Seder Tips
This page will focus on the Seder itself, based on discussions amongst shluchim.
To Charge or Not to Charge
Most commonly, people offer a "suggested donation" Almost everyone chooses the paying option! People want to feel comfortable eating as much as they want and drinking as much as they want — and they do!
The Rebbe’s Guidelines:
In a yechidus with chief rabbis Shapira and Eliyahu of Israel, the Rebbe spoke about holding public Sedarim in Eretz Yisroel; many of these guidelines can be applied to public Sedarim elsewhere as well. See here: chabad.org/554285
Among other things, the Rebbe advises them
1) Not to make the Sedarim associated with any specific group or party.
2) Don't make a communal Seder where some will be embarrassed to come
because this would imply they don’t have their own Seder but rather the
rabbi doing his Seder in a public space inviting everyone.
3) It should be hosted by the Rabbis of each city and town and neighborhood.
4) The rabbis should be reimbursed.
5) The rebbe will be mishtatef and get some others to and philanthropists in
America will be happy to sponsor if it organized by chief rabbinate.
6) People should feel comfortable staying as long or as short as they like.
In a maaneh to a rov who had asked about hosting a Seder only on the second night, the Rebbe negated this, writing that it would give the impression to some that the Seder only needs to be on the second night.
On the other hand, if you host it the first night, after seeing how the Seder is done on the first night, everyone will know how to do it at home on the second night. But this, too, is not ideal, for this is what Reform does, as they don’t hold of the second day of Yom Tov.
When to Start
See Halachic Guidelines for information on this.
From a practical perspective, starting early can make it easier for parents with small children. From a halachic perspective, however, no part of the Seder can take place before the zman, as the very first thing we do — the first of the Four Cups — needs to take place after the zman.
So you can call your Seder for an earlier time, and spend the time socializing and serving food (before shkiya). It also allows you to put on tefillin with the men before yom tov, helps curb Chilul Shabbos v'yom tov, makes for a calm, attentive audience at the Seder, a shorter Shulchan Orech (if your first course is served earlier), which in turn helps more people stay for the whole seder.
However: it needs to be clear to everyone that the Seder itself is taking place after nightfall. You can announce that kiddush will be taking place at nightfall, but that we will be preceding that with songs, insights, the first course, etc. And under no circumstances can the Four Cups, matzah, or maror be eaten before the zman.
Rush through the Seder
Families may want a shorter Seder, so they can go home earlier with their kids. Adults may want a longer Seder, with more time for insights. Ultimately, the best thing to do depends on your unique situation.
If you’re hosting public Sedarim both nights, one way to solve this is by advertising one Seder as a “Family Seder,” with language that suggests it will be family-friendly. Thi sSeder can move a little quicker (the first night is an ideal time to do this, as you anyhow want to eat afikoman before chatzos).
The other Seder can be advertised as a “Community Seder,” with language suggesting that you’ll delve into the meaning and savor the traditions etc.
Bear in mind that people who are coming to a Seder that only starts at 8:45 or 9:00 at night,
aren't coming for brisket; they're coming to experience a Seder which is authentic, alive and real, full of meaning and insight.
Ordering Seder Goods
Tablecovers
Here’s a place you can order plastic table covers from:
https://kingzak.com/products/lace-tablecover?variant=32946144215177
Glasses
Here’s a place you can order 3.5 oz glasses for the Seder
https://www.shluchim.jewfadz.com/3-3oz-mini-plastic-kiddush-cup-group.html
https://logobarproducts.com/products/3-5oz-custom-barconic-flared-votive-shot-glass
Paper Goods
http://factorydirectparty.com/
Ordering Food in Bulk:
If you don't live in a community with Kosher food and order in bulk (via
private trucking), you can use the Weinberg brothers in Minnesota.
Mr. Meyer Roberts and his team work with many shluchim. You can also
do it co-op style with 10-15 families ordering in bulk for their families.
Meyer can be reached at (952) 217-4355
Shopping List:
Here is a general shopping list prepared by a shlucha for two sedarim with 50 people at each Seder:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JWFRAaKrsgtr_RO7g9WZoT4KnM6_vTrm/edit#gid=556197206
Place on each table
One haggadah per person (if you don’t have enough, Chabad.org has a printable Haggadah)
Candles or tea lights (unless they’re being lit on a side table). It’s nice to have at least a few tall candles in holders for Shfoch Chamascha.
Napkins (lots of them!).
Small plates and wine cups for each person.
Wine bottles (and a corkscrew if applicable).
Grape juice bottles.
NOTE: (a wine bottle is 25 oz, calculate enough for four cups per person plus extra for spilling, so if you’re using 3.5oz cups, you need at least 15 oz per person, or two wine bottles for every three people).
Karpas plates: small pieces of raw onion and boiled potato (1 potato is enough for 8-10 people).
Saltwater.
Charoses .
Grated horseradish, romaine lettuce leaves (four large or six medium leaves per person).
Prepare a bag with one matza per person but wait till Rochtza to distribute them.
Prepare a bowl of hard-boiled eggs per table to serve at Shulchan Orech.
