How Did Virtual Seders Really Go?

On April 12, Journal contributor Esther Kustanowitz co-hosted a mid-morning group of more than 50 people via Zoom for a virtual Passover seder. She said they were welcome to substitute  mimosas for their four glasses of wine.

Kustanowitz was setting the tone for a lighthearted, yet substantive, virtual seder, organized by Haggadot.com.

Others who led the seder included Rebecca Missel of Custom and Craft Jewish Rituals, who shared a meditation for the fourth cup of wine; Rabbi Adrienne Rubin, an opera singer who sang Eliyahu Hanavi; and Deanna Neil, who played a four-string guitar and sang Debbie Friedman’s version of misheberach (a prayer for healing).

Poet Rachel Kann led attendees in a breathing exercise before she recited a poem she wrote as an alternative take on “Dayenu.”

It was just one of dozens of virtual seders held by synagogues and various organizations at a time when physical distancing prevented people from gathering in person with their loved ones.

On the first night of the holiday, rabbinical student Jonah Sanderson and his parents connected via Zoom from their home in Encino to his sister in Denver. Sanderson made a brisket and the family read from Passover prayers provided online by Nashuva Rabbi Naomi Levy, including prayers to be read during a pandemic. Sanderson said they read one for the
first responders and that his family had a discussion about how everyone in their family was affected differently by the coronavirus.

Archie Gottesman, co-founder of JewBelong, which provides educational resources for Jewish people of all backgrounds, held a virtual seder on April 9 that garnered more than 5,000 views on YouTube. “The virtual seder was Plan B, but it turned out to be a great Plan A, because we touched more people than maybe we would have,” Gottesman said.

At the conclusion of the Haggadot.com seder, instead of saying the traditional “Next year in Jerusalem,” Kustanowitz asked people to fill in a word in lieu of Jerusalem, asking participants to type the word into the chat window.

The first response read: “Next year in person.”