Passover celebrations will look different this year
The traditional Jewish holiday of Passover began Wednesday evening and runs for eight days. However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, this year’s celebrations will be far from traditional.
Passover is a Jewish celebration of the Israelites’ freedom from Egyptian captivity. For Jewish Americans, Passover involves generations of family members gathering together to share its ritual feast, called seder.
This year, however, the COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in some adjustments being made to the traditional activities.
Many Jews are cancelling travel plans to comply with stay-at-home orders and ensure the safety of themselves and loved ones. Extended families will not be gathering together to share in the seder meal. Gatherings at the synagogues have been cancelled as well.
Technology offers an alternative to physical gatherings. Many Jews are opting to host seders over Zoom as a way for them to still gather to share the traditional feast while maintaining social distancing. Reading the Haggadah, the book that guides the seder, can still take place over this platform.
Preparing the seder meal usually requires multiple trips to the grocery store to buy special foods like horseradish and bitter herbs. As this is not an option, Jews are substituting food they have on hand.
A part of the seder meal that will remain unchanged is the ritual washing of hands.
Some have pointed out the parallel between the 10 plagues the Israelites experienced in Egypt and the current plague of COVID-19.
“The plagues are a central part of the Seder experience,” Rabbi Elana Friedman, the chaplain of Jewish life at Duke University, told CNN. “This year it feels like we have an 11th plague circling us.”
Passover is the first major religious holiday to occur since the COVID-19 outbreak. Those celebrating other upcoming holidays, such as Easter, will face many of the same obstacles. Like Passover, these will largely take place over video conferencing platforms.
For guidance from the Rabbinical Assembly on how to stream Seder, visit: http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/story/streaming-seder.
For answers to FAQs about Seder, visit: https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/public/halakhah/teshuvot/2011-2020/earlyseder_real_final.pdf
Sources:
