By Grace Gilson (JTA)
At Temple Israel in suburban Detroit, where congregants are still reeling from last month’s attack in which a man drove a vehicle filled with explosives into the building, a new Passover tradition is taking shape.
“This Passover, we’re adding something new to our Seder plates: a single Lego block,” Temple Israel wrote in a post on Facebook.
The attack on Temple Israel, a Reform congregation and the country’s largest synagogue, took place as 104 preschoolers were inside the building. The assailant, Ayman Ghazali, was the only person to die in the ramming attack, which severely damaged the synagogue building and left one of its security guards injured.
While all the children were evacuated, their presence has shaped the synagogue’s call to add the children’s toy to seder plates as a symbol of both vulnerability and rebuilding.
“A Lego is a child’s toy — it represents the innocence that was threatened, and the lives that were protected. It represents our creativity, our strength, and the sacred work of putting the pieces back together again,” the post continued. “Place a Lego on your Seder plate this year. For our kids and our teachers. For our community. For the future we are building together.”
In the comments of the post, dozens of people pledged to include Legos in their Passover seders this year.
“I love this meaningful idea representing resilience and strength. I will put legos on our Seder plate in Santa Monica. Wishing all of the clergy and my Temple Israel family a Happy, Healthy and Peaceful Passover!” wrote one user.
Temple Israel is not the only victim of an antisemitic attack to be marking Passover for the first time since. Next week, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is slated to host a seder with interfaith leaders to commemorate one year since an arsonist attacked his official residence hours after he and his family hosted a Passover seder there. The seder will be held in the same room that was burned during the attack.
And in Minneapolis, Shir Tikvah, a Reform congregation, is calling on others to include a “steaming cup of tea in a travel mug” in the Passover seder to honor the community’s response to the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement policies in the area.
“After you open the door for Elijah and before you pour the fourth cup of wine, we invite you to pour tea for everyone at your table from your shared cup,” the congregation wrote in a post on Facebook. “As you enjoy your tea, take a moment to share how you hope to show up in your communities this year.”
Temple Israel’s symbolic addition to the holiday this year is also not the first time Jews have modified the seder plate’s traditional components to reflect the dangers that Jews increasingly face.
During the Israel-Hamas war, some families included mirrors, yellow ribbons and pomegranates on their plates to honor the hostages still held at the time in Hamas captivity. This is the first Passover since the last living hostages were freed in October.
“There’s something comforting about what we know, but what if, alongside those familiar traditions, we also made room for something new and unexpected,” Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said in a Facebook video posted Tuesday. “Rather than simply going through the motions, we might lean into the surge of Jewish pride we’re seeing all around us, even amid the current epidemic of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hatred.”
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