Share These Videos by Reform Jewish Leaders for Your Passover Seder

As we approach Passover, many people may choose to connect with family, friends, and colleagues through video conferencing. With this in mind, we wanted to provide a few digital additions for long-distance seders.

The Union for Reform Judaism has collaborated with Reform leaders from North America and the UK along with our partners at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and the American Conference of Cantors to provide a set of videos to accompany your Passover festivities. Each video is 2-6 minutes long and contains blessings, songs, and insights that perfectly supplement any seder. We hope that these videos add a unique element to your celebration, and we wish you and your loved ones a chag sameachChag SameachHebrew for term meaning, "happy holiday." !

Watch the full set of videos on YouTube. All are closed captioned; however, if you're planning to share on Zoom, the optimum way to do this is to download the files to your computer, following the instructions below.

(Want more great digital content for enlivening your seder? We've got haggadot, Zoom backgrounds, playlists, and more.)

View the full playlist below by clicking on the menu at the top right of this video:

Video and Caption Downloads

Click on the video titles below to download a zipped file containing the video and its corresponding caption file.

1. Karpas (Greens) with David Fair, fifth-year cantorial student, Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion 
    
2. Yachatz (Breaking the Middle Matzah) with Rabbi Jason Fenster, associate rabbi, Congregation BJBE (Deerfield, IL) 
    
3. The Four Children with Yanira Quiñones, director of education, Temple Beth Abraham (Tarrytown, NY) and visual recording by Rabbi Allie Fischman, camp director, URJ Camp Newman 
    
4. The Story with Dr. Miriam Heller Stern, associate professor and national director, Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion School of Education 
    
5. The Ten Plagues with Sue Bojdak, director of education, Congregation Sha’ar Zahav (San Francisco, CA) 
    
6. The Four Questions with Rabbi Danny Burkeman, senior rabbi, Temple Shir Tikva (Wayland, MA) and Micol Zimmerman Burkeman, educator / recruitment and leadership development associate, Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion 
    
7. Shulchan Orech (Meal) with Micaela Hellman-Tincher, member, Commission on Social Action and Union for Reform Judaism's North American Board  
    
8. Barech (Blessing After the Meal) with Rabbi Rebecca L. Dubowe, Moses Montefiore Congregation (Bloomington, IL)
    
9. Hallel (Psalms of Praise) with Cantor Zoe Jacobs, Finchley Reform Synagogue (London, UK); Cantor Tamara Wolfson, Alyth Synagogue (London, UK); Cantor Sarah Grabiner, Radlett Reform Synagogue (London, UK); and Leo Nicholson, pianist and sound engineer
   • Psalm 113: v1-4: Debbie Friedman (Adapted from the melody of Psalm 150) 
   • Psalm 118:  v.1-4: melody by Danny Maseng 
   • v.5: melody by Judith Silver  
   • v.14: melody by Shefa Gold 

How to Add Closed Captioning with VLC Media Player

Because not all media players support captions, the best way to include them is to follow these steps:

1. Download the free VLC Media Player (you may already have it on your computer).
2. Download the caption files for each video using the links above.
3. Open up the video in VLC.
4. Under the menu item “Subtitles” click “Add Subtitle File” and upload the appropriate subtitle file.
5. Captions will now display.