Coachella Festivalgoers Get Passover Seder Experience With ‘Matzahchella’ Led by Rapper Kosha Dillz
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Rapper Kosha Dillz, dressed as Moses, leading a Passover seder at Coachella. Photo: @chrism_arts.
Attendees of the 2022 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, this weekend also had the chance to join a Seder for Passover, which began Friday night.
As part of the festival’s Shabbat Tent, the free “Matzahchella” Passover Seders were held on Friday and Saturday night, and hosted by Jewish rapper Kosha Dillz, whose real name is Rami Matan. The 10-minute Seders took place every 30 minutes, and included matzah, charoset, horseradish, boiled eggs and grape juice.
“As a musician it is a huge goal of mine to be involved with one the most influential music festivals in the world. Providing to the [Jewish] community is even more important,” Kosha Dillz told The Algemeiner on Monday. “So we all fulfill a need that is there. So many people skip the Seder, but we never do.”
“A lot of people don’t even know what Passover is,” added Dillz, who donned a Moses costume for the occasion. “Many people don’t know what Shabbat is, let alone a Shabbat tent. Some people thought we were dressed as Jesus or Harry Potter. We definitely introduced people to a lot of culture and positive Jewish vibes because we were able to give out free food and drink and provide phone charging. Besides being a Seder haven, the educational part was probably larger.”
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Shabbat Tent has appeared at various festivals across the US since 1999, also serving as a “hospitality tent” for concertgoers to rest and charge their phone. Shabbat Tent director Rabbi Yonah Bookstein was on-site at Coachella in previous years, but this year he is in Poland leading Seders for Jewish-Ukrainian refugees.
A Passover Seder was also held at Coachella by Outstanding in the Field, the $275-per-person dinner series that takes nightly in the festival’s VIP section, according to Variety. A partnership with dinner organizers and a grant from a Jewish organization lowered the cost to $75 to partake in the meal, which included a brief candle lighting and prayer ceremony.
Coachella, which falls on Passover every few years, spans two consecutive weekends starting from April 15 through April 24. This year is also the first Coachella since 2019, after back-to-back cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
