How to join our Passover Seder on Thursday, April 9, 2020
The Seder will begin promptly at 6 pm.
If you are unfamiliar with Zoom, or have previously had problems with it, please plan to join us between 5:30 and 5:45 pm so that we can make sure you’re connected properly.
We have a Zoom “how to” page here: https://emanuelrochester.org/how-to-join-an-online-zoom-meeting/
To join the Seder by computer, click this link: https://zoom.us/j/222865860.
To join the Seder by phone, dial 929-205-6099 and, when prompted, enter the meeting ID: 724 446 818.
Whether you are joining by computer or phone, you will need the meeting password: 332051.
What to have at home to participate
We will be having an abbreviated service that will include the best-loved parts of the Seder and take about an hour. Please click here for our special Haggadah (Passover prayerbook), which you can print out ahead of time or display on your screen next to the Zoom window during the Seder.
For the Seder we will be using the symbolic foods that are part of the ceremony:
- Four cups of wine or juice
- Karpas – green vegetable (usually parsley or celery) and salt water for dipping it.
- Matzah – unleavened bread.
- Maror – bitter herb (usually horseradish but it can also be romaine, endive, celery or another vegetable with some bitterness to it).
- Charoset – symbolizing the mortar the slaves used for the bricks. Ashkenazi Jews make theirs from apples, walnuts, spices, and wine. Sephardi Jews use dates, figs, and other fruits. (See Recipes section below.)
- Beitzah – a roasted egg symbolizing the renewal of life at this season.
- Zeroah – a lamb shank bone representing the Passover sacrifice – vegetarians (and others) substitute a red vegetable, such as a beet.
It is traditional to prepare a special Seder Plate with Karpas, Maror, Haroset, Beitzah, and Zeroah. If you don’t have one made especially for that purpose, any nice dish will work. In addition to the Seder Plate, it is customary to wrap or cover three pieces of matzah, to be used during the ceremony.
We will also be using two special cups:
- The Cup of Elijah, filled with wine
- The Cup of Miriam, filled with water
Seder songs
- Mah Nishtana – You’re never too old to brush up on the Four Questions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn3FNA4Ar40.
- Or, for something completely different: https://forward.com/life/443230/passover-coronavirus-very-quarantined-four-questions-mayim-bialik/.
- Dayeinu – The easiest chorus ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p1pabOX3fc
- Eliyahu HaNavi – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l30lgVThQyE. (This version refers to Havdalah, but it’s the same song for the Seder). We’ll also sing “Miriam HaNeviah” to the same tune.
- Chad Gadya – We’ll be doing this song in a different way, so as long as you can sing along to the chorus (maybe even easier than Dayeinu), you’ll be fine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaZuI-WZTe8
Recipes for Passover
- Matzah – While it can be a challenge to mix and bake unleavened bread within the traditional limit of 18 minutes, for those of us who aren’t quite so strict, homemade matzah is easy and way more delicious than the store bought kind. Here’s a recipe from renown Chef Michael Solomonov of Zahav, Philadelphia: https://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/homemade-matzo.html. Here’s a version with olive oil from Mark Bittman of The New York Times: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=390294644200or, if you subscribe to the Times: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013086-olive-oil-matzo. By the way, that “matzo” spelling comes from Yiddish and Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation. Most Jews today use Sephardi Hebrew, which gives us the more familiar “matzah.”
- Charoset comes in as many variations as there are Jewish cultures. This article from the The Nosher will give you the Ashkenazi classic version as well as six others from around the world- you can make a different version for each day of Passover! https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/haroset-recipes-from-around-the-world/
- Many other great Passover recipes are available on the internet. Send pictures of what you make to David Kassnoff and we’ll post them on our Facebook page: davek57@yahoo.com.