Peretz Passover 2025: Gatherings for Hope and Freedom

This spring at the Peretz Centre, we're hosting three Passover/Peysakh gatherings for members and friends. Peretz Passover 2025 starts Saturday, April 5th through Thursday, April 10th!

Illustration from Eliezer Lissitzky's Had Gadya, published in 1919, showing a stylized image of a person and a goat with the words "Had Gadya" (one little goat) from the popular Passover song. — *Chad Gadya* by Eliezer Lissitzky, 1919 (link)

Peretz Community Seder

Sunday, April 6th from 4-8pm

Farvos iz di nakht fun Peysakh andersh fun alle nekht fun a gantz yor? Why is this night different from all other nights of the year?

The Peretz community's secular humanist seder includes both traditional and progressive cultural practices emphasizing our collective power to create a better world. Through readings, songs, and food, we highlight the struggles for gender, economic, social, and climate justice.

Alongside readings and songs from our community Haggadah, the Vancouver Jewish Folk Choir will perform their Passover repertoire with (traditional and non-traditional) songs in Yiddish, Hebrew, Ladino, and English.

Afikomen and children's activities will be organized by the Peretz Child Activities Committee (which you can join here). Children and adults are encouraged to sign up to read a portion of the Haggadah via the registration form.

Tickets are available until Tuesday, April 1st at 11:50pm. Registration is required in advance to provide enough time for food preparation. Don't forget to pre-order your gefilte fish!

Sit with us in comradeship and let people everywhere be free to do the same -- with us and with one another. Next year, may we all live in harmony, and in a world at peace!

Get Tickets

Illustration from the Bird's Head Haggadah, dating around 1300, showing three bird-head figures making matzah. — Bird's Head Haggadah, ca. 1300 CE (link)

Peretz Passover Prep Party

Saturday, April 5th from 2-5pm

A friendly place to prepare for Passover, enjoy creative activities with friends, and help set up for our community Passover seder! The Peretz Passover Prep Party will include:

Themed arts & crafts, inspired by historical Passover art
Painting decorations for the auditorium doors
Table set up for dinner the next day
Music for the festival of freedom
Friendship and fun
and more!

RSVP to sign up and discover what lies deep in the Peretz storage cupboards...

All ages are welcome to participate.

Watercolour illustration from Eliezer Lissitzky's Had Gadya from 1917, showing a man leading a goat through a town with a rainbow extending over their heads. — *Chad Gadya* by Eliezer Lissitzky, 1917 (link)

Liberation-Centred Reading & Discussion Group

Thursday, April 10th from 7-9pm

Matir asurim! Join us for a liberation-centred discussion!

In keeping with the theme of freedom traditionally associated with Pesach, we're inviting members to an evening of discussing some distinct texts that centre on liberation—or more accurately, co-liberation.

Through a small selection of pieces from various media and perspectives, we invite dialogue on the interconnection of our freedom struggles and how cultural contexts give rise to visions of freedom.

We'll also explore how oppressions manifest in physical geographies, as well as in our mental and cultural landscapes.

Please register in advance to participate and receive PDFs of the readings (will be circulated a week before the discussion).

RSVP to Join

Hear about all upcoming events at the Peretz Centre by subscribing to our biweekly community newsletter