. "So to be in something huge and then, and then retreat back to the private felt really good and it felt like exactly what I needed this Passover. It was such a joy to be with everyone and it was so exciting and so high energy."
Jacobson said that, as an extrovert, she's been struggling with distancing measures — "I cannot wait for the moment when I can go and hug every single person I know" — but events like the Virtual Grand Communal Seder have helped with that distance.
"There have been very few moments when I have felt personally alone, because I feel like I am totally surrounded by community," Jacobson said. "And my only goal through this crisis is to hope that other people see that there are other ways, there are many ways for everyone to feel like they can be close to people that care about them, and that we're all in this together. We're all in this together, and we'll get out of this together."
The author's parents are members of Temple Israel of Boston.
