Batya Wolvovsky sets a Seder plate before hosting a Passover Seder for young people and others at The Intown Chabad, a synagogue in the Uptown neighborhood of Dallas, April 1, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
When 28-year-old Rebecca Pels called her mother Wednesday morning, her mom said she couldn’t wait to see her extended family from the New York City area at Passover Seder that night.
“I had that pang in my heart,” said Pels, who moved to Dallas about a year ago. “I really want to be with my people tonight.”
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Server Juan Sanchez sets out eggs in preparation for a Passover Seder for young people and others at The Intown Chabad, a synagogue in the Uptown neighborhood of Dallas, April 1, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
The tables were set for a Passover Seder for young people and others at The Intown Chabad, a synagogue in the Uptown neighborhood of Dallas, April 1, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
She looked up “Seder near me” online and connected with Intown Chabad, a small synagogue tucked into the State Thomas neighborhood of Uptown.
On Wednesday, Intown Chabad held a Seder – typically hosted by family and friends – for the first night of Passover as a place for young North Texas transplants to find a piece of home away from home. Intown Chabad specifically ministers to young Jewish people early in their careers and adult lives to provide a space to meet friends and form community.
“People want to be with their community, with their tribe, with their people, so they’ll look for a place to celebrate,” said Rabbi Zvi Drizin with Intown Chabad. “And we’re happy to offer that to them.”
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Passover is the holiday that commemorates the Jewish people’s liberation from slavery in ancient Egypt. It’s a day to celebrate freedom and come together as family.
Drizin founded the synagogue in the mid 2000s after he saw a gap in programming for young people who got their first job but didn’t have children yet. For Passover, and other holidays, some young people can’t take the days off of work to travel home if their families live far away.
Rabbi Abraham Plotkin of Toronto (left) visits with Simon Stein (center) and Jordan Klapper before a Passover Seder for young people and others at The Intown Chabad, a synagogue in the Uptown neighborhood of Dallas, April 1, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Passing down tradition
On Wednesday night as attendees gathered in the dimming daylight, Batya Wolvosky prepared Seder plates at five long tables, each adorned with about 20 table settings.
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The elements of Passover Seder can vary, but typically the meal includes eating bitter herbs and vegetables, unleavened bread or matzo and four cups of wine as a reenactment of the Passover story.
At Intown Chabad, the Seder plates featured a boiled egg, a piece of radish, a piece of onion, romaine lettuce, charoset (a cooked mix of apples, nuts and wine) and a piece of roasted chicken. Each element harkens back to the time of slavery in Egypt, Wolvosky said.
At each table setting was a copy of the Haggadah, a book of the history of Passover and a guide to Seder.
“Jewish people, no matter how unfree we were in our various societies and how much we were oppressed, we understood that original gift of freedom,” Drizin said. “We are fundamentally free, and no one ultimately has any power over us but God.”
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Batya Wolvorsky sets a Seder plate of an egg, onion, lettuce, charoset, chicken and radish before hosting a Passover Seder for young people and others at The Intown Chabad, a synagogue in the Uptown neighborhood of Dallas, April 1, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Celebrating together
This year, Passover began at sunset Wednesday and runs through April 9. Jews in Israel typically celebrate Passover for seven days and many Jews outside the country celebrate it for eight days, according to Chabad.org.
Camden Beinhaker moved from Manhattan to Fort Worth for a new job in February. He said his mom back home has been cooking for three days for about 30 relatives coming over for Seder. He called his mom after work who put him on speaker phone to say hello to the family.
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“Being away from the holidays is hard because everyone’s together,” he said.
Beinhaker was on the lookout for a Jewish community to connect with and heard about Intown Chabad online.
“What better event to start than with a Passover Seder?” he said.
Zach Dagan moved to Dallas two years ago and found a community with Intown Chabad after attending a First Friday Shabbat dinner. With his family hosting a Seder in South Florida this year, he said he was feeling a bit left out.
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“It means a lot to all be together and celebrate our roots,” he said.
“Real human connection”
At Intown Chabad, which is part of Hasidic Judaism, all distractions (including smart phones) were put away at sunset. Similar to the concept of Shabbat or the Sabbath, for Passover there are certain actions associated with work that are avoided, Drizin said.
“It’s one of the ways that we honor the holidays, one of the ways that we make the days holy,” he said. “We put away cell phones, and we foster a real human connection.”
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After the sun went down and the places were set, the men and women separated for a prayer before the Seder meal.
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A few dozen women gathered around a table and lit candles. Goldie Plotkin, the mother of one of the rabbis at Intown Chabad, led a prayer for peace around the world, expressing gratitude for the chance to gather as Jewish women. She spoke about members of her family who live in Israel and are having their Seder in a bomb shelter this year because of the war with Iran.
She led a special prayer and concluded with the Hebrew blessing for holidays repeated by those gathered.
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