Liberationist Seder
In collaboration with Gabriel Chalfin-Piney & Liel Dolev
April 4, 2023
2106 Studios, Chicago, IL
The inaugural Round Table meal, this Liberationist Seder came out of my longtime love of Jewish tradition and celebration. Passover has always been my favorite Jewish holiday to come together with others and use the story of exodus and liberation to reflect on our lives and the lives of other every spring. I invited Gabriel, a new friend at the time and someone whose work felt deeply aligned with my own, and Liel, a talented ceramicist and former roommate who weathered deep pandemic times with me, to build the ritual meal for 30 of our friends in only 2 weeks.
Liel made the Seder plates, as well as the candle holders and striking surfaces for the matches. Gabriel hand-rolled 100 beeswax candles and contributed their citrus sculptures for the table setting. They both contributed family recipes from their own Seders past: matzo ball soup, duck fat latkes, salads, brisket, chocolate-caramel matzo brittle. The invite list was full of people who were new to the ritual and map of a Seder, and we gathered our own Anti-Zionist haggadah to take turns reading aloud and guide us through the two and a half hour meal.
plate image
setting
