For millennia, the holiday of Passover has remained as an opportunity for Jewish people the world over to relive the Exodus from Egypt. And in more modern times, a bevy of Internet sites have presented a plethora of multimedia offerings to aid celebrants in their understanding, appreciation, and observance of the holiday.
The Jewish Web site Chabad.org has been among those sites for more than a decade. With the advent of its redesigned Passover mega-site, Passover.org – a one-stop shop for information, interactive games, audio classes, directory of community Seders run by Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries and rabbinical students the world over, and a place for Jewish homes to sell their leavened products known as chametz in advance of the holiday’s March 29 beginning – users have showered kudos on an effort that puts the world of Passover at their fingertips.
Shiloh Sundstrom is a farmer from Deadwood, Ore. Although not many Jewish residents call the unincorporated mountain community home, he annually hosts some 40 people at his Seder table. This year, he’s relying on Passover.org for vital explanations and material.
“I am always interested in how these things get explained, having read several Haggadahs over my life and participated in multiple Seders with different folks,” he says. “The Web site offers so many explanations for things, such as the Seder plate.”
Sundstrom, who raises kosher lamb, always puts a real shank bone on his plate as a reminder of the Passover sacrifice that took place when the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem. But he recently learned from the Web site that many people use a chicken bone devoid of any meat so that no one would suspect that the sacrifice had actually taken place.
“I didn’t know that the shank bone could be replaced with another meat item,” recalls Sundstrom. “I was impressed with the amount of information and the ease in finding answers to my questions, and I like the reminder that even though the story of the Exodus happened a long time ago, we should never forget the message of oppression and freedom in our current daily lives.”
Chief among Passover.org’s offerings is its worldwide database of Passover Seders and holiday services. The search tool allows users in places from Kenya and India to cities and small towns across North America to find ceremonies close to home.
For Inna Kipnis, though, the site is helping her get ready for a holiday that, being a medical student in Chicago, she won’t be able to share with family.
“Passover is coming up,” says Kipnis, “and I wanted to get in the right mindset, to understand something deeper about the holiday. All the information on the site really comes together in a personal way that makes me excited about next week.”
What Kipnis found most helpful on the site were the stories, explanations and answers to common questions.
“I could be on this one site for days, there’s so much,” she exclaims.
Other finds on Passover.org include e-greeting cards, a printable Haggadah, a collection of kosher-for-Passover recipes, and the popular “Mr. Matzah,” an animated character – one of the site’s first creations since launching in 1999 – that playfully walks through the site’s different features.
“I find the site to be incredibly illuminating,” says Amnon Kaufman, a graduate student from Los Angeles who found the site after spending a Shabbat at Chabad of S. Monica. “Much of the site reminds me of Seders from my childhood, and I especially enjoy the recipe section. The site offers recipes on just about any traditional dish you can think of.
“I naturally gravitate to food,” he continues, “so I’m not surprised to find that the recipes on the site match up nicely with the food experiences I have had in the past at Chabad Shabbat tables.”
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