Additional drinks (water, seltzer).
Seder Plates
Some give the option to each guest or each family to have their own. Many prepare (or allow a guest to prepare) one plate per table, which serves as a sort of centerpiece. Per seder plate you will need:
Three whole matzos.
Zeroa (if needed you can break each into several pieces).
One hard-boiled egg.
Two oz grated horseradish.
Four large or six medium leaves of romaine lettuce.
Charoses: containing only apples, pears, nuts, wine (one spoonful per Seder plate).
Sample Menu:
FIRST COURSE:
Gefilte Fish (1 piece per person, 10 servings per log)
Salmon (4 oz per person)
Israeli Salad (cucumber, tomatoes, onion)
Mango, avocado, purple onion salad
Beet Salad
Cucumber and onion salad
(One bowl per table of each salad)
Chicken soup (20 qt pot should feed 50 people)
(“Make sure to come back on the eighth night for our famous Matzah Ball Dinner!”)
MAIN COURSE:
Brisket/roast beef (4-6oz per person.)
NOTE: Meat loses about ¼ its weight during cooking, so a 10 lb raw brisket will yield about 7.5 lbs of meat, or enough for 20-30 people
Potato kugel (make them in pie pans, one pan per table)
Roasted root vegetables
Carrot Tzimmes
DESSERT:
Fruit salad
Handout Booklets
You can customize, print and hand out “Unfold a Meaningful Seder,” which explains the reasons behind many of the minhagim etc.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-wqvWrUGupQw9D8rGoT1luocIukeZ2_N/edit
Here’s a link to a Seder in a Nutshell handout booklet you can customize and print:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1clBfS5g8K9CGk6531v4lpnTz0jJcgEY5/view?usp=share_link
Passover Fun Facts:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/104b6QJrMD_uMUjqnbXaNY85iilIpiry-?usp=sharing
Printed Signs
You may want to print signs with directions for washing and for lighting candles. Here’s a link:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rpvYzGoez4g-cY5jPiKWYhjiAQlTC1Xl?usp=sharing
Instructions for Servers/Hired Help
Here’s a sheet of directions for your hired help; obviously customize to fit the time your Seder is beginning.
Washing Hands
Twice during the Seder, everyone gets up, lines up, and wash their hands in a way that is unfamiliar to many of them. This can take a long time, even if you’re hosting at home. Here are some ways shluchim have streamlined the process:
Have volunteers go around with kvort, shisel, and paper towels, washing everyone. Fill the kvorts in advance
Set up washing stations: You can buy beverage dispensers with a stand, plastic wash basins, and kvorts on Amazon.
NOTE: Water will flow much faster if the beverage dispenser covers are left open.
Maggid Ideas:
Below are ideas to make Maggid more interesting
Tell the story of Yetzias Mitzraim from Yosef to Mattan Torah. Believe it or not, many Jews today don't know the story. And you can make it very exciting if you prepare.
Rabbi Mentz from California joined a conference call in which he gave some very good ideas. It's a twenty minute recording. Access it here:
Put a bunch of plastic cups on each table. When it comes to a part in the Haggada about the Jews working, each table has to make a cup pyramid. First table wins.
Print Pesach jokes. Put face down on each table. Every 18 minutes another table reads their joke. Can do the same with inspirational words.
Dollar tree sells frogs in the pond game. At makkos, see which table flicks most frogs in the pond. https://www.dollartree.com/Jumpin-Frogs-Games/p397187/index.pro
Every table reads a paragraph in English. Give a 30-second vort on it.
Ask people to read in their cultural language, Spanish, Russian, Farsi etc. (everyone else can read on their own quietly).
Take a Pesach story from Chabad.org and break it up into 7 or 8 slips of paper and hand it to guests to read aloud.
Here's some ready-made Haggadah Tidbits to give out to people to read out loud: https://www.chabad.org/2512421
Have a skit prepared for people to read and act out.
Dress up - either as Moshe and Yocheved, as Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya, as Eliyahu Hanavi.
Make cards with pictures of the Mah Nishtana, and have the people hold the correct card while the children sing. (matza / chametz; vegetables / maror; etc.)
Purchase these Makos masks.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NC0XCHM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
When you get to the Makos play the
"headbanz" game. One by one put a mask on the children and they have to
ask the crowd questions with a yes/no answer until they figured out what
makkah they’re wearing.
Use the JLI "How Jew You Do" card game and spread them out to the
"captains" of every table. Throughout the evening — at random times —
have different people stand up and read from them.
JLI game
Bulk discounts available at:
Photocopy maggid and cut it into portions for people to read.
Paste onto numbered index cards with Hebrew on one side and
English on the other. Before the Seder while people are milling about,
have someone walk around offering people if they would like to participate
by selecting a reading to recite during the Seder in the language of their
choice. During maggid, call out number 1, they read and you offer a
short vort, then call out number 2.
Give Reusable Pesach sticker books (ask your Rov about use on Shabbos/Yom Tov) for young kids as a prize early in the seder. Keeps them quiet and happy.
Pesach songs