New from Bayit Games: the rebooted Seder Plate

Here’s how Steve and Mary describe their endeavor:

Mishnah Pesachim is commonly thought to contain the seder plate origins by referring to a “tray” to contain the paschal sacrifice. In 16th century Europe, artisans began making seder plates of the symbolic foods. Some of these plates were intended to hold those foods; others may have had a more general Passover use.

We wanted to find a way to display the seder symbols on the table while honoring the place that the brisket and Bubbie’s tzimmes have on the table. We also wanted something both configurable and portable (for that journey in the desert).

What we came up with is a Seder Plate Reboot!

At seder we tell the story in all kinds of ways: through words, quotations, songs, even how we sit (reclining). We tell the story through actions like beating each other with scallions during Dayenu, or getting up and walking around the table to symbolize the journey, or even just opening a literal door for Elijah. All of this is designed to help us feel as though we ourselves were lifted out of Mitzrayim – and different modalities work for different people. This revisioned seder plate offers another doorway into the story, another way to make the story personal and real.

If you’ve ever played Settlers of Cataan (or any of these other games that use hexagonal tiles) you’ll be familiar with the shape of these pieces and how satisfyingly they fit together.

You could choose to:

• fit them together in any shape (hexagons are great for that)
• wind them around the table like the Nile river
• stack them like a deck of cards and then deal them at random
• distribute them to seder participants to read aloud
• place them around or on your actual seder plate
• use them as your seder plate (especially useful if you”re traveling at Pesach and don’t have one that can fit in your suitcase)
• turn them into surfboards for your tiny plastic frogs
• use them as fidgets during seder
• or something else we haven’t thought of!

Each tile features Mary Lynn Walter’s artwork, and fascinating facts about each of these seder items curated by Steve Silbert.

Make this year’s seder more playful and more informative at the same time. (And stay tuned for more Pesach game collaborations from this dynamic duo — keep an eye on this space!)

Pick up your own set of rebooted seder plate tiles here.