At Coachella, Jewish Rapper Kosha Dillz Hosts Mini-‘Seders’ for Passover

“We see this as a way of spreading the idea of radical hospitality.”

The seed for Matzahchella was planted in 2012 at the Paid Dues Festival, a hip-hop festival that took place during Passover in San Bernardino, California, that year. Dillz, who performed there, knew he’d miss sharing a Seder meal with his family. He decided to team up with Rabbi Yonah Bookstein and his nonprofit Shabbat Tent to host a Passover Seder at his merchandise tent. Bookstein even created an abbreviated Haggadah — the Seder’s written liturgy — for the occasion.

When Shabbat Tent isn’t hosting Matzahchella, the group provides a cost-free refuge where fans can regroup and unwind at Coachella and other music and film festivals.

“The hospitality tent is a place where people can unplug from the craziness of the festival. They can recharge, relax and enjoy refreshments,” Bookstein told RNS. Volunteers offer water, activities like crafts or face painting and Shabbat meals too. “We see this as a way of spreading the idea of radical hospitality,” he said, an important component of Shabbat, or Sabbath.

Though Bookstein and his wife, Rachel, are normally on the ground hosting Matzahchella alongside Dillz, this year they’re in Poland, hosting Passover Seders with Ukrainian refugees.

While a music festival may seem an odd place for a religious meal, Bookstein said that California’s Colorado Desert is an entirely appropriate location. “Passover is the time we tell the story of how the people left slavery in Egypt, and made their way across the desert, and here we are in the desert, having Passover.”

Though not particularly religious, Dillz said his Jewish culture is still an important part of his identity. Dillz rhymes in Yiddish and Hebrew, in addition to English and Spanish, and his raps about matzah and Passover have gone viral. He has also toured with Jewish reggae performer Matisyahu.

While Dillz hopes to play Coachella one day, his motto is “we outside, ‘till we inside,” and he looks forward to when Matzachella “will become part of the main Coachella experience.”