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Passover 2026

Seder, Remixed

The Maggid as 13 different shows

The Maggid is the storytelling heart of the Seder — and the part where kids (and adults) tend to drift. So I rebuilt every section as a different format, gave everyone at the table a character, and printed real scripts for a cast aged 2 to 80.

13 Sections39-Page Script1 Night

The Idea

Every section, a different show

  1. 1
    Ha Lachma AnyaThe Pregame Speech
  2. 2
    Mah NishtanaThe Song, Then the Press Conference
  3. 3
    Avadim HayinuPharaoh Takes Over + The Slave Contracts
  4. 4
    Five Rabbis in Bnei BrakThe Challenge
  5. 5
    The Four SonsAll Four Live in You
  6. 6
    Yechol Me'Rosh ChodeshWhy Tonight?
  7. 7
    V'hi She'amdaThe Prequel + The Anthem
  8. 8
    Arami Oved AviThe Movie
  9. 9
    The Ten PlaguesThe Plague Show
  10. 10
    DayenuOur Own Dayenu
  11. 11
    Rabban GamlielShow and Tell, In Character
  12. 12
    HallelThe Victory Lap
  13. 13
    Second CupThe Victory Toast

How I Built It

From ancient text to printed script

1

Pull the source texts

Hebrew and English for every Maggid section, pulled from Sefaria so the script stays anchored to the real text.

2

Outline before writing

A creative outline matching each section to a format and each person to a character — before a single line of dialogue.

3

Write the script with Claude Code

A 1,400-line run-of-show in plain Markdown: dialogue, stage directions, Hebrew blocks, timing for every part.

4

Print it with Python

A script turns the Markdown into Letter-size PDFs — a color for every character, right-to-left Hebrew, each section on a fresh page.

The Clever Bit

Two scripts, same page numbers

The kids needed their own version — one that didn’t spoil the surprises or print the answers to the quiz questions. But a Seder runs on “everyone turn to page 12.” So wherever the kids’ script cuts something, the generator drops in an invisible spacer the same height as the missing content. Every section lands on the same page in both versions.

Adult script

p. 11 · Pharaoh's speech
p. 12 · Contract text
p. 13 · Liberation

Kids script

p. 11 · Pharaoh's speech
p. 12 · “Open your envelope”
p. 13 · Liberation

The Hit

The slave contracts

Midway through, Pharaoh takes over the table and hands everyone a sealed envelope: a personalized “Official Slave Contract” confiscating the things they love most. Then comes the liberation moment — and everyone rips theirs up. It was the moment of the night. (Shown here: a blank demo contract.)

A demo 'Official Slave Contract' issued by Pharaoh to Hebrew Slave No. 1

What I'd Change

Flip the ratio

The theater landed at the start and the end. By the middle, it got old. The script moved from moment to moment without leaving room for real questions, tangents, or the notes the kids brought themselves — and the best Seder moments are the unscripted ones. This year was roughly 75% performance, 25% conversation. Next year flips it, in three acts:

Open

Performance. High-energy, immersive — Pharaoh, contracts, the works.

Middle

Conversation. Prepare topics and sources, not scripts. Kids bring their own material.

Close

Performance. Plagues, Dayenu, and the victory lap bring the energy back.

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