This is an Improvisational PassoverPassover is a major Jewish holiday that commemorates the Jewish people's liberation from slavery and Exodus from Egypt. Its Hebrew name is Pesakh. Its name derives from the tenth plague, in which God "passed over" the homes of the Jewish firstborn, slaying only the Egyptian firstborn. Passover is celebrated for a week, and many diaspora Jews celebrate for eight days. The holiday begins at home at a seder meal and ritual the first (and sometimes second) night. Jews tell the story of the Exodus using a text called the haggadah, and eat specific food (matzah, maror, haroset, etc). sederLit. Order. The festive meal conducted on Passover night, in a specific order with specific rituals to symbolize aspects of the Exodus from Egypt. It is conducted following the haggadah, a book for this purpose. Additionally, there an ancient tradition to have a seder on Rosh Hashanah, which has been practiced in particular by Sephardi communities. This seder involves the blessing and eating of simanim, or symbolic foods. The mystics of Sefat also created a seder for Tu B'shvat, the new year of the trees. where the story is acted out, rather than reading it. I started experimenting with the seder because I wasn’t satisfied with the traditional Passover seder. The story of the exodus from Egypt is a fantastic and inspiring story that can be personally meaningful, but I found that the story got lost among all the commentaries, rituals, symbols, and additional stories. I wanted the seder to be fun, engaging, and meaningful. This seder tells the story by acting it out!
Start by gathering everyone to sit in a circle with an empty space in the middle (like the living room), not sitting at the dining room table. By making this one change I have found that everyone feels more free to engage in the story and with each other. The seder leader should decide how many rituals and blessings to include in addition to this improv story. I have found that including blessings at the beginning helps to mark our space as sacred and indicate that we are doing something special. Following the blessings we invite everyone to talk about the object they brought (see attachment) and how it represents personal freedom.
Then it is time to continue with the improv Passover story (see attachments). Enjoy!Â
