PASSOVER

L

ast year, a headline in the Passover 
edition of the Jewish News optimisti-
cally predicted, “Passover 2020: Next 
Year in Person; This Year on Zoom.
” 
Now, almost a year later, the number 
of COVID cases and deaths related to the 
virus is decreasing, and the number of vac-
cines administered is slowly increasing. But 
we have a long way to go before putting this 
pandemic behind us.
So, once again, for many, seders will 
remain virtual. 
“I have two family members in my 
immediate family who have underlying 
conditions. I cannot take the chance of 
either one getting sick,
” said Wendy Arnold, 
a Farmington Hills resident who will spend 
Passover with her husband and three chil-
dren. “While I have been fully vaccinated, 
the rest of my family has not. Once the 

weather gets warmer, we can have grand-
parents on the deck, but until then, no one 
comes in.
” 
Last year, we had very little time to shift 
our seders to online gatherings or scale back 
to more intimate family meals. On April 8, 
the first night of Passover, we sat down in 
quarantine to read from the Haggadah. The 
holiday started 16 days after Gov. Gretchen 
Whitmer signed an executive order man-
dating that all Michigan residents stay 
home. Exceptions were made for essential 
workers or going out for necessities such as 
food and gas or taking care of a loved one.
Because Passover was the first Jewish 
holiday to occur during the pandemic, it 
served as a model for all the celebrations to 
come. We adapted quickly and learned that 
it was possible to gather through technology 
and make a holiday meaningful, although 

not preferable. 
While last year’s Passover headline turned 
out to be a mostly inaccurate prediction, 
now — with much less stringent gather-
ing restrictions and the availability of the 
vaccine to the more vulnerable — some 
families are looking forward to hosting or 
attending a Passover seder. 
Shayna Levin of Commerce Township 
said that because her in-laws were vaccinat-
ed in January, they are now planning to cel-
ebrate Passover together. They did, however, 
request a smaller seder. So, instead of the 
25-30 people she typically hosts, her family, 
her in-laws, and her sister-in-law’s family 
will be the only ones celebrating together.
“We are glad our families have reached 
a level of comfort where celebrations can 
continue,
” Levin said. “We plan to make 
this year’s Passover one where we celebrate 
freedom, the ability to be together and the 
promise that next year we will be together 
again.
”
Last year, Elayne Moss of Southfield 
ended up delivering a lot of care packages 
to the dozens of people who were expected 
to be sitting around her seder table. She pre-
pared and froze much of her food in antici-
pation of the 200-plus dinners and lunches 
she and her sister Terry Schwartz typically 
serve to family and friends throughout the 
week of Passover. 
When it was time to read from the 
Haggadah in 2020, Moss and her husband, 
Barry, were together. They joined the rest 
of their extended family virtually. This year, 
they won’t host their typical seder, but they 
will have a few more guests at the dinner 
table. 
“There will probably be eight of us 
together, but we will still Zoom with 
everyone else,
” said Moss. She added that 

Many gear up to 
celebrate another 
virtual Passover; 
others plan small 
seders.

How Will This Year’s 
Seder Be Dif
 erent 
From Last Year’s?

JENNIFER LOVY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

14 | MARCH 18 • 2021 

MELISSA ZEIDMAN

Shayna Levin, 
husband, Jeff, 
with Andrew 
and Hannah

