A Special Reboot Passover

Reboot’s Passover in 2018

This year, Reboot worked to re-imagine the Passover Seder with exciting partnerships, events and projects. We shared our own Passover resources, with activities used in homes and communities around the country, and produced our own events and special content. Passover was filled with thoughtful introspection into what the story of Exodus represents, and how we can apply it to the different situations we come across.

Check out what made this Passover so special.

There’s No Seder Like a Showbiz Seder

Actor Daniel J. Watts performs for the guests during the evening

What happens when you gather a group of cultural innovators for a special, non-traditional Seder? Reboot co-presented a unique gathering of thought leaders, creators and trendsetters that included everyone from Benj Pasek (Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land) to Katie Couric. What followed was a spiritual experience led, in part, by Lab/Shul’s Amichai Lau-Lavie, to embed the story of Passover within the modern context in which we live our lives. The night featured a special take on the tale of Exodus by featuring the story of special guest, Mohammed Al Samawi, who escaped certain danger in his home country of Yemen by traveling over the Red Sea during Passover of 2015. Read about the Seder in The New York Times.

A Story of Tradition, Family and Gefilte

A family tradition of making gefilte fish from scratch goes beyond simply making the dish; it’s an act embedded with the history of a family’s story and legacy. Reboot is proud to have co-produced a short documentary directed by Reboot network member, Rachel Fleit, focusing on the Hermelin family of Detroit, and how matriarch Doreen Hermelin’s annual ritual of making gefilte fish represents a tradition rooted in Jewish meaning. Watch the video.

Resource We’ve Shared

Our Passover experience didn’t stop there. As always, we put together a DIY Passover Resource Kit filled with activities from projects like Six Word Memoirs, Beyond Bubbie and Unscrolled. This year, over 3,000 people participated in 119 events by downloading our kit and introducing the activities in their Seder. 

Passover continues to be one of our most favorite times of the year to connect to community partners and people across the country. We can’t wait to do it again next year for Passover 2019.