Seder Classes Help Participants Become Leaders

Rabbi Shimon and Michal Pelman, directors of Chabad-Lubavitch of the Dominican Republic, have held community Passover Seders for years. Jewish residents, business travelers and tourists alike have participated in the festive meals and their surrounding traditions, but this year, they’re trying something new. In addition to the community celebrations, the couple is helping people take it into their own homes.

“We’re teaching people how to prepare for Passover,” says Shimon Pelman. “It’s time.”

In the spirit of connecting the community with the holiday, they’re offering a class to teach those interested how to get their house ready for Passover, how to clean everything out, renounce ownership of anything containing leavening or its derivatives, and prepare for Seders of their own.

It’s a learning opportunity that’s being replicated in some form or another around the world, one-on-one and in groups, with women gathering to share recipes at various events and rabbis offering advice on just how one might lead a Seder. And it goes beyond just the logistics of preparing the house and the meal, says Pelman, who expects upwards of 70 people to attend the class.

“We want people to first know the meaning of Passover, not just in the physical way but the spiritual way,” he says, explaining that the goal year-round is to be unleavened as a person, to be real and honest and not inflated.

“Hametz,” he begins, using the Hebrew word for leavening, “is a kind of selfish quality, and what we try to do for one week is to be the same as everybody. The idea is to be matzah the whole year.”

Rabbi Avrohom Rapoport of the Chabad of Atlantic City in New Jersey distributes special shmurah matzah – round, carefully supervised handmade matzahs – to area Jews as a way to teach people about Passover. Beyond that, he’s arranged Passover classes in law offices, public libraries, and people’s homes ahead of the holiday, which begins Friday evening. Just days before Passover, there are classes lined up for senior citizens, Israeli expatriates, women and young professionals, each tailored to their interests.

The Chabad House markets a program to young professionals as a kind of Passover Seder survival guide.

“They’ll come, they’ll socialize, and we’ll explore some Judaism too,” says Rapoport.

The goal is to give participants more insight to the meaning behind the Seder and help them see the service’s relevance to their lives today, as well as helping them see the theme of reliving redemption in their own lives.

In Bethesda, Md., Rabbi Sender Geisinsky, program director at Chabad of Bethesda-Chevy Chase is still taking household orders for shmurah matzah, and hosting a crash course on navigating the Seder night.

“We go step by step through the Seder,” he says, explaining that he walks participants through the basic structure of a Seder and shares thoughts on the spiritual and practical messages of each piece. More than that, he adds, they’re preparing for a nuanced multi-sensory Jewish event steeped in years and years of tradition.

The Chabad House’s two public Seders continue the learning, he says, with everyone involved in each step.

“This year, we’re calling it a singing Seder,” he offers. “Less talking, more singing.”