Cayman’s Jewish community will be holding a ‘Fill an extra Seder seat’ campaign in solidarity with Ukraine’s Jews who are unable celebrate Passover, which begins on Friday, 15 April.
Passover is the most observed Jewish holiday, and the Seder – the festive ritual-heavy dinner on the first two nights of the holiday – is usually celebrated with extended family and friends.
Many Jews in Ukraine will not be able to attend a Seder because of the war, and Ukraine’s rabbis are now calling on all Jews around the world to “fill an extra Seder seat” by inviting even just one more guest, who otherwise wouldn’t have somewhere to celebrate the Passover Seder.
“Reach out to a family member, neighbor or co-worker who doesn’t have Passover Seder plans and invite them to your home, please,” said Rabbi Avraham Wolff, Chief Rabbi of Odessa. “Do it for us, the Jewish people in Ukraine who may not be able to attend a Seder.”
Rabbi Berel Pewzner of the Chabad Cayman Jewish Community Centre said Cayman’s Jewish community would be heeding that call.
“We in Cayman will be hosting a community Seder on Friday evening, April 15,” he said. “Communal Seders have been a tradition in Cayman for many decades and we look forward to another wonderful gathering this year as well.”
He added, “My colleagues in Ukraine, where the rabbis are heroically providing relief and Passover supplies even as bombs are falling, have reached out asking that we ensure everyone here in Cayman has a Seder to go to because many in their community can’t attend one. It’s the least we can do for them! A simple yet profound Passover gift.”
What are Seders?
Seders take participants through the Exodus of the Jewish people from bondage in Egypt while sharing the relevance and beauty of the age-old festival with a timeless message for our modern times, the rabbi said. Included are the 15 steps of the Seder, drinking of the four cups of wine, eating the bitter herb and matzah – many are seeking out the traditional handmade round ‘Shmurah’ Matzah and have reincorporated them into family Passover tradition.
“While Cayman’s Jewish community joyfully joins together in a communal Seder after two Passovers of Covid,” he said, “the needs of those suffering across the globe will be on our minds. In Jewish tradition, Matzah is referred to as the ‘Bread of Faith’ and the ‘Bread of Healing,’ at this time faith, hope and healing are desperately needed as we pray for the wellbeing of our brothers and sisters in Ukraine.”
The local Jewish community has joined in the global effort to save lives, with many community members contributing to the Ukraine Jewish Relief Fund at Chabadcaymanislands.com/Ukraine.
The campaign launched by Ukraine’s rabbis is being done in honour of the 120th anniversary (on April 12th) since the birth of the Rebbe — Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, the most influential rabbi in modern history — in Ukraine.
The Rebbe built Jewish life in Ukraine since the fall of the Soviet Union through his 384 Chabad emissaries who built just about all the Jewish infrastructure that exists in Ukraine today, including scores of synagogues and schools across 32 of Ukraine’s largest cities, as well as the world’s largest Jewish community center in Dnipro, the city the Rebbe grew up in. In 1954, the Rebbe also launched a Passover campaign to encourage and enable all Jewish people to participate in Passover traditions.
About Passover
The eight-day festival of Passover is celebrated this year from sundown on Friday night, 15 April, until after nightfall on Saturday, 23 April. Passover commemorates the exodus of the Jews from Egypt and will be celebrated with festive Seder dinners on April 15 and 16. Other holiday observances include not eating or owning any leavened products such as bread and pasta, instead eating unleavened matzah.
The Passover Seder is a 15-step family-oriented tradition and ritual-packed feast. It is the highlight of Passover and observed on each of the first two nights of the holiday. During the Seder, participants read from the Haggadah, while observing the customs including the drinking of four cups of wine, eating matzah and asking the Four Questions.
Jewish Community of Ukraine
Ukraine, home to some 350,000 Jews, is where the Chassidic movement was founded by Rabbi Yisroel Baal Shem Tov. The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the most influential rabbi in modern history, sent 384 Chabad emissaries to Ukraine to rebuild the community following the collapse of the USSR.
They serve in 32 cities across Ukraine, where they built synagogues, schools and social service institutions, including the world’s largest Jewish community centre in Dnipro.
Tuesday, 12 April, marked 120 years since the Rebbe’s birth in Nikolaev, Ukraine, an event that Jews around the world celebrated.
Spaces for Seder are limited. Anyone who wishes to join can contact [email protected] or 516-4474.
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