The White House Passover Seder was an annual private dinner held at the White House on the Jewish holiday of Passover during the presidency of Barack Obama. Obama initiated it in 2009 for his family, staff members, friends, and their families. The gathering recited the Passover Haggadah, discussed the themes of the Passover Seder and their relation to current events, and partook of a holiday-themed meal. Obama hosted and attended the Seder each year from 2009 to 2016. It was the first Passover Seder to be conducted by a sitting U.S. president in the White House. Background A Passover Seder is a ritual meal held by Jews on the first two nights of the Passover holiday (first night only in Israel). The Seder is traditionally conducted in the home by the family and their invited guests, although it may also be held by any group of Jews, such as members of a synagogue, condominium complex, student group, army base, etc. At the Seder, participants read the Haggadah, a ritual text recounting the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. The reading is accompanied by visual aids in the form of the symbolic foods on the Passover Seder Plate. A festive meal is part of the ritual. While religious Jewish law places certain restrictions on a non-Jew eating at a Seder, non-traditional Jews often invite non-Jews to their Seders, and non-Jews also conduct Seders of their own, although the latter practice is highly controversial. History The White House Passover Seder had its origins in an informal Passover Seder conducted on April 19, 2008, by three junior staff members of then-presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign. At the time, Obama and his campaign team were in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in advance of the Pennsylvania primary, and the Jewish staffers realized they would not be able to go home to be with their families on Seder night. The three staffers – Eric Lesser, Herbie Ziskend, and Arun Chaudhary – obtained a "Passover kit" with wine, matzo, macaroons, and Haggadahs from the Hillel House at the University of Pennsylvania and were conducting a late-night Seder in a meeting room of the Sheraton Hotel in Harrisburg when Obama walked in. "Hey, is this the Seder?" Obama asked. He and a group of aides, all non-Jews, joined in to recite the Haggadah. Obama was familiar with the ritual, having attended Passover Seders for the previous nine