2020 YIR: Virtual Seders Connecting Our Community, and Passover Issue

April 15, 2020

Passover fell during April this year, soon after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The AJT reported in our Passover issue the different ways Jewish Atlanta adjusted to celebrate the holiday.

The issue included stories about a few virtual seders that began March 26 and continued through April 13. A few seders mentioned were the annual women’s seder sponsored by the National Council of Jewish Women and Congregation Or Hadash, The Downtown Seder present by City Winery, and a Virtual Unity Seder on Zoom with leaders from various faith and ethnic community from around Atlanta.

The issue also explored mental health during the holidays and COVID, and featured advice from The Blue Dove Foundation, an organization dedicated to addressing mental health and substance abuse across Jewish Atlanta. An article featuring Rabbi Malka Packer-Monroe discussed interfaith couples and gave advice on navigating the holiday season, during which Passover and Easter often overlap.

An article entitled “Passover Stories, Rituals Help Children Learn” offered ideas on opportunities to make virtual learning fun and engaging for toddlers and preschoolers. Ideas included children putting on a mock seder, having story time with rabbis, singing the four questions, and encouraging children to take an active and compassionate role in the retelling of the Passover story.

As is the AJT tradition, the Passover issue also included a section with holiday messages from the community. The section entitled “Opening the Flood Gates to a New Normal” contained thoughts from community members, many discussing the “new norm” they saw emerging during COVID.