Grapevine, April 19, 2024: A sad Seder

• Published date: 19 April 2024
• Author: GREER FAY CASHMAN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Chezki and Chani Lifshitz arrived in Kathmandu a year or two later as directors of the Chabad Center and took over the running of the Seder, although there was always some input from the Israel Embassy. The attendance grew from year to year increasing to around 2,000 people at its peak, and developed a reputation for being the largest Seder in the world

But apparently that's not so.

Writing for Algemeiner, Debbie Weiss states that the Seder in Gondar, Ethiopia, will be the largest in the world, with expectations of 4,000 participants who are residing in camps and are awaiting emigration to Israel.

They've been waiting a very long time living on hope and broken promises.

Weiss learned from Jeremy Feit, the president of the Struggle to Save Ethiopian Jewry (SSEJ) aid group, that more than 80,000 matzot had been baked in recent weeks by members of the community.

A somewhat smaller Seder with close to 1,000 in attendance, will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital.

Due to a shortage of funds and high prices, it is unlikely that there will be any meat at the Seders, and this year's feast will consist largely of potatoes and eggs.

The final words in the official part of the Seder are "Next Year in Jerusalem."

It is unlikely that the Ethiopian Jews waiting so desperately to set foot in Jerusalem will do so, but at least they are a little better off than the hostages in Gaza, who will have no Seder at all, and who do not know if and when they will ever see Jerusalem again.

In the days Jews of the free world were campaigning for the freedom of emigration for Soviet and Syrian Jews, empty chairs would be placed at the Seder table to remind everyone of who should be sitting there but were prevented from doing so by the respective regimes under which they lived.With regard to Ethiopia, Weiss writes: "The Seder comes on the heels of an airlift of medical supplies for the beleaguered community, facilitated by SSEJ. Ten pallets of aid were delivered to a medical clinic established by the group a year ago in Gondar, serving 3,300 children and 700 elderly. The aid was dedicated in memory of former US senator Joe Lieberman, who served as SSEJ's honorary chairman and who passed away during the weeks-long airlift operation."

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