![Haim Etgar [R] and Corrin Gideon [L] holding the Great Seder on television (photo credit: Courtesy)](https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/q_auto/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/456283 "Haim Etgar [R] and Corrin Gideon [L] holding the Great Seder on television")
One of the ways that this year’s Seder was different from other nights is that usually this holiday is one of the few evenings when Israelis don’t watch television, but this year, 1.33 million viewers tuned in to watch a live celebrity-studded Seder on Keshet’s Channel 12 on Wednesday night.Another 400,000 watched on the Mako website and the N12 app, Keshet reported on Thursday. It said in a statement that the show got a 36.5% viewing share and 17.6% rating for the beginning of the broadcast, “the highest viewing figure for Passover Eve since the start of measurement in Israel.”
The channel was inspired to host a live Seder because of the Health Ministry’s regulations for the holiday, which included a national lockdown and the strict admonition for families to celebrate the holiday only with those in their nuclear family, who share their apartment or house.Hosted by television personalities Haim Etgar and Corrin Gideon, the Seder featured a Haggadah reading and traditional songs, performed by popular Israeli entertainers – including comedians Rotem Abuhav and Shayke Levi; journalists and television presenters Ilana Dayan, Yaron London and Guy Pines; singers Ninet Tayeb, Rita and Shiri Maimon; and actors Aki Avni and Lior Ashkenazi.It wouldn’t be Israeli television if there weren’t some celebrity chefs on hand, and Haim Cohen of the program Master Chef was scheduled to take part.Many other well-known Israelis took part, if only via a brief online appearance. President Reuven Rivlin and other politicians took part as well.