Crown Heights Organization Introduces ‘Seder To Go’ For Passsover

CROWN HEIGHTS — More than a million Jewish New Yorkers will observe Passover this Friday. Finalizing a menu and meal prep remains a top priority of the annual holiday. But for the sick-and-shut-in, navigating the 15-step seder (Jewish ritual dinner) can be cumbersome.

That premise was the motivation for launching “seders-on-the-go” a year ago.

Now, Chabad On Call provides Rabbis with all the workings of a transportable seder, minus the food. Each kit includes a seder guide, ke’arah placemat, labeled 4 oz. plastic containers for the seder plate items, Hebrew/English Haggadah (text recited at Sedar)  and a matzah bag.

Chabad on Call is an organization that helps Rabbis affiliated with hospitals and senior-living service its patients and residences. Once Rabbis receive the seder-to-go packaging, they add kosher food, pack and deliver to those observing Passover.

The tradition of rabbis delivering food to the infirmed isn’t a new concept, but the organization looked to make the experience less “messy.” Rabbis often delivered food in plastic container bowls and aluminum foil— a process the developer pegged as impractical.

“Our team developed the Seder-to-Go kit after receiving feedback from Chabad representatives that they were unable to package the seder components properly, and parts of the seder would never make it to the patient,” said Chani Goldberg, director of Chabad on Call.

In 2018, the organization’s design team created a prototype and distributed about 500 kits. This year, the organization delivered more than 3000 seder-on-the-go kits to about 300 hospitals. The kits cost about $15 to make, according to Goldberg. As of a week before Passover, orders were still shipping.

Inside each collapsible box are compartments able to house and protect matza bread, six plastic 4 oz. cups and a bottle of grape juice or wine. The 18-and-a-half wide instructional placement lays out details of the Seder process.

“We did a placement thinking of a hospital tray,” said Goldberg of all the multi-functional add-ons. The plastic cups which house the food samples can dually function as a saltwater dipping bowl — one part of the meal.

The product bodes well in areas where the Jewish population is spread out.

“To be able to —on your own hospital bed— have the same experience that you would have around the table with 30 to 40 members that come together, you feel like someone is there for you and less forgotten,” said Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky.

Every July, Chabad On Call network holds a conference where more than 90 Rabbis attend. Last year, organizers gave the first tutorials on the seder-to-go packaging system. Throughout the year, Rabbis can participate in instructional on-line webinars.

The organization, also known for publishing and distributing its own prayer books, began four years ago, all with the purpose of creating meaningful ways to connect Chabad Rabbis with those in isolation. Even the enclosed Haggadah comes with a 3-dimensional component of the story told at Passover.

“We added the frog for the fun of it because the frog is one of the 10 plagues,” she said.