New Yorkers of a certain vintage might recall the witty Manhattan Mini Storage billboards that, appearing in the heart of the “Sex and the City” era, gave a boom-time upgrade to the city’s normal grousing. “I loved ‘NYC: Tolerant of your beliefs, judgmental of your shoes,’ ” Archie Gottesman, who co-wrote the ads, said on the phone. So when, three years ago, she left Manhattan Mini Storage (her family’s company) to find fresh pasture for her branding skills, it seemed natural to focus on the urbane kvetching of a different tribe.

“I was, like, Ugh, why isn’t Judaism, this religion that’s so full of wisdom, so full of smart values, selling itself better?” she recalled. Her rebrand begat a Web-site venture, JewBelong, with its own hip sloganeering (“Imagine your cell phone battery was on 6% and lasted 8 days. That’s Hanukkah!”), and, for holidays such as Passover, do-it-yourself guidelines based on Gottesman’s own, sometimes unorthodox practice. “They have this Fireball whiskey that tastes like cinnamon, and we play where, every time you hear the name Moses, you take a shot,” she said. “It’s the burning bush!” (See also: a Red Sea centerpiece made of Jell-O.) The campaign has not been without controversy, and last year an especially daring ad—“Even if you think kugel is an exercise for your vagina . . . JewBelong”—inspired a conservative vandal to spray-paint over “for your vagina” on the sides of Upper West Side phone kiosks. Portnoy lives.

The other day, as Jews of the old, square cast broke square matzo in squarish Zoom windows, JewBelong moved its Seder operations online with an eye to greater meshugas and scale. Fourteen hundred screens had tuned in. Gottesman got two of her friends, the actress Alysia Reiner and the former magazine editor Joanna Coles, to co-host (Reiner: Jewish; Coles: down with the cause), and they pulled together a highfalutin guest list. At 7:04 p.m., Gottesman appeared onscreen wearing silver hoop earrings and her white hair in a ponytail. “I can’t see you guys,” she said. “But we have lots of fun in store—including Venmo cash prizes for finding the afikoman!”

The night’s text was JewBelong’s own, a Haggadah with sans-serif type and festive songs written to familiar tunes. Some readings were self-recorded, then edited together into a multivocal patchwork; others were done solo, via Webcam. Dan Bucatinsky, the “Scandal” actor, started with a blessing. “May everyone who shares in a Jewish life feel welcome and integrated,” he said, speaking from a red-painted room, with all the curtains drawn.

“Hi, everybody, it’s Cory Booker,” the New Jersey senator (also down with the cause), said, appearing onscreen, in a kitchen. He was wearing a pin-striped suit, the jacket buttoned at the waist, and a red tie. “I’ve had long experience taking part in Passover Seders,” he went on. “This idea of escaping slavery—how powerful it was for my ancestors who were slaves.”

“Now is the time that we describe the Seder plate,” said Reiner, coming onscreen with her daughter and her husband, and sitting in front of a painting of the ocean. Food had presented a challenge for most Zooming Jews; a Seder requires specific items, but shop closures had made some hard to acquire. Reiner mixed salt water in a wineglass. “In doing this with intention, it becomes more than salt water; it becomes the memory of sweat and tears,” she said, swirling it like a Cabernet. Her family walked distant viewers through the offerings, adding optional signifiers. “The orange,” Reiner said, holding an orange, “is a symbol of fruitfulness and love and inclusion of our L.G.B.T.Q.-plus friends.”

Five comedians narrated part of the Maggid, the story of the Jews’ passage from Egypt to Israel, in tag-team patter. (Rick Crom: “God is, like, ‘Look, first of all, I hate to break it to you, but you’re a Jew.’ ” Judy Gold: “Matzo! Unleavened bread! Constipation.”) David Simon, the creator of “The Wire,” appeared and, sombre, helped lead a Dayenu thankfulness prayer. Then Coles, in a red blouse and a white blazer, poured wine for Elijah. “Elijah’s not here, so I may drink his as well as my own,” she said. “We must all contribute our best talents and energies to help fulfill Elijah’s promise of a peaceful world.” A comment feed from viewers ran alongside the video. “I have never drunk so much so quickly,” someone wrote.

Offline, Gottesman explained, “We really try our best not to Jewbarrass anyone”—her term for Jews (and non-Jews) being made to feel sheepish for not knowing the rules. She herself had been compelled to get creative with the zeroa, the shank bone included in the Seder. “Alysia found a raccoon bone in the road, and I’m, like, Perfect,” she said. “I mean, this is COVID time. This is our plague, but we are going to get through it.” ♦