Memorials/Bereavement at the Passover Seder
Memorials/Bereavement at the Passover Seder
1. Using recipes that were made by or enjoyed by the person who died
2. Using ritual objects (kiddush cup, kippah, etc.) that were cherished/used by the one who died
3. Using a pillow of the one who died for reclining at the seder
4. Telling stories about the one who died — e.g., how they were at the previous year’s seder
5. Recalling comments/interpretations of the Pesach story/themes by the one who died
6. Associating certain lines/images from the Haggadah with the memory of the one who died
7. Incorporating written work by the one who died into the seder
8. Integrating songs, poetry, and prose that was important to the one who died into the seder
9. Using artwork by the one who died as a centerpiece at the seder
10. Building a memorial into the “Eliyah’s Cup/Opening the Door” portion of the seder — silent, spoken, and/or sung
11. Some people leave an empty chair at their seder table
12. Before Pesah begins, giving to a tzedakah/cause that is meaningful in memory of the one who died, perhaps related to Pesach themes
13. Similar to the preceding, underwriting the participation of a needy Jew in a communal seder in memory of the one who died
From: Coping with the Empty Chair at the Seder: A Personal Journal for Memory and Contemplation,
Prepared By Rabbi Stephanie Dickstein, LMSW, The Jewish Board
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- Introduction
- Introduction, Maror, Koreich
- Urchatz
- Yachatz
- -- Four Questions
- -- Four Children
- -- Exodus Story
- -- Ten Plagues
- -- Cup #2 & Dayenu
- Motzi-Matzah
- Bareich
- Nirtzah
- Commentary / Readings
- Songs
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