Across the globe, observations of Easter and Passover will look a lot different this year. Both holidays typically include large family gatherings, but in the era of social distancing and sheltering in place, people are turning to other options.
For many Jewish families celebrating Passover, which begins tonight, the traditional Seder dinner will take place on Zoom or other video conferencing platforms.
Websites like One Table, a national nonprofit that usually helps people find a Shabbat dinner to attend in their area, are helping people find virtual options for passover. Virtual Seder dinners being held in Atlanta can be found here.
Hillels of Georgia, which has chapters on college campuses across the state is also helping connect people with virtual options.
“During the coronavirus crisis, Hillels of Georgia is continuing their mission to offer a campus safe haven and community for Jewish college students, even if students are no longer gathering in-person,” the organization said in a press release.
In addition to virtual Seders, they are offering a variety of other online programming for Jewish college students that can be found on the organization’s website.
Throughout metro Atlanta, restaurants from The General Muir to Alon's Bakery & Market are offering to-go options for Passover.
Faith leaders have also been stepping up to ensure people have an option for celebrating. Rabbi Ari Kaiman at Shearith Israel told WABE that they want to make sure everyone is able to find a way to make the holiday meaningful, despite the current state of things.
"We've been calling our older members in particular, one at a time, and asking them, what are their plans, what can we do to help them," he told the radio station.
Easter celebrations
Those who observe Easter are also looking to virtual options for celebrating the holiday, which is Sunday. Many churches have already turned to offering services on livestreams.
The Archdiocese of Atlanta recently outlined guidelines for its parishes, which included the suspension of Masses through April 19.
At Life Church in Smyrna, congregants are invited to listen to Sunday's service from their cars in the church's parking lot.
Beyond church services, entities around metro Atlanta will also hold virtual events like egg hunts. Like Atlantic Station, which will host a virtual Easter egg hunt on its Instagram on Sunday.
Metro Atlanta restaurants will also have to-go options for Easter dinner, you can find a list here.
An Alpharetta bakery is also selling to-go cookie decorating kits with an Easter theme.
More creative ways to celebrate Easter this year can be found here.
