Each year, New Unity celebrates freedom at Passover with a communal Seder meal. The Seder is the traditional Jewish celebration for Passover – a holiday marking the tragedy of slavery, celebrating the joy of liberation, and committing to work for freedom for all people. In New Unity’s celebration, freedom is considered in a universal sense, extending our concerns and commitments to all who are not free, either physically, in thought, or in spirit.
The Passover Seder takes place this year as most of us find ourselves needing to stay home, isolated. And still, community can grow and strengthen as we find ways to connect in other ways - especially in virtual spaces.
All are welcome to this Seder, whether or not you have any connection to New Unity. You do not need to be Jewish or non-religious. You do not need to be in London or the UK. Whoever you are, you are invited to this virtual Seder table.
The Seder itself is a wonderful event that is based around the retelling of an ancient story and recognising how freedom is relevant to us today. The Seder includes the eating of symbolic foods, drinking wine or grape juice, speaking and singing.
Join us!
- Register on this page
- The event will be held via Zoom (Here's a link to a simple guide for using Zoom)
- We will send you an email including a link for joining the event and the guide to the celebration (Haggadah) as a PDF document by Wednesday 24th March
- Prepare and assemble everything for your Seder (details below).
- Join at 5:15 pm BST on Saturday 27th March
- After the Seder ends, enjoy your own Passover meal.
Registration is free but essential because we will need to send you an email containing:
- a document with the order we will use - known in Hebrew as a Haggadah
- the link to join via Zoom.
- An invitation to participate with readings
Donations are welcome especially at this time as the pandemic has decimated New Unity’s income.
Come as an individual participant or as a group. You will need one smartphone, tablet, or laptop, each group at home can share a single device.
Your table
In preparation for the ceremony, set out
- a candle,
- a glass for wine or juice for each person,
- A glass for water for each person
- A pitcher of water
- two extra wine glasses,
- a plate for each person,
- Seder plate (see below)
- A plate or bowl of orange segments
- A small bowl of salt water
- Matzo (one piece per person plus one more) Substitute crackers if you can't get matzo.
Seder plate
The rituals of the ceremony centre around the use of certain symbolic foods. Below you will see a representation of a Seder plate on which many of these foods appear.
This year it may be especially difficult to find the traditional symbolic foods for the seder plate. The specific foods are not important, the meaning is. Suggestions for seder plate substitutions are included in the list below:
- WINE - "the fruit of the vine" - wine or grape juice [substitute any juice or water]
- BITTER HERB - horseradish root [Substitute ground horseradish, prepared horseradish, ginger root, wasabi, radish, or onion]
- BITTER HERB - Romaine lettuce [substitute any bitter green like romaine lettuce, arugula, kale, chicory or endive. ]
- PARSLEY - parsley or celery [substitute any leafy green]
- EGG -Roasted or hard-boiled egg [substitute with another symbol of fertility and growth, such as seeds - sunflower, pumpkin, etc. an avocado or avocado pit, or even a flower]
- HAROSET - a condiment made from fruits, nuts, spices, and wine [This can be made with any combination of fruit, nuts, and spices with a little bit of wine or fruit juice or honey. The fruit can be fresh or dried and any type of nut or seed will do. If you are allergic to nuts and seeds, just leave them out. Many recipes are available.]
- ORANGE - an orange is a recent addition to the traditional Seder [substitute any whole fruit]
