With the ongoing spread of COVID-19 and mandatory “Safer at Home” initiatives, many Jews around the globe found themselves isolated for Passover this year.
The Israeli-American Council (IAC) wanted to ensure that every Jew who chose to have a seder didn’t have to do it alone and organized digital seders for more than 2,000 participants.
“We wanted to make sure that those who are unaccustomed to celebrating Passover alone, or have never had a Seder before, had the option to celebrate together with the rest of the Jewish community, at a time when Jewish unity and togetherness is so important,” IAC co-founder and CEO Shoham Nicolet said. “It seems like every day is like a year. We are doing things we couldn’t do a month ago. We couldn’t reconnect people from coast to coast to celebrate together. Now, the sky’s the limit.”
Las Vegas resident Liad Nemeth and her family attended several virtual seders with the help of IAC so she could celebrate with her family in Israel and with friends in Las Vegas. She told the Journal that if it weren’t for the IAC, she wouldn’t have had a seder.
“We almost always get invited to Passover, it’s never a holiday I host,” Nemeth said. “It was weird for me…All my family is in Israel. We are usually 28 people. It’s different. Because everybody was doing it, it didn’t feel awkward to do it. It’s the new way to do it this year. It felt comfortable.”
Nemeth noted how special it was to have her two kids, 17 and 20 years old, participate in the multi-seders to set an example for the younger members tuning in for the streaming service.
“I know my kids are older but for the smaller kids [it’s important] to continue seeing that no matter what’s going on, the show must go on,” Nemeth said. “We still have to celebrate. It’s important because we live here, outside of Israel. We need to keep our traditions… Otherwise, it is just another day.”
The digital seders are part of the new IAC@Home initiative, which was created to give Israeli-Americans and the American Jewish community virtual activities to enrich Jewish and Israeli life amid the coronavirus pandemic. Participants could choose to join one of the many existing seders taking place virtually, or create one themselves using a resource kit provided by the IAC.
Those who opted to host were given a tip booklet for hosting; a link to a haggadah; directions to open a Zoom meeting and managing guidelines; a Passover activities booklet for kids; and an invitation to join a virtual meeting for seder leaders for more guidance.
IAC has also offered free online educational experiences to children, teenagers, college students, young professionals, young families, schools and adults. More than 100 programs offer community-wide virtual events like Kabbalat Shabbat services, classed on Jewish heritage and the Hebrew language, innovation, entrepreneurship and activism.
Roxanne Mofaz lives in New York City and took full advantage of IAC’s online programming. She participated in Kabbalat Shabbat services with her three young daughters and hosted a Passover seder using IAC’s kit. She virtually welcomed 10 families to her Zoom seder.
“It was an amazing experience,” Mofaz said. “It’s so wonderful that IAC created an opportunity for people not to feel lonely. The way that I look at it, it is such a mitzvah. Many of the people that participated in the virtual seder wouldn’t be able to celebrate otherwise. It was really meaningful.”
“Some participants were older people who were afraid to leave their homes. For them, it was the first time after weeks that they felt the urge to really enjoy the holiday,” Mofaz added. “It gave them a feeling of belonging. I am so grateful for that. We were able to be with other Jewish people and enjoy the chag. It wasn’t just hosting it was making the community bigger.”
