Over the Passover holiday Israel Returns was very active with programs in full force all over the globe. The communities that Israel Returns supports celebrated Passover this year in a variety of ways, each according to their own custom, and Israel Returns, was there to help them do it. From the first seder in Kaifeng, China in the past 200 years, to our emissaries helping the fledgling community in Poland  to Italy, and all the way to Colombia, Israel Returns brought the Passover spirit of freedom to the Jews still living in the far flung reaches of the globe.

Poland

Rabbi Yehoshua Ellis led a communal Seder for the Polish Jewish community in Katowice. Rabbi Avi Baumol did the same in Krakow at the JCC there and over 120 people attended. Leading up to Pesach, Rabbi Baumol also held a number of “Pesach prep” events including one called “Ask the Rabbi about Pesach.” The questions poured in and the interest was astonishing!

Over in Wroclaw, 150 people attended a community Seder. They certainly came prepared: in the week before the holiday, Rabbi Tyson Herberger ran a series of “model Seders” based on a “chocolate” theme: chocolate-covered wafers instead of matzah, bitter chocolate as maror (bitter herbs) and Nutella chocolate spread filling in as a substitute for charoset (which itself symbolizes the mortar the Israelite slaves used in their Egyptian building projects). Matzah was also distributed during the events, which were held in the towns of Zary and Walbrzych, and in two Jewish schools in Wroclaw.

Then, just prior to the holiday, on Saturday night, Polish Jews were invited to a melave malka (Saturday night feast) with two Israeli emissaries in the area.The emissaries taught traditional melodies used for the Seder, and then on Sunday night, the group met up in a local pub for one final “sip” of chametz in the form of a pre-Pesach beer.

Colombia

Rabbi Shimon Yehoshua headed up a Seder for 80 Bnei Anousim in the city of Cali. Eighteen people from neighboring Ecuador joined the Seder, which took place in a hotel that Rabbi Yehoshua made kosher especially for the holiday.

Portugal

There were two Seders in Portugal – one in Belmonte with Shavei Israel’s emissary Rabbi Elisha Salas, and another in Trancoso with Genie Milgrom, who converted to Judaism and is currently the president of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Miami while acting as the executive vice-president for the Society of Crypto-Judaic