Creating a Meaningful Passover One Room at a Time

March 26, 2025 | People in Our Neighborhood

Passover is a time for storytelling, connection, and creativity, and Erica Allen has mastered the art of bringing it all to life. As a Jewish educator and mom of two young children, Erica combines her professional expertise and personal passion to create an engaging, interactive seder experience. From reenacting the Exodus to hosting afikomen hunts, she’s found meaningful ways to make the holiday fun and impactful for kids and families alike. In this interview, Erica shares her inspiration, favorite traditions, and tips for creating a memorable Passover. Read until the end and see pictures from their Passover experience!

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I grew up in Westchester, NY, but moved to Baltimore with my husband a few years after graduating college. We’re proud residents of Baltimore City, along with our two kids, ages 6 and 3.

We heard you like to create an immersive Passover experience for your family. How did that start?

I’m a Jewish educator, so I basically spend all of my time thinking about how to make our tradition engaging for kids and teenagers! It was a natural jump from doing that for my students to doing that for my own children. I’ve also had some amazing role models – especially my parents and Rabbi Seltzer from Chizuk Amuno. My parents used to redesign their seder every year. As kids, it focused on building a tent in our living room and throwing people candy when they asked questions. As we got older the emphasis was on mixing contemporary readings into the traditional text. When I taught at Rosenbloom Religious School with Rabbi Seltzer he would have the teachers do a Passover project with each grade and write a letter for the families with suggestions about how to integrate the project into their seders and related questions to discuss together. I got so many fun and meaningful ideas from the letters of my colleagues!

What does it look like?

I have very active children, but not a huge house. Last year I tried to take advantage of our spaces – we started with some traditional stuff in the living room, then set up my two sons’ rooms as Midyan and Egypt to act out and sing parts of the Passover story. Then we moved back into the living room and kitchen/dining room at the end for the later food rituals and dinner. We finished with an afikomen hunt where the kids had to work together and use clues to find puzzle pieces that led to where the afikomen was hidden. I lean pretty traditional, so a challenge for me is accepting that I won’t have a real adult seder for a few years. But on the plus side, we were done by 7:30 and we all got a good night’s sleep!

What do you hope your kids, and the kids you host, get out of it?

I want my children, and the children of my friends, to feel connected to and excited by our tradition. As they get older, I also want them to find meaning in the rituals. Passover in particular is full of important values with contemporary meaning. But I also know that can’t just happen at the seder. I love how Passover is a holiday that we really build up to. That gives lots of opportunities before the seder to talk about the themes. We bring our kids to the JUFJ social justice seder every year, read Passover books, discuss and practice the prayers, and more.

What is your favorite Passover memory?

It’s hard to choose! When I was a kid I loved how my parents would build a tent in our living room, and we would dress up as if we were leaving Egypt. More recently, last spring my son helped lead the four questions for the JUFJ social justice seder. My husband and I helped start the social justice seder over 10 years ago, so that was pretty special.

What advice would you give to other families hoping to make their Passover experience more meaningful?

Use other people’s ideas, don’t try to include everything, and involve the kids in the planning. And remember that even if you are traditionally observant and make your house hametz-free, clutter is still ok – even when guests come over!

How are you involved in Jewish Baltimore?

I teach middle school Judaics studies at Krieger Schechter, and my family belongs to Chizuk Amuno and Beth Am. But my favorite way to engage with the community is to have other families over for Shabbat dinner.

What’s your favorite Passover dish or recipe?

I love matzah pancakes! I just use whatever recipe I can find online. Last year I tried a recipe that also used cottage cheese, blueberries, and lemon zest – yum!