Get ready for a spectacular Seder this year! Discover new ideas that will help spice up your Seder and keep everyone (even the little ones) engaged. We will share and discuss activities to do at the table, lively and meaningful discussion topics, and we'll enjoy a song session that will refresh your memory of the "classics" and teach new songs your friends and families will love. Bring a tape recorder to help remember the tunes!

Ever a popular guest for Jewish functions, Elijah the prophet has his own cup at the Seder and his own chair at every bris (circumcision). In the biblical account, Elijah ascended to the heavens in a chariot of fire, and since this did not count as an official death, he is available for three thousand years of visits here below. This class will focus on Elijah and the Seder, specifically customs and stories.

The Passover Haggadah describes the Jewish peoples' exodus from Egypt, our transition from slavery to freedom. How can we relate? What are we slaves to today? And how can we begin our spiritual journey, our inner exodus from that which binds us?

Passover is the most widely observed Jewish holiday today, and we will explore how it was the same for Jews during the Civil War. From the South Carolina Low Country to New Orleans, Virginia to North Carolina, this class will show how important Passover observance was to Jews amidst the trying circumstances of the Civil War. In the last vignette in the class, we will see the holiday bringing Jews of the North and the South together as the Civil War ended.

Near the end of the Seder, the traditional Haggadah includes biblical verses demanding that G-d "Pour out Thy wrath on the nations that don't recognize You." But is it still appropriate to include this inflammatory passage? What if you're having non-Jews join your Seder? What about the neighbors down the hall who might hear it through the open door? We'll look into this passage and others to try resolving the problem...or see if there’s a problem at all.

Don't get plagued with mediocre food during Passover! Join us as we learn some exotic and delicious recipes from the Sephardic community for every part of the meal. We will make charoset, a vegetarian dish, a meat dish, and a couple of desserts. Flavorful and fun, this class will introduce some new ways to do time-honored dishes, with a twist. All dishes will meet the Ashkenazic set of laws for Pesach.

Though occasionally regarded as a chore, the Seder’s four cups of wine give us freedom to experiment with our palates, with opportunities to try different flavors and grape varietals. Join us for a discussion on how to pair wines with certain foods, as well as the new trends in kosher wine. This class will be helpful in planning wine for the Seder, as well as for delicious (and shorter) meals throughout the year. We will taste four to six wines.