As Passover approaches, Chabad centers around the world are putting the finishing touches on preparations for seders big and small. Emissaries are getting ready for the local residents, tourists and guests headed their way for matzah, wine, good food and even better company at seders that last well into the night as the story of the Israelite exodus from Egypt is retold.
Passover starts on the night of Monday, April 10, and runs through the night of Tuesday, April 18. (To find a seder, see the International Seder Directory.)
In Russia, where religious freedom was denied for nearly a century, Chabad-Lubavitch will hold nearly 400 seders in more than 200 different communities. An estimated 40,000 people are expected at celebrations in larger cities, where multiple seders will take place, with many of the smaller cities holding seders directed by rabbinical students.
Even with ongoing clashes in Eastern Ukraine and the continuing economic struggles throughout the country, Chabad-Lubavitch of Kharkov is busy preparing for 800 guests slated to attend five separate communal seders, which will take place simultaneously at the Jewish Community Center on both nights. Hundreds more are expected at a seder for preschool children and their families, with an additional seder being held for university students. Some 4.5 tons of matzah have been distributed to the city’s Jewish community, including to Jewish inmates in local Ukrainian prisons.
Rabbi Chaim and Chaya Mushka Segal, co-directors of Chabad Malta in St. Julian’s, had to get a little creative this year when it came to seder locations. In January, Malta became the smallest country yet to take on the presidency of the Council of the European Union—a six-month role. The hotel spaces within walking distance typically used for hosting Passover-holiday celebrations were booked as a result of ongoing E.U. meetings. Fortunately, the Segals did find a small venue, in addition to the Chabad center, to allow more people to take part in the seder.
As such, they will be able to welcome their usual crowd of about 200. They’ll be serving up a traditional menu, with imported kosher-for-Passover foods from France and Belgium key to their cooking, says Chaya Mushka Segal. Their guests include a mix of community members and travelers, usually groups and families. And two yeshivah students are coming in from New York to help make sure families have boxes of shmurah matzah.
Passover is a time for Jewish unity, she tells Chabad.org: “I want everyone to feel like one big family, to be proud of having so many Jews celebrate together. For the people who live here, Pesach night—when they see hundreds of Jews from around the world—is very empowering.”
For travelers to Malta, many from Israel, the holiday is a time to transcend geographic boundaries and religious backgrounds. “Once they’re here in the Chabad House, that’s our opportunity to explain to them that we are all one, that we should respect each other and love each other; that’s something very important to pass on,” stresses Segal.
In their five years there, she says, they have noticed more and more people interested in not only making their own seders, but purchasing kosher food for the holiday. She recently ran a program for women on how to prepare kosher-for-Passover meals; their work caught the eye of a local television channel that has taken an interest in running a program about kosher food.
“It encourages us,” she says. “When you see such progress, it gives you so much energy to continue.”
All over the world, Chabad emissaries will be helping people with the many pre-Passover activities, including obtaining shmurah matzah, instructions on cleaning for Passover, selling and burning one’s chametz and other preparations for the eight-day holiday. Online, Chabad.org offers a full range of inspiration, information and services leading up to the holiday on the Chabad.org Passover mini-site.
‘Yiddishkeit That You Live’
In Antwerp, Belgium, the annual Passover expo and “Model Matzah Bakery”—a popular seven-day educational exhibit at Chabad Lubavitch of Antwerp—has been underway since early last week. They’re expecting a total of 1,800 to 2,000 children, some from nearby Holland and Germany, to come through the doors for a chance to try their hand at matzah-making.
Rabbi Shabtai and Risha Slavaticki will celebrate their 40th Passover in Belgium this year, and have always placed an emphasis on the younger set. Making matzah has long-term value, they say. Beyond the cute hats and aprons the kids put on, rolling the dough, seeing it bake and hearing about the laws of matzah offer experiential Jewish learning. “It’s something they live; Yiddishkeit that you live is always stronger than when you hear about it,” says Risha Slavaticki.
They go home with a box of shmurah matzah for their own seders, and sometimes even wind up leading the way when it comes to the family partaking in Passover traditions at home or while traveling. “When the kids bake their own matzahs, they’re very connected to the idea of it being present at the seder and during the holiday,” she says.
Chabad will host two communal seders the first night of Passover in different halls—one geared for English- and Hebrew-speakers, and the other for Russian speakers. In all, they expect a few hundred guests. The Israeli embassy often sends people their way, adding to the international flavor of their Passover gatherings, says Slavaticki. In fact, earlier this week a group of five Finnish opera singers looking for a seder registered to attend.
Children get praise and little prizes for answering questions during the seder. The benefits are lasting, says Slavaticki: “When these kids, now 7, 8 and 9, become 20 or 21, they remember holidays at Chabad. And when they need a rabbi or a Jewish place to go in the future, they have an address.”
In the country’s capital of Brussels, about an hour away, two separate seders will be held on the first two nights of Passover for about 400 guests, with some 350 pounds of matzah distributed to Jewish homes.
‘A Transformative Experience’
Thousands of miles away on the U.S. Eastern seaboard, Jews are coming out of the woodwork to participate in Passover seders throughout the state of Florida. With spring break in full force, families come for vacations or to visit grandparents who live there year-round.
In Orlando, the holiday crowds are bigger than ever, according to Rabbi Sholom Dubov, who co-directs Chabad of Greater Orlando in Maitland with his wife, Devorah Leah. That’s thanks in part to new emissaries who have been hired to service different constituencies around town in the past year, he explains. There’s a new emissary to Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla.; a new emissary in the city of Altamonte Springs; a new emissary in downtown Orlando; and a new youth rabbi at Dubov’s location.
“They’re finding and reaching out to people in the city,” he says. “It’s amazing how many are going to be joining the seder this year who haven’t ever been to a seder before—and they’ve been living in Florida all their lives.”
Seven Chabad seders throughout the city will welcome close to 800 people between the first night and second night, he predicts. In addition to the seder taking place at his Chabad center, he’ll be hosting simultaneously a special seder just for children, run by the new youth rabbi.
“We try to make the seder very relevant to people’s practical lives and everyday living,” says Dubov. Beyond it being about remembering the past, he explains, the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—taught about the seder as a transformative experience for every individual. “The seder is a transformative experience for every single person, to be able to actually use its lessons and guidance for the rest of the year.”
Their seders will see about 125 people, including children, over the two nights. Most will be local to the area, he says. Chabad will also provide more than 200 pounds of shmurah matzah to people in the community for use at their seders. “I see in Orlando how it’s so important—people who don’t go to shul will still have a seder,” he says. “We can utilize that inspiration to educate and leave a positive message that lingers long past this Jewish evening.”
On the island of Grenada, Rabbi Boruch and Chaya Rozmarin, who serve local residents and students at St. George University, are getting ready for several seders expected to draw between 250 and 300 people. It’s always a changing crowd—students typically spend just two to three years in Grenada—but still a familial environment, says the rabbi.
Wine, grape juice and matzah have been shipped in from New York for the seders, which are largely attended by Americans and Canadians who go to medical school nearby. The Rozmarins will also provide kosher-for-Passover meals for Jewish students on campus throughout the holiday.
Sometimes, the rabbi says, students will offer to help out or set the table, often contributing seder elements that remind them of home and noticing new traditions as well. And that leaves a good taste for all involved.
“They see that you can have delicious food and anything you want on Passover. Even in Grenada, where it’s hard to keep kosher, you can have good food,” he stresses. “I think they feel very special when they know that it’s the only large communal seder in Grenada—and that they are part of it.”
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