By Ziva Swire, Sr. Program Specialist
If the past couple of years has taught us anything it is to expect the unexpected. We’ve had to adapt in new ways and completely change what we think of what community is and how we can celebrate moments together. For the holiday of Passover, the main ritual is the seder, a festive meal where we retell the story of Exodus and the Jewish people’s escape from Egypt and slavery. There are specific ritual foods eaten that symbolize different parts of the Passover story.
In the spirit of trying new things and reinventing traditions, we invite you to put a spin on your Passover program this year by hosting a Chocolate Seder, swapping out things like parsley and horseradish for chocolate-covered strawberries and sour candies. What could be more fun than taking the customs you know and love and dipping them in fudge? We’ve created a custom Chocolate “Seder Plate-mat” (get it?) for you to print out, maybe even laminate (fancy!), and set out for each of your guests to help them follow along using the Moishe House Chocolate Haggadah. It’s a playful twist on a classic that is adaptable to your community’s needs or what’s available at your grocery store. Can’t find chocolate eggs? Use chocolate chips! Allergic to the peanuts on ice cream drumsticks? Try a Tootsie Roll! Then use our Chocolate Haggadah to conduct the seder, taking you through all the traditional steps adapted for making it extra sweet. A few tips to make your meal special:
- Host this before or after Passover to avoid tracking down kosher for Passover chocolate, but if you’re up for the challenge, go for it!
- For the cups of chocolate milk, I’d suggest not pouring a whole glass and instead, distributing just a small taste as well as offering some non-dairy alternatives. We don’t want a group full of stomach aches!
- Make an effort to find ethically made chocolate and teach your community about it. Check out this article for more information and 11 companies to support. Or show this short video to teach your participants about this issue.
Photo courtesy of Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich
Here’s your shopping list:
- Drumstick ice cream cones (1 per participant)
- Chocolate eggs (1 per participant)
- Sour candies (4-5 pieces per participant)
- Strawberries (1 per participant)
- Chocolate-covered matzah* (at least 3 sheets + 1 per participant)
- Chocolate covered orange or orange candies (1)
- Chocolate milk (enough for each participant to have 4 small cups)
- Chocolate syrup or melting chocolate (to dip the strawberries or premake chocolate covered strawberries)
- Chocolate frosting (1 container)
- Candles or tea lights (2)
- Other fun, optional ideas: animal crackers or animal gummies for reading of plagues, small prizes for finding the afikoman, matzah cover
*You can also make chocolate-covered matzah very easily at home with just a few simple ingredients. Here’s a recipe.
We hope you love these resources as much as we do and have a great time using them in your communities. Chag Pesach Sameach!
