Virtual Passover Discussion Question: Ordinary to Extraordinary

The Afikoman is created by breaking an ordinary piece of matzo. What is something ordinary that has become extraordinary for you?

We think a lot about transformation from the ordinary to the extraordinary during our Seder.

A good example is the Afikoman. We ate matzo at the start of our journey out of slavery, but during the Passover Seder, we transform this simple humble food. We take one ordinary piece of matzo and by breaking it in half, it becomes an extraordinary piece of matzo: the Afikoman.

One example of something ordinary to extraordinary in my life is my family’s antique brass hand washer. I received it as a gift from my grandmother, Helen Fish Goldfarb. Her father, my grandfather Max Fish received it from his father (my children’s great great great grandfather Moshe Fish). It is from the late 1800’s in Dynow Poland and has been used for Passover in our family for over 100 years. Perhaps your family has an artifact or heirloom that has been handed down over the generations, layered with the history of your family, and so has become “extraordinary.”

Max Fish family photo

What is something ordinary in your life that you have transformed into something extraordinary?

Kids: Is there something special you have transformed in your life because you love it so much? Maybe a special blanket or doll? Or something you received from a special relative, or is it something you made? Something you have transformed by how much you love it and need it?

Adults: How do you know that it has become extraordinary?  Do others or just yourself know this transformation?  Do you have a “public” Afikoman and a “private” Afikoman?

Virtual Passover Discussion Question: Elijah’s Chair

Who would you like to sit in Elijah’s chair at your Seder?

Elijah is the prophet who never died. He is viewed as eternally returning to help the poor and assist those in need. When we believe in Elijah, and invite him to join us at the table, we receive a special gift or blessing because we can imagine him and his good deeds.

The special cup for Elijah, and in some families a chair for Elijah, is a reminder to invite spirit of generosity and goodness to join us at the Seder.

In some families, the children go to the door and open it for Elijah so that Elijah, or another good soul, can enter. (See footnotes below for Torah references)

Kids: Who is missing from our table this evening? Who do we need to invite in?

Kids & Adults: What special person would you most like to share tonight’s festival meal?  This person can be alive today, or not. It might be a friend, relative, or someone that you would like to meet. Please share who this person is and why you would like to share tonight’s Seder with them.

Adults: Whom do we need to help us complete our journey from “slavery” to “freedom”? Who helps each of us become complete? Who or what do we need to lead us on our journey to freedom?

Virtual Passover Discussion Question: What Would You Take?

If you had to leave home in the middle of the night, what would you bring with you?

When the children of Israel fled Egypt, they had to leave in the middle of the night and without much time to prepare. And they couldn’t take many possessions with them on their journey. There were difficult choices about what to bring with them from their homes.

If you had to escape in the middle of the night, what would you bring? (These can be physical or emotional keepsakes).

Kids & Adults: What would you take from your house in the middle of the night if you had to leave?

Virtual Passover Discussion Question: Spring Cleaning

Passover can be viewed as an opportunity for a spring cleaning for the soul. What do you want to cleanse or remove from your life this Passover?

Passover has a fun tradition that embodies this idea: it is called “the search for chametz.” Chametz means leavened bread. During Passover, we give up all leavened products, eating matzo instead of these “puffy” foods. The word matzo derives from the Hebrew term for “drain out,” and consists of just flour, salt, and oil. Chametz, however, includes all of the extras—yeast, sugar, eggs, etc. Giving up chametz and eating matzo helps us focus on the basics in our lives and reflect on our ongoing journeys from slavery to freedom. You can read more about this search here.

 

Kids: Have you ever found anything interesting or meaningful while cleaning?

Virtual Passover Discussion Question: Basics and Extras

What are your basics in your life? What are your extras?

Matzo is a very simple food. The word “matzo” in Hebrew means to “drain out”. Food at its most basic. Only flour and water, oil and salt. Let’s compare the ingredients used to make matzo with those used to make 3 other traditional Jewish foods Hamataschen, Sufgonyot, and Challah.

As you can see, matzo is made from only the most basic ingredients. From this baseline, extras can be added transforming these simple ingredients into many extraordinary dishes. While these extras can be nice, they are not essential. As the story of Exodus teaches us, with only the basic ingredients matzo was able to keep the children of Israel alive while they were fleeing slavery. Eating matzo makes us think about the basics in life. What do you really need to live your life?

Kids & Adults: What do you really need in your life? What do you really need to live your life?

Kids & Adults: What are the basics in your life? What are your extras?

Matzo Stack

Matzo Ingredients
Flour
Water
Oil
Salt

Challah

Challah Ingredients
Flour
Water
Oil
Salt

Yeast
Honey
Eggs

Sufganiyot

Sufganiyot Ingredients
Flour
Water
Oil
Salt

Yeast
Sugar
Eggs
Butter
Jelly

Hamantaschen

Hamantashen Ingredients
Flour
Water
Oil
Salt

Sugar
Eggs
Wine
Vanilla extract
Almond extract
Baking powder
Jelly

 

Virtual Passover Discussion Question: Your Promised Land

What represents your Promised Land? What is freedom to you?

During Passover, we celebrate the story of the children of Israel seeking freedom in the Promised Land. But what does being free really mean to each of us?

Kids: You may feel really free during summer vacation, summer camp, sleepovers, walking your dog, or attending a sporting event. When do you feel most free?

Adults: What does freedom look like to you? When are you truly free? On vacation? Engaging in a special family activity? Cooking dinner with friends? Going for a long hike? Is freedom just having unscheduled time? Do you have a favorite activity when you feel most free in your mind and spirit?

Miriam and Elijah Glasses for a Virtual Seder

For any easy decorative Mirriam or Elijah glass, use a marker to draw draw on a plastic cup.

