The Saturday Night Seder was a

Passover Seder The Passover Seder (; he, סדר פסח , 'Passover order/arrangement'; yi, סדר ) is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew c ...

held on April 11, 2020 by StoryCourse in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

; to provide relief and support to the public in an effort to combat the spread of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

virus. The seder was sponsored by

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...

and aired on their ''Tasty''

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel.

Overview

The seder was hosted by

Jason Alexander Jay Scott Greenspan (born September 23, 1959), known professionally as Jason Alexander, is an American actor, comedian, host and director. An Emmy and Tony winner, he is best known for his role as George Costanza in the television series '' Se ...

on the fourth night of

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew calendar, He ...

. The Saturday Seder coincided with the

, which resulted in many physical seders being canceled throughout the world. The seder aimed to raise funds to benefit the CDC Foundation's Coronavirus Emergency Response Fund. In total, the seder raised more than $2.9 million for charity. The seder covered the story of the Jewish Exodus from Egypt in a humorous light. It featured both Jews and non-Jews.

Participants in The Saturday Night Seder

Appearances

Pamela Adlon Pamela Fionna Adlon (; ; born July 9, 1966) is an American actress. She is known for voicing Bobby Hill in the animated comedy series ''King of the Hill'' (1997–2010), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award. She also voiced Baloo in ''Jungl ...

Julie Klausner Julie Klausner (born July 3, 1978) is an American writer, comedian, actress, and podcaster. She is best known for creating, writing, and starring in the Hulu sitcom ''Difficult People'' (2015–2017), which also starred comedian Billy Eichner. ...

Fran Drescher Francine Joy Drescher (born September 30, 1957) is an American actress, comedian, writer, activist, and trade union leader. She is known for her role as Fran Fine in the television sitcom '' The Nanny'' (1993–1999), which she created and prod ...

David Wolpe David J. Wolpe (born 1958) is the Max Webb Senior Rabbi of Sinai Temple. He previously taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, Hunter College, and UCLA. Wolpe became the ...

* *Kendell Pinkney *

Mayim Bialik Mayim Chaya Bialik ( ; born December 12, 1975) is an American actress, game show host, and author. From 1991 to 1995, she played the title character of the NBC sitcom ''Blossom (TV series), Blossom''. From 2010 to 2019, she played neuroscientist ...

*Dana Benson* * Ilana and Eliot Glazer *

Debra Messing Debra Lynn Messing (born August 15, 1968) is an American actress. After graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Messing received short-lived roles on television series such as '' Ned and Stacey'' on Fox (1995–1997) and ...

Richard Kind Richard Bruce Kind (born November 22, 1956) is an American actor and comedian, known for his roles as Dr. Mark Devanow in ''Mad About You'' (1992–1999, 2019), Paul Lassiter in ''Spin City'' (1996–2002), Andy in ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' (2002 ...

Judith Light Judith Ellen Light (born February 9, 1949) is an American actress. She made her professional stage debut in 1970, before making her Broadway debut in the 1975 revival of ''A Doll's House''. Her breakthrough role was in the ABC daytime soap opera ...

*Amichai Lau-Lavie* *

Michael Solomonov Michael Solomonov ( he, מייקל סולומונוב; born 1978) is an Israeli chef known for his restaurants in Center City, Philadelphia, Center City, Philadelphia. His first restaurant Zahav, founded in 2008, has received national recognition ...

* Dan Levy *

Andy Cohen Andrew Joseph Cohen (born June 2, 1968) is an American radio and television talk show host, producer, and writer. Cohen is the host and executive producer of Bravo's late night talk show, '' Watch What Happens Live!'' He also has a pop culture ...

Nick Kroll Nicholas Kroll (born June 5, 1978) is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for creating and starring in the Comedy Central series ''Kroll Show'', ''The Oh, Hello Show'', the FX comedy series ''The Lea ...

Finn Wolfhard Finn Wolfhard (born December 23, 2002) is a Canadian actor and musician. He gained recognition for playing Mike Wheeler (Stranger Things character), Mike Wheeler in the Netflix series ''Stranger Things'' (2016–present). His film roles include ...

Joshua Malina Joshua Charles Malina (born January 17, 1966) is an American film and stage actor known for playing Will Bailey on the NBC drama ''The West Wing'', Jeremy Goodwin on '' Sports Night'', US Attorney General David Rosen on ''Scandal'', and Caltech P ...

Judy Gold Judy Gold (born November 15, 1962) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, podcaster, television writer, author and producer. She won two Daytime Emmy Awards for her work as a writer and producer on ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show''. Life and care ...

Michael Zegen Michael Jonathan Zegen (born February 20, 1979) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the television series ''Rescue Me (American TV series), Rescue Me'' (2004–2011), ''Boardwalk Empire'' (2011–2014), and ''The Marvelous Mr ...

