I am hosting a Shabbat seder at our medieval re-enactment in March. It's open to people who are Jewish in real life, people who aren't but who portray medieval Jews, and people who are neither but curious.

I need to find some sort of simple guide that I can print out and take with me on to how to host a seder. A tools list would be helpful (since I have to pack all of this stuff to take with me), but all I really need is the order of the seder and the blessings to say. I'm not worried about keeping it strictly medieval, because it's being presented as a class for people to learn about the Shabbat seder (and pretty much anything else they want to know about Jews, modern or medieval), so I'm open to doing other things during the seder which are optional/not required.

Does anyone have a link to a guide online--maybe your synagogue has a link? Hebrew Christians have plenty of guides, but I'm not going there.

Shabbat Seder? Do you just mean the Shabbat evening meal? I suppose taking the word seder literally as 'order' then Friday night could kind of be called a seder, but I've never heard it referred to as such. I'm also confused about you needing tools??

Sorry if I've completely misunderstood!

Mychal, do you have a Haggadah? That's probably all you need. There are all sorts of types so just look around and see what you like. There is a site for making your own but it's temporarity down. It will be back up soon. Actually, there is more than one site. Just google "DIY Seder Haggadah" and you'll find a couple.

I was talking about a standard, evening Shabbas. I know about Passover seder, but I was under the impression that the word "seder" could also be applied to the Shabbat evening meal, since it's a ritual with order as well.

Anyways, I just want to host Shabbas. By "tools" I mean things I need--wine, bread (x2), candles (x2) and... what else? I'm going to serve some finger foods/snacks afterwards and people may bring their own (dairy) dishes if they like.

Medievel? That means women are in a separate room and did not touch or eat with the men? I would re-enact Yalta!
http://vimeo.com/9646892

I don't think women were separated from men at a family Shabbat by my time period (14th century). That is, of course, the custom at weddings and social celebrations, but I haven't seen any indication that people did that at home--even if there were male guests present.The custom of having a women light the candles/lamps appears to be very old, and would indicate that women were present at the dinner table.

http://diyseder.com/

There are a number of good Haggadot out there, though. One you may like I will have to ask my friend about. He has an old English siddur with some amazing wording in it.

Maculated: Mychal is actually just referring to a regular Shabbat kiddush. But your link is good for Passover, so remember to post it again when we are closer to that holiday (I personally refuse to start obsessing about Pesach until after Purim!)

Dena wrote:

Mychal wrote: Anyways, I just want to host Shabbas. By "tools" I mean things I need--wine, bread (x2), candles (x2) and... what else? I'm going to serve some finger foods/snacks afterwards and people may bring their own (dairy) dishes if they like. Are you going to be there for havdallah too or will you be going home by that time?

Because Mychal mentions candles, I assume it is a Friday night meal because you can't light candles on Saturday while it is still Shabbat. So no Havdalah unless it is an overnight event.

You will find the basic blessings in any siddur, and many "benchers" (little Shabbat songbooks that also have Birkat Hamazon and often blessings for Shabbat and celebrations like weddings).

One thing to add to your "tools" list is salt which is traditionally sprinkled over the challah after Hamotzi. By the way, do make an effort to have traditionally braided challah---they are beautiful and make kiddush feel more festive (a "hiddur mitzvah"= beautification of a mitzvah). And you might want to have grape juice for guests who don't drink alcohol.

I take it that you are unfamiliar with the blessings and there are not likely to be other Jewishly knowledgeable people at the meal? Then you might want to do a simplified basic version rather than a full traditional kiddush. Kakatuv is a wonderful website that has transliterated and translated versions of Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox prayer books. Look at the "Shabbat at Home" section of the Reform prayers. Here is what I suggest you use from that webpage:

- Blessing for Candle Lighting
[Shalom Aleichem -- Skip unless there are a few other Jews who can sing it with you.]
[Birkat Hamishpachah, Blessing of the Family -- Skip unless there are children present and Jewish parents who want to bless them]
- Sanctifying Shabbat, vayehi erev... ---this goes along with the kiddush and is best if it is sung here is a YouTube video that can help:
How to Light Shabbat Candles and Recite Kiddush
- Kiddush, Blessing of the Wine --- Note that this goes with "vayehi erev" above, and remember that you don't drink the wine when you do the "borei peri hagafen" blessing (but you raise the kiddush cup when you say it), but rather wait until you finish the kiddush
- Blessing for washing of hands, Blessing of the Bread (motzi) ---You should be sure to translate this so that people understand what is said. Traditionally, salt is sprinkled on the challah before it is served.
- Blessing after the Meal, Psalm 126 ("Birkat Hamazon")--- this is a much shortened Reform version. The traditional (Shabbat) version takes at least 8 minutes if sung at a normal speed---I know for sure because I timed it to find out before I gave a d'var Torah for Parashat Ekev about Birkat Hamazon)---if there are fewer than 3 Jews, then you don't need to do this publicly. If there are at least 3 Jews then after "Shir Hamaalot" you are supposed to do the "zimun" which is a "call and response" invitation to do the blessing. If you and a few other Jews know how to sing Birkat, then it's nice to do. Otherwise, it will just be boring to hear a lot of Hebrew being read and it is fine for those obligated to read it to themselves. Here is a YouTube for a abbreviated Reform version of Birkat Hamzon

Also, if you want a more compact printout for candle lighting and kiddush, go to this website Build a prayer: Friday evening. Choose "custom", and the format you like, and then choose "Shabbat candle lighting" and "Friday night kiddush". (The rest of the prayers are for doing a full Friday night service.)

Ha ha. It helps to read entire posts . . .

Thanks for the info; I'm going to start digging into the websites you mentioned.

I had forgotten about needing to wash hands first. That's something that's done at my Conservative synagogue, but was never done at my Reform one (I'm still pretty new to Conservative).

Is there a religious/symbolic reason why the bread is salted? Again, that's done at my Con. shul, but I had not seen it done before and have not heard any explanation for it.

Challah is almost certainly an impossibility. We're going to be leaving the Friday night or Saturday morning before and camping for a week; fresh bread won't keep a week without molding, so I can't take it with me. (And while we have a propane stove in our camp, I have never baked bread before, and I don't think that's a good time to try and learn.)

We're also a half hour from Hattiesburg, MS (which isn't exactly known for its huge Jewish population to start with) and we do not usually go off site once we get there--although someone in our camp invariably makes a mid-week booze and grocery run; I could get them to pick up something fresh which should last until Friday.

The other option I've considered is taking matzah with me. I know it will keep and it's not like it's forbidden to eat it outside Passover. As far as I know, there's nothing wrong with having new, unopened matzah in lieu of bread at a Shabbat.