PHOENIX, Arizona — On one particularly sleepy Passover morning a few years back, one of my kids turned to me and said, “Abba, where is everybody?” Looking out at the empty pews, I said, “Not in Manhattan.”

In my Orthodox congregation on the Upper West Side, the overwhelming majority of our members typically observe Passover somewhere other than New York City. Ours has become a world divided between those who “make Pesach” and those who make Pesach into a vacation.

Most years, as a congregational rabbi, I spend Passover at my synagogue. This year, as I serve as a rabbi in residence at a Passover retreat in Arizona — with not a few of my congregants — I’ve been thinking about what Jews and Jewish communities are gaining and losing with the rise of Passover programs.

For many, the allure of Passover retreats is not just about foregoing the labor-intensive preparation the holiday demands. Families too large to gather in a single home can enjoy the holiday together. And for individuals or couples who face the prospect of spending the holiday alone, Passover retreats can flatten an otherwise bumpy social landscape and provide an elegant way to be part of a community.

To those who protest that Passover away from home is somehow inauthentic, travelers are quick to point out that they rely on ample historical precedent. Passover is one of the Torah’s three pilgrimage holidays; in Temple times, Jews would flock to Jerusalem.

© The Jewish Week