* Jimmy Wolk *

D'Arcy Carden D'Arcy Beth Carden (born Darcy Beth Erokan, January 4, 1980) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her starring roles as Janet in the NBC sitcom ''The Good Place'' (2016–2020) and Greta Gill in the Prime series ''A League ...

* Billy Eichner *

Reza Aslan Reza Aslan ( fa, رضا اصلان, ; born May 3, 1972) is an Iranian-American scholar of sociology of religion, writer, and television host. A convert to evangelical Christianity from Shia Islam as a youth, Aslan eventually reverted to Islam b ...

Tan France Tanveer Wasim "Tan" France ( Safdar; born 20 April 1983) is a British-American fashion designer and television personality. Of Pakistani descent, he is one of the first openly gay South Asian men on a major show and one of the first out Muslim ...

Beanie Feldstein Elizabeth Greer "Beanie" Feldstein (born June 29, 1993) is an American actress. She first gained recognition for her starring roles in the comedy film '' Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising'' (2016), the comedy-drama film '' Lady Bird'' (2017), and the ...

Isaac Mizrahi Isaac Mizrahi (born October 14, 1961) is an American fashion designer, television presenter and chief designer of the Isaac Mizrahi brand for Xcel Brands. Based in New York City, he is best known for his eponymous fashion lines. Mizrahi was prev ...

Sarah Hurwitz Sarah Hurwitz is an American speechwriter. A senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama in 2009 and 2010, and head speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama from 2010 to 2017, she was appointed to serve on the United States Holocaust Mem ...

Jessica Chaffin Jessica Chaffin is an American actress, comedian, and writer best known as part of the comedy duo Ronna and Beverly with Jamie Denbo. She is also known for her recurring roles as Coco Wexler on Nickelodeon's ''Zoey 101'', Marie Faldonado in the C ...

(as Ronna Glickman) *

Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, and ...

Nina West Nina West is the stage name of Andrew Robert Levitt, an American drag queen, activist, actor, and singer-songwriter based in Columbus, Ohio. She rose to national prominence with her appearance on the eleventh season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', ...

* Mordechai Lightstone* * Alex Edelman *

Sharon Brous Sharon Brous (born 1973) is an American rabbi who currently serves as the senior rabbi of IKAR, a Jewish congregation in Los Angeles. She was one of the founders of IKAR in 2004, along with Melissa Balaban, who currently serves as IKAR's Chief E ...

* *

Sarah Silverman Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American comedian, actress, and writer. Silverman was a writer and performer on ''Saturday Night Live'', and she starred in and produced ''The Sarah Silverman Program'', which ran from 2007 to ...

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...

Harvey Fierstein Harvey Forbes Fierstein ( ; born June 6, 1952) is an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for his theater work in ''Torch Song Trilogy'' and ''Hairspray'' and movie roles in ''Mrs. Doubtfire'', '' Independence Day'', and ...

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...

* Dulcé Sloan * Liz Feldman *

Adam Kantor Adam Kantor (born May 27, 1986) is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his roles on Broadway, most notably Mark Cohen in the closing cast of ''Rent'', which was captured in '' Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway'', Motel in the 2015 revi ...

Camryn Manheim Debra Frances "Camryn" Manheim (born March 8, 1961) is an American actress known for her roles as attorney Ellenor Frutt on ABC's ''The Practice'', Delia Banks on CBS's '' Ghost Whisperer'', Gladys Presley in the 2005 miniseries ''Elvis'', and ...

Milo Manheim Milo Manheim (born March 6, 2001) is an American actor. He is known for his starring role as Zed in the 2018 Disney Channel Original Movie ''Zombies'', and its sequels ''Zombies 2'' (2020) and '' Zombies 3'' (2022). In 2018, he finished in seco ...

Busy Philipps Elizabeth Jean "Busy" Philipps (born June 25, 1979) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles on the television series '' Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000), ''Dawson's Creek'' (2001–2003), ''Love, Inc.'' (2005–2006) and '' ER' ...

Seth Rudetsky Seth Dennis Rudetsky (born February 28, 1967) is an American musician, actor, writer and radio host. He currently is the host of ''Seth's Big Fat Broadway'' and ''Seth Speaks'' on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio's '' On Broadway''. The show focuses on R ...

Ari Shapiro Ari Michael Shapiro (born September 30, 1978) is an American radio journalist. In September 2015, Shapiro became one of four rotating hosts on National Public Radio's flagship drive-time program ''All Things Considered''. He previously se ...

* Leigh Silverman *

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

s who appeared in the seder.

Performances

Broadcast

The Saturday Night Seder could be seen on BuzzFeed's ''Tasty'' YouTube Channel and was simulcasted on Saturday Night Seder's website and the CDC Foundation's website. In total, more than 1 million people watched the Saturday Night Seder.

References

External links

* {{COVID-19 pandemic in the United States 2020 television specials American television specials April 2020 events in the United States Jewish television Music television specials Cultural responses to the COVID-19 pandemic Simulcasts Passover seder