Posted by Haggadot

Gathering virtually this year? Follow these tips for hosting an engaging, interactive, and worry-free virtual seder on Zoom.

1. Share Your Haggadah on Zoom.

To ensure everyone can follow along, share your Haggadah on Zoom. To do this, you’ll first want to use our interactive tool to create your free Haggadah. Then you’ll want to download it as a Portrait PDF and share your screen in Zoom. For more instructions on how to do this, check out our post here. 

2. Incorporate Videos.

Take advantage of the virtual environment by incorporating videos into your Haggadah. For a grown-up crowd, we recommend starting with the DIY Seder by the Jewish Emergent Network to inspire, spark discussion, and bring meaning to your virtual seder. For kid-friendly videos, check out the PJ Library video seder.

3. Don’t Skip the Afikomen!

While it may be harder to do a virtual afikomen hunt, it’s not impossible. Check out our post with some fun creative ideas, including a scavenger hunt, Afikomen Bingo, and more. 

4. Celebrate Computers.

You’re already hosting a computer-based seder, why not take it one step further and use a Haggadah supplement that was written by a computer? Check out our Chat GPT Haggadah supplement for silly and creative additions to your seder this year. 

5. Mix it up a little bit!

Don’t be afraid to shirk the traditional, and incorporate some fun into your seder. Consider using Mission From Moses, which transforms the afikoman hunt into a role-playing game, or the One Piece Haggadah which adapts a popular manga series. 

6. Make it inclusive.

Be sure to design a seder that welcomes all by taking advantage of the accessibility features within Zoom, like closed captions and the ability to mute participants who may be making a lot of background noise. You can explore some of our inclusive Haggadot to find clips that welcome and honor guests of all backgrounds and experiences, like our Liberal Haggadah, the JQ International GLBT Haggadah, the Mizrahi and Sephardic Passover Guide, the #BlackLivesMatter Haggadah, and the Haggadah for Justice.
 

For more seder ideas, be sure to sign up for our email list and follow us on social media. Happy Passover!

Posted by Haggadot

Whether you're a grandparent, parent, or friend who’s hosting kids this year, here are five ways to plan a kid-friendly seder and ensure the children at your seder love Passover as much as you do. 

1. Keep Your Seder Short

If you have younger kids coming to your Passover seder, they’re likely to have shorter attention spans. Consider using one of our condensed seders, like the 2-Minute Haggadah, or a seder full of activities for kids like the Seder For Young Children.

2. Create an Interactive Seder

To hold the attention spans of your youngest guests, consider printing out copies of our popular Coloring Book Haggadah to keep kids entertained, and incorporating some videos from the PJ Library video seder. For older kids, check out Our Favorites for Families to find activities like a scripted play, a crossword puzzle, and more. 

3. Use One of Our Haggadot for Teenagers

For a teen-friendly seder, we recommend the Global Teenagers’ Haggadah Supplement by the Milken Community Schools, the Heroes Haggadah inspired by superheroes and larger-than-life characters, and the FriendSeder Haggadah from our partners at The Well in Detroit. 

4. Mix Your Seder Up a Little Bit!

Don’t be afraid to shirk the traditional, and incorporate some fun into your seder. Consider using Mission From Moses, which transforms the afikoman hunt into a role-playing game, or the One Piece Haggadah which adapts a popular manga series. 

5. Make a Haggadah That's Fun and Inclusive

Add in some fun with the skits and jokes from Rabbi Daniel Brenner. For children with disabilities, the Inclusion Haggadah by Matan includes visual storytelling with all the key Haggadah elements. 

For more seder ideas, be sure to sign up for our email list and follow us on social media. Happy Passover!

Posted by Haggadot

Want the children at your seder to love Passover as much as you do?

We can help! If you’re short on time, or looking to host a quicker seder for kids, we recommend the Coloring Book Haggadah, the Step-By-Step Video Haggadah, and Our Favorites for Families.  
Want to create something customized?  The Seder For Young Children is a great place to start, with lots of activities, games, skits and jokes for your Haggadah. And for children with disabilities, the Inclusion Haggadah by Matan includes visual storytelling with all the key Haggadah elements. 

Posted by Haggadot

Passover Meditation Guide Exhale into these reflective Passover meditations led by Alison Laichter, with illustrations by Jessica Tamar Deutsch.  Minimalist Haggadah Savor simplicity when you download this haggadah that's perfect for the minimalist who also loves connection.  Purim Discovery Kit This printable guide from Jewish Grandparents Network will help you and your family bring Purim to life through play and imagination.  Purim Mask Coloring P​ages There's still two weeks to download these coloring pages and then create the easiest Purim costume! Schitt's Creek Haggadah Who's your favorite character? Reconnect with everyone in the Rose Family with this haggadah. Passover Coloring Book Let out your artistic side with our coloring book, perfect for art fans of all ages. Download & print, then get ready for a beautiful seder.

Posted by Haggadot

Welcome Sydney Schwartz, the latest member of the Haggadot.com team! We sat down with her to chat about her role as Director of Operations, her passion for strategy, and what she likes most about Jewish life. 

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what drew you to this work?

