Here we are, in the home stretch of Passover 2023. The eggs have been boiled. The matzah has been buttered. The parodies have been released. And the Four Questions of the Passover seder have been asked.
But there is one more question still lingering on my mind: How did Elmo’s first seder go?
That’s right: On April 5, hours before Passover commenced on Sesame Street, everyone’s favorite red monster tweeted a Passover greeting, announcing that he was “excited to be invited to Elmo’s first seder with all of Elmo’s friends!”
Happy Passover! Elmo is so excited to be invited to Elmo's first Seder with all of Elmo's friends! ❤️
— Elmo (@elmo) April 5, 2023
Well friends, it is April 11, and I am scouring Elmo’s social media feeds and People magazine’s celebrity Passover coverage, yet I am not seeing anything about how this epic first seder went. Were all of Elmo’s friends truly there? Who hosted? Who ran out to the butcher shop at the last minute when they realized they forgot to get a shank bone? Who brought the macaroons and who brought the jelly fruit slices? Who found the afikomen? Who filled up on matzah and chopped liver and had to lay down before the brisket even made an appearance?
Did Elmo try gefilte fish? Which parts of the haggadah did Elmo get assigned to read? Can Elmo read? At 3 and a half years old, was Elmo the youngest guest at the seder? Did he get through all of Ma Nishtana? Does this photo Elmo tweeted with Ben Platt on April 7 mean that Ben Platt was at the seder? What about Beanie? What about Moishe Oofnik? What about… Rocco?
And if this was really Elmo’s first seder, then why was it documented in the 2019 picture book “It’s Passover, Grover!” that Elmo was in attendance at Grover’s seder? Why can Elmo been seen eating charoset in said book? Why did you lie, Elmo? Why did you lie?
We’ve got two days of Passover left, so I’m holding out hope that Elmo will clear some of these questions up. Chag sameach to all who live on and off Sesame Street — whether it was your first, second, or zillionth seder.
