The remaining Jewish families in Ukraine will mark Seder this year against the backdrop of cannon thunder and bombardment. Many of them will have to find solutions in order to feel the holiday atmosphere and keep the tradition, despite the battles.
According to Zvi Hirsch-Blinder, a native and resident of Odessa, his family has only begun to celebrate Seder in recent years. “Of course I knew I was from a Jewish family, but the only thing that symbolized Passover for us was the custom of eating matzah,” he says. “At the age of 21, I first experimented on Seder night, and then I also got closer to Judaism, I was circumcised, I started keeping Shabbat and celebrating the holidays. Since then, I have been careful not to miss any Seder night, nor this year. ”
Hirsch-Blinder, his wife and children usually celebrate Seder at a mass meal of the Jewish community in Odessa with 100 mourners, but during the Corona period they were content to observe Seder at home, which in the shadow of the difficult circumstances, they plan to do this year as well. “Since the outbreak of the war, my wife and I have hardly left the house,” he says. “At one point we moved into the apartment of my wife’s co-worker, who she and her whole family fled to Berlin because of the war.
We moved to this house because it is more protected: it is a new and relatively strong building compared to the old buildings, and because it is close to the alley, it has airtight rooms with no windows, which is an advantage in case of shelling. It may not be like the MMAD you have in Israel, but we hope it will protect us enough. In this sealed room, we plan to set the order table and we will try to broadcast as routine as possible. ”
Does Passover as a “holiday of freedom” have a stronger meaning for you this year?
“To be honest, I never attached importance to the issue of freedom that Passover symbolizes. Of course I know the background to the holiday, but until the outbreak of the war I took my liberty for granted. This year I learned to put more emphasis and appreciate this freedom. ”
How did you get organized?
We usually buy matzah through a Chabad house, but this year, due to the war and the problem of matzah shipments to Ukraine, Chabad Chassidim in Odessa took care to produce handmade matzahs and sell them to residents, without being dependent on shipping from abroad. I’ve never celebrated such a special Passover, but you know what? The Jewish people went through much more difficult periods throughout ancient history, and also in non-ancient history such as the Holocaust and World War II. If they survived then and made sure to mark the holiday, so can we. I hope that this Passover will bring us all freedom, peace and happiness. ”
From lemon to lemonade
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Wolf, the rabbi of the city of Kherson who was occupied by the Russians, will try to celebrate Seder night in the shadow of the restrictions imposed on the residents of his city. “The Russians imposed a curfew on us that forbids us to leave the house after eight o’clock in the evening, which is the time when Seder usually begins,” he says. “Although we know we can be bombarded at any moment, we plan to celebrate Seder properly in a full election. We usually hold a community seder night for a number of families in the area, but this time, because of the curfew, we will hold the seder night in the morning so we can get out of the holiday meal safely and not during the curfew. “Russian forces have been in control of the area for more than a month, but we will not let them defeat our spirit.”
Is not it strange to celebrate Seder in the morning?
“Certainly it is not ideal, but the health of all those involved is important to us, and we want no one to be harmed because he came to celebrate the Seder, so we will do it that way. I believe it will be nice and pleasant. ”
Rabbi Wolf notes that he and his family plan to hold the holiday meal twice. “In the morning we will have an extensive Seder night with several families, and in the evening we will have a smaller meal with guests who will come to sleep with us due to the curfew,” he says. “This is how we will celebrate our freedom twice. I always say that life is stronger than anything. The situation is not up to us, and we need to adapt to it and try and get the best out of it. Turn the lemon into lemonade. ”
“I do not define myself as a religious person, but I am a conservative Jew,” says Sasha Kotler, secretary of the municipality of the city of Caribbean Ria in the Dnipropetrovsk region. “We are five people: me, my wife and our three children. The holiday is less in the forefront of our minds this year because we are in one of the great crises of our generation and in the war for survival. ”
Still, how do you celebrate the holiday?
“I have not yet obtained matzah because there is a shortage, but I hope to be able to obtain by the holiday. We’ll start Seder night at home, but if there will be shelling, then we’ll go down to the basement. We plan to open a table in two places: one in the house and the other in the basement, in order to continue the holiday sequence and not let the shelling spoil our tradition. ”
What is the importance of the holiday for you this year?
“I did not think about it too much, I just know that this holiday is part of my Jewish affiliation, and it is something I am proud of and will not give up as long as it is up to me. This year the holiday takes on greater significance because the enemy wants to ruin our lives and harm us in reality, and we do not give in to it, but continue to celebrate and fight. The very fact that we are celebrating Seder night, with all the difficulties that exist, is our true victory. ”
Rabbi Yossi Wolf (Photo: Private)From Egypt to the present day
Seder night will be celebrated by Irena Gritsevskaya with her family in Chernivtsi. “This year the issue of freedom is very relevant, that is, where we are now and when we will go to freedom,” she says. “We are ready to celebrate Seder in any scenario, and take into account that even during Seder they can shell us. There is something symbolic in the fact that we preserve our Jewish tradition during such a war. ”
Where will you celebrate the holiday with your family?
“In a sheltered shelter, to ensure that the whole family is protected on this holiday. In terms of matzah, because there is a delay in the transfer of matzah to Ukraine, a place has been established in Ukraine that produces matzah for the residents. ”
Irena Gritsevskaya (Photo: Private)Daniel Kartnik has been living with his wife in Lvov and has been making efforts since the outbreak of the war to help refugees leave Ukraine, as well as to help Ukrainian citizens survive the war. “We are in a very difficult time, and this is the first time in my life that I have hesitated whether there is any point in celebrating Seder or giving up,” he says. “We work from morning to evening trying to help everyone and are too exhausted to think about a holiday meal. There are Jewish families who cannot celebrate Seder because they are divided: many women and children fled outside Ukraine, and the men stayed to fight, or the children enlisted in the army and the war establishment. “Here comes a commendation for Chabad and the rabbis of the communities who organize public Passover meals for all the Jews who were left alone to allow them to keep the tradition.”
Daniel Kartnik (Photo: Private)Where will you and your wife be on Seder night?
“We can not exactly know that we live from day to day, but the plan is to band together with other Jewish families from Lvov in a hotel and have a proper holiday meal to try to keep the tradition as much as possible. Passover symbolizes for me the war for freedom, and just as the people of Israel fought for their freedom then in Egypt, we are fighting for that freedom now in Ukraine. “Celebrating Seder night, in whatever form and way it may be because of the war, is our symbol of freedom.”