Passover Dinners Being Spent Online Due To Social Distancing Guidelines
(CBSDFW.COM) - Passover dinner at the Berk family home in Frisco usually draws a crowd of close to 50.
"Normally it's very full. This whole room is normally packed with tables and chairs," said Eli Berk, pointing his cell phone camera at the dinner table.
This year, it's set for only three.
"It's really sad this year," said his mother, Beth Berk.
Somehow, she said, the holiday has meant just as much work for her as she prepares the traditional foods for Wednesday evening's Seder meal.
"I've been cooking for days while I'm working from home," she said. "There's so many different courses involved in this meal."
Like many Jewish families, the Berks this year are connecting with loved ones through the video conferencing app, Zoom.
"We're going to put a laptop on the table so we can see all of it," she said.
Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville is urging people to keep up social interactions, while maintaining physical distance.
"That interaction is so key, it's so important," he said.
Like most congregations, Cytron-Walker's is adapting to social distancing.
Its website offers instructions on how to work the Zoom app and will stream a Seder dinner on Thursday for the second night of Passover.
"I say this over and over and over again. We have to live by the Commandments, not die by the Commandments," he said.
The temple delivered Passover packages to dozens of families with basics needed to hold a traditional Seder. Members also posted cooking tutorials online.
"I'm no good at this so please bear with me," said Nancy Finfer, setting up her camera to record a demonstration of how to make toffee squares.
"There's a lot of people who've never cooked any of this because they always went to their family's place," said Cytron-Walker.
Hanging on to bits of tradition, though, can bring a sense of calm and connection.
"That sense of normal is hard to find these days. So a little bit a food, a little bit or order goes a long way," he said. "To see everyone on the Zoom screens and to see all the familiar faces and know that we're going through this together is really helpful."