Jews In Chicago Plan Virtual Seders Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

CHICAGO (CBS) --  Jews all over the world are preparing for Passover starting Wednesday night. It's a holiday marked by gathering close with friends and family at the dining room table. This year many people are still coming together -- with technology.

For Jews passover is normally marked by sharing time at the table closely together honoring faith and family, but not this year.

"I got my matzah, and that's the starting point here," said Shaily Hakimian. "I know what to do. I just have to go do it."

Hakimian is a  20-something, social distancing in her Lakeview apartment, giving it her best shot.

"I am a millennial, and I usually get the benefit of going to someone else's house, no cleaning and cooking," she said. "Now I have to do it by myself, and I am a little lost."

The foods at Passover Seder have symbolic meaning, as Jews recount their exodus from Egypt.

"It's also about thinking about what it means to move toward freedom," said Leah Jones of Edgewater. "This year it's a while new meaning."

Video conferencing will bring families together, and though some restaurants are providing take out Passover meals, many younger Jews are making their kitchen debuts.

I've actually never made Matzah Balls from scratch myself because my mother has always made them," said Mari Altshuler of Chicago's North Side.

Families are also going online to create Haggadahs or prayer books for the evening.

Leah jones has been looking up recipes and even written a lighthearted parody song to kick off the evening.

"It's time to bless the lights. It's time to start the seder on the matzah show tonight," she sang.

"It will be Passover. I will feel it in my heart, and I know next year wherever we may be we will appreciate the time we have with our families so much more because of this," Hakimian said.