Decorating the Miriam and Elijah glasses for your seder table is just that easy!  Oil-Based Sharpies and a couple of wine glasses are really all you need to create these iconic glasses for your seder table at Passover.  Feel free to use our custom templates or even create your own look.  Make sure to have some q-tips and rubbing alcohol handy just in case, to erase any mistakes as you’re decorating. Also, leave the glass to cure for 24-48 hours before their use.  The Miriam and Elijah glasses are very easy to make – you might even want to make sure to have extra glasses on hand should you want to customize one for each guest joining your seder.

Young children can delight in creating these on plastic cups! Just follow the same directions with plastic cups instead of glasses.

Materials

  • Clear Wine Glass (white wine glass preferably)
  • Sharpie Oil-Based Markers (fine point) (these will also be used for DIY Seder Plate)
  • Rubbing Alcohol
  • Q-Tips (handy in removing excess paint)
  • Downloadable Images: Miriam & Elijah (also featured at bottom of this post)
  • Tape
  • Scissors
Miriam-and-Elijah-Glasses-materials-2

Before you begin: Wipe down outside of glass with alcohol swab.

Step 1:

Download image here (link) and cut out along dotted lines. Wrap image around inside of cup so that image is facing out. Wipe down outside of glass with alcohol swab.

Miriam-and-Elijah-Glasses-miriam

Step 2:

Trace image with Oil Based Sharpie

miriam-elijah-glasses-step-2

Step 3:

Go ahead and paint in your design on outside of glass – be creative! Leave 1” rim around outside glass unpainted. Remove design from inside of glass and slip under base of glass to paint.

Step 4:

Let paint dry 24-48 hours. These beautiful wine glasses should be washed only by hand.

miriam-elijah-glasses-step-3

Enjoy your new handmade Miriam and Elijah glasses at your Passover Seder!

Miriam-and-Elijah-Glasses-final-2

STENCILS: (click on the graphics below to view larger)

glass_elijah_v2 glass_miriam_v2

DIY Seder Plate for a Virtual Seder

For any easy DIY seder plate, you can use a pen to draw on a paper plate.

Six traditional items are arranged on the seder plate, which is the focal point of the Passover Table. These include Maror (Bitter Herbs), Charoset (Mortar), Karpas (a vegetable), Zeroah (Lamb Shank), Beitzah (hard boiled egg), Chazeret (more bitter herbs). Each item has a special place on the seder plate, and each has a special significance to the retelling of the story of the exodus from Egypt.

Typically, seder plates are round with room for the word or image “Pesach” in the middle. Using a rectangle seder plate, you can create a non-traditional and modern seder plate with a spot for each of the 6 items. This is so simple to do! Make sure you date the bottom of the plate so this timeless piece can be used and remembered for many years to come.

Materials:

  • Serving Platter: Rectangle Ceramic Plate can be purchased at any home store…we found ours at Target. Just make sure it is large enough to hold all the seder items and bowls if you wish. Use small bowls or espresso saucers.
  • Sharpie Oil-Based Markers (fine point) (these will also be used for Miriam and Elijah Glass Activity)
  • Image guides (see below)
DIY Seder Plate Materials

Step 1:  

Wipe down paintable area with alcohol pad.  Check out our templates here to use as a reference, or create or find your own pattern.

Step 2:

Paint words and or images on bowls/plates or directly on plate. Outline first with black oil sharpie and use alcohol swab with qtip to remove excess paint. Then use Sharpies to color in images and decorate seder plate with all the items that appear on the plate for your Passover seder.

DIY Seder Plate Step 2

Step 3:

Let paint dry for 24-48 hours.

DIY Seder Plate Step 3

Here’s another version we made with small plates that fit into a larger tray. Use your imagination when you choose your dishes to make your seder plate.

DIY Seder Plate Final

TEMPLATES (click images below to view larger):

DIY Seder Plate Stencils DIY Seder Plate Stencils Hebrew DIY Seder Plate Stencil Blank

Virtual Passover Craft: Create a Simple Placemat

During this time of social distancing people are looking for activities to stimulate their mind and touch their soul. Here is a quick craft that you can make to spruce up your virtual Passover Seder.

You can make a placemat by taking a piece of paper and using a pen or marker to decorate it is as you see fit. This is a great easy craft for people of all ages. If you have glue and glitter, paint or stickers you can use these to add extra flare to the placemats.

If you want to keep your placemats to use again, you can save them and laminate them at a later date.

Menu Ideas for a Virtual Passover Seder

With people self-isolating and trying to avoid unnecessarily leaving the house, getting the ingredients to cook for the Passover Seder can be difficult. We have put together a menu that allows you to enjoy Passover favorites without having to shop around for hard-to-find ingredients. We hope you enjoy and wish you a happy Passover.

For starters, it wouldn’t be a Seder without charoset. We recommend our Classic Ashkenazi Charoset.

Classic Ashkenazi Charoset

Next up is a hearty bowl of matzo ball soup. We have a recipe for delicious matzo balls.

Matzo Ball Soup

You can substitute vegetable oil for schmaltz. For the soup itself, you can use our soup recipe or use canned/box chicken broth with a bouillon cube or 2 added for extra flavor.

For a main course we suggest our Za’atar Roasted Chicken.

Za'atar Roast Chicken

If you don’t have za’atar you can substitute it for a blend of dried spices thyme, oregano, sesame seeds and salt.

We always like to end things off on a sweet note. For dessert try our Chocolate Covered Matzo.

Chocolate Covered Matzo

You can omit the caramel sauce and nuts if you want to. And, feel free to add any toppings you may have around your house; dried cranberries, raisins, or other dried fruit, sea salt or coconut.