Ways To Celebrate Passover 2021 Near Smyrna-Vinings

SMYRNA, GA — Passover, the major Jewish holiday that marks the Hebrews’ deliverance from slavery and return to Israel, begins this week/has begun, with opportunities to celebrate virtually and in and near Smyrna and Vinings in Cobb County.

The Seder is the traditional meal each night of Passover, which begins/began at sundown Saturday and will end at nightfall on Sunday, April 4. For the second year in a row, many families are turning to technology to help celebrate the dinner together due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In Cobb County, celebrations include:

• Congregation Ner Tamid
  • Virtual Passover Seder: March 28 from 6-7:30 p.m.
  • Recommended donation for non-members is $18.
  • To send RSVPs or ask questions, email info@mynertamid.org.
• Congregation Etz Chaim
  • Curbside Seder-to-go order pickup: all day March 26.
    • 1190 Indian Hills Parkway, Marietta
  • Parshat Tzav Candle Lighting: March 26 at 7:36 p.m. via Zoom.
    • To get the Zoom link, visit the website here.
  • Limited in-person and livestreamed Passover services:
    • March 27 & April 3-4 from 9:30 a.m. to noon.
    • March 28 & 29 from 10-11:30 a.m.
      • 1190 Indian Hills Parkway, Marietta
  • To register for the services, visit the congregation's calendar.
• Temple Kol Emeth
  • Second Night Community Seder: March 28 from 7-9 p.m. via Zoom.
    • To get access to the Zoom link, visit the website here.
  • Passover Yizkor service: April 4 from 9-10 a.m. via Zoom.
    • To get access to the Zoom link, visit the website here.
• 11th annual Atlanta Community Hunger Seder
  • March 31 from 7-9 p.m. via Zoom.
    • Temple Kol Emeth is co-sponsoring the event, hosted by the Atlanta Jewish Community Relations Council.
    • To register for the event, visit the registration link here.

Seder meal celebrations in many communities, such as Laguna Beach, California, remain small one year into the pandemic as restaurants are promoting their to-go meals. There, Gelson’s restaurants are offering the traditional Seder fare including beef brisket, sides of matzo balls and a gefilte fish with horseradish.

Passover is celebrated over several days to mark the time God “passed over” the Israelites during the final days of the 10 plagues. Many of the country’s largest synagogues are holding Zoom Seders of their own.

Central Synagogue in New York City has a family Seder led by Rabbi Rebecca Rosenthal and Jeremy Sipe set for Saturday night on Zoom. The Seder will last for about an hour and include readings from the Haggadah, the Jewish text traditionally ready at a Seder, before families log off and continue the celebration at home.

The Temple Sinai reform congregation in Reno, Nevada, is among the others that will air a livestream of their Saturday night Seder.