As Passover approaches, and with all the safety restrictions being put in place to curtail the spread of COVID-19, many Jewish families throughout the St. Louis region may not be able to gather for a seder with family and friends as they have done in the past. Some may want to make a seder of their own, but don’t know how; others may decide to opt out and wait for next year’s seder.

With this in mind, Chabad of Greater St. Louis will soon be launching a region-wide initiative to ensure that every Jew in the St. Louis area wishing to host a Passover seder for the first time can easily do so, whether they are in quarantine or otherwise.

Collaborating with the organization’s five chapters in the region — the Morris & Ann Lazaroff Chabad Center in University City, Chabad on Campus, Chabad of Chesterfield, Chabad of the Central West End and the Chabad Jewish Center of St. Charles County – the organization will be offering free “seder-to-go” kits, which includes essential items needed to host and lead a seder (everything but the brisket, that is). Among these items are:

• Round shmurah matzah

• A bottle of kosher for Passover wine or grape juice

• Food for the seder plate, including the shank bone, egg, bitter herbs, charoset and vegetable

• A plastic silver kiddush cup

• A complete seder how-to guide

• A Hebrew/English annotated Haggadah

Chabad expects to launch its site, www.showmepassover.com by next week. It will also feature a plethora of Passover DIY tools and resources to help make the transition from “seder participant” to “seder host” that much more achievable and enjoyable.