After the attack, the Michigan synagogue calls for Lego to be added to the Seder plate
JTA — A new Passover tradition is taking shape at Temple Israel in suburban Detroit, where worshipers are still reeling from last month’s attack in which a gunman rammed a vehicle filled with explosives into the building.
“This Passover, we are adding something new to our Seder plates: a single Lego brick,” Temple Israel wrote in a post on Facebook.
The attack on Temple Israel, a Reform congregation and the country’s largest synagogue, occurred while 104 preschool-age children were in the building. The attacker, Ayman Ghazali, was the only person to die in the ramming attack that severely damaged the synagogue building and injured one of its security guards.
While all the children were evacuated, their presence shaped the synagogue’s call to place the children’s toys on the Seder plates as a symbol of both vulnerability and reconstruction.
“A Lego is a child’s toy – it represents the innocence that has been threatened and the life that has been protected. It represents our creativity, our strength and the sacred work of putting the pieces back together,” the post continues. “Put a Lego on your Seder plate this year. For our children and our teachers. For our community. For the future we build together.”
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In the comments on the post, dozens of people pledged to include Legos in their Passover seders this year.
“I love this meaningful idea that represents resilience and strength. I will be placing Lego bricks on our Seder plate in Santa Monica. I wish all the clergy and my Temple Israel family a happy, healthy and peaceful Passover!” wrote one user.
Temple Israel is not the only victim of an anti-Semitic attack, which occurred on the occasion of Passover for the first time since its attack. Next week, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is scheduled to host a Seder with interfaith leaders to commemorate one year since an arsonist attacked his official residence, just hours after he and his family hosted a Passover Seder there. The Seder takes place in the same room that was burned down during the attack.
Police tape hangs outside the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan on March 13, 2026. (AP/Paul Sancya)
And in Minneapolis, Shir Tikvah, a Reform congregation, is calling on people to include a “steaming cup of tea in a travel mug” at the Passover Seder to honor the congregation’s response to the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration policies in the region.
“After you open the door for Elijah and before pouring the fourth cup of wine, we invite you to pour tea from your shared cup to everyone at your table,” the congregation wrote in a post on Facebook. “As you enjoy your tea, take a moment to share with us how you plan to show up in your communities this year.”
Temple Israel’s symbolic addition to the holiday this year is also not the first time that Jews have modified the traditional components of the Seder plate to reflect the dangers Jews increasingly face.
During the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, some families carried mirrors, yellow ribbons and pomegranates on their plates to honor the hostages who were still in Hamas captivity at the time. This is the first Passover since the last hostages were released.
“There is something comforting in what we know, but what if, alongside these familiar traditions, we also made room for something new and unexpected,” said Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, in a Facebook video posted Tuesday. “Instead of just doing things, we could give in to the wave of Jewish pride we see all around us, even in the midst of the current epidemic of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hatred.”
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