A Mirror, a Seder, a Story Still Unfolding
Dear Friends,
Tuesday evening Harvard Hillel, in partnership with the Presidential Initiative on Interfaith Engagement, hosted an Interfaith Passover Seder on the top floor of the Smith Center overlooking campus. Fifty students, staff, and community members came together for an evening led by 12 undergraduate and graduate students, alongside Hillel and Harvard staff, who each shared their voices and personal stories.
At the center of the evening was a unique, inclusive Haggadah created especially for this gathering – one that reflects the breadth of Jewish experience while inviting participants of all backgrounds to engage meaningfully. We’re excited to share it with you, to incorporate it into your own celebration of Passover.
Held a week before Passover, this “model” Seder offered participants not just the opportunity to learn about the holiday, but to experience it – through interactive moments, rich conversation, and engaging new perspectives. With questions, songs, delicious food, and wine, the evening was both deeply personal and joyfully communal.
For many in the room, it was their very first Seder. Others had not only attended Seders, but helped lead them. Across different levels of familiarity, everyone together created a space that was accessible, thoughtful, and relevant. By incorporating the sights, sounds, tastes, and emotional dimensions of the central story of Jewish identity – participants made the Exodus story their own, again and anew.
This program was part of The People’s Plate, our broader initiative using art and conversation to explore identity, memory, and belonging across campus. Throughout the week, thousands of passersby encountered the eight-foot tall installation at Science Center Plaza. People stopped, lingered, took photos, and engaged – many particularly struck by the mirror at the center of the plate. Like the central teaching of the Haggadah, that in every generation each person is called to see themselves as if they personally left Egypt, the mirror invited each viewer to locate themselves within the story. For some, it was a moment of recognizing their own place within Jewish life and community; for others, it offered an opportunity to see themselves as partners and allies in that ongoing journey. The artwork didn’t just represent the Passover story – it extended it, bringing our ancient narrative into 2026 at Harvard: immediate, personal, and shared.
You can experience the piece yourself on our website.
Throughout the week, people engaged with the installation from different angles: an opening reception featuring music by Apichorus and reflections on the tradition of placing an orange on the Seder plate by the originator of the tradition, Professor Susannah Heschel. A “Meet the Artist” morning with creator Michael Mittelman, a Passover Treats Tasting, and an “Ask the Rabbis” drop-in where students stopped by for coffee and conversation with campus rabbis, exploring Jewish ideas and themes connected to the exhibit.
The responses to the plate were wide-ranging: curiosity, appreciation, and even surprise. One visitor shared that they had initially worried the installation might invite protest or vandalism, but instead found it to be a powerful and positive presence – and left wondering what could be learned from that. We were also, it must be said, grateful that the wind cooperated and kept the installation firmly in place! The piece will soon move to a new home outside the Hillel building.
What stayed with us most, however, were the human connections. One Seder participant shared the following:
“You’re connecting people to each other, and to Jewish life and ritual. At the Seder, I sat next to a Middle Eastern Muslim public health student who said it felt important for him to come – because now more than ever, we need to be connecting across faith traditions. I’m so grateful for the thoughtful, welcoming, and joyful spaces that made that possible.”
Another student shared that he was still reflecting on the experience days later, telling friends back home in Egypt about his first Seder. Others spoke about discovering unexpected common ground, having conversations about things that really matter, and a desire for more opportunities like this on campus.
The People’s Plate was covered in the Harvard Crimson, the Harvard Gazette, the Jewish Journal, and JewishBoston.com, as well as on Hillel International’s channels. Thank you for being part of a community that makes this kind of proud, creative, learning, connection, and meaning possible.
Wishing you a חג פסח שמח – a joyful and meaningful Passover,