I always felt like my work needed to matter, both to myself and the world around me. I wanted to engage with my community and have a positive impact on the world. Having worked for several years as a project manager and operations specialist at various global non-profits, then dabbling in philanthropy, I quickly realized that my passion and my skill set aligned with working at a small (and growing!) non-profit like Haggadot. I’m incredibly excited to be a part of a strong and agile team that feels deeply connected to this work and demonstrates their passion into all aspects of what we do. 

What three words would you use to describe your role?

I would describe the Director of Operations role and the way I show up each day as strategic, adaptable, and creative. These traits are at the core of my work as we build out our systems and processes that are thoughtfully and intentionally centered around Custom and Craft’s mission, vision, and values. Tailoring these foundational structures to the changing and evolving needs of our organization is exciting and allows me the space to dream big and outward. There is ample room for playfulness and for trying new things, knowing we have the flexibility to adapt as we grow.  

Are there learnings from your previous experience that you’re carrying forward into this work?

One thing that I’m carrying forward is how to find what needs repair or improvement. When someone shows frustration, or when there is an issue with the flow of a process, it doesn’t indicate to me that we can’t move that thing forward; instead it's something that needs to be re-imagined. “Does this fit our needs,” is a question I ask myself and my team frequently. I’ve learned that having these check-ins with individual team members and the group as a whole helps the flow and evolution of the systems in place and can prevent, or at least ease, future hiccups. 

I also have to emphasize carrying forward self-confidence and care. While I am definitely my own worst critic, I recognize that it’s just a part of my process, and I know that being confident in my ideas and caring to myself brings balance to my life and work.

What excites you about managing the flow of operations at Haggadot.com, and what are you most looking forward to working on?

Haggadot is a young and innovative organization - with a fantastic team to boot! I’m most excited for the opportunity to build and own systems and policies that will scale, evolve and sustain the organization for years to come. It’s through these foundational structures that a rhythm of how we work is created, and it’s important to me that this matches the culture of the organization and how our Leadership team envisions the organization growing into the future.

What’s your favorite thing about Jewish life?

While I’m very new to the Haggadot team, they know all too well about my love of food and the importance I place on it. It’s not just about consuming (although that is an important part), it’s about the connection it brings me to my family, to our history, and to our traditions. I believe that these traditions and rituals are beautiful heirlooms that are easier to carry forward than, for example, my great grandmother’s dining room set that still sits in my mother’s garage. Luckily, that great grandmother also left us a slew of verbally passed-down recipes. Much lighter to carry! When these are brought to life, they bring back memories and conversation from those at the table chatting about the “right” and “wrong” ways to make a matzah ball. That’s the beauty of Judaism, every way is the right way.  

Posted by Haggadot

Your Passover seder can be an opportunity to show solidarity with refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine. In this session, educators from HIAS and Paideia share haggadot, resources, activities and practical tools to talk about displacement and the global refugee crisis at your seder.  The webinar concludes with Q&A about the current situation of Ukrainian refugees in Europe.

We are grateful to our partners at HIAS and Paideia, as well as our presenters Rabbi Megan Doherty, Avital Shein and Meiron Avidan for sharing their ideas and experiences with us. 

If you've been inspired to make space for refugees at your Passover seder, download your copy of the HIAS Haggadah, or to add the HIAS Dayenu, Kiddush Blessing or Poem to your haggadah. You can download our new Honoring the People of Ukraine Seder Supplement or find creative seder plate items to add to your table.  

Posted by Haggadot

Posted by Haggadot

Join Rabbi Arthur Waskow and Rabbi Phyllis Berman from the Shalom Center as they guide us through new Tellings of the Haggadah, looking back at history and at the call for earth justice in our current moment. Together, they’ll share insights into their new Earth & Justice Freedom-Seder challenging the Corporate Carbon Pharaohs, the Iftar-Seder bringing together Muslims and Jews as Passover and Ramadan coincide, and the impact of the Freedom Seder more than 50 years later.

Explore the offerings of the Shalom Center, including the 50th Anniversary Interfaith Freedom Seder, the Freedom Seder for the Earth and the new version of Let My People Go sung by Rabbi Waskow.

Posted by Haggadot

Posted by Haggadot

Go on an excellent adventure with pop culture expert Esther Kustanowitz, journalist and Star Trek superfan David A.M. Wilensky and Jewish sacred texts superfan Rabba Yaffa Epstein. Watch the We Could Be Heroes webinar here! 

Download the Heroes Haggadah for your seder: https://www.haggadot.com/haggadah/heroes-haggadah

Together, we considered 4 Questions: 
Why do we love superheroes?
Why might we embrace rituals that make room for battle and connections to the infinite? 
What are our responsibilities to worlds outside our own? 
How do today's stories intersect with our classic texts and shared history?

And we discussed:
- The dichotomy of a hero (such as Superman) being both human and superhuman at once. And how their human side is flawed, and their superhuman side learns to utilize those flaws and skills together
- Is every leader a hero? Does one have to take on the mantle of a hero to be a leader?  Are the winners always the heroes? 
- Is a show like "What If" a modern form of midrash and is midrash a multiverse? 
- When we tell the Exodus story over and over, we can be the heroes bringing justice for those who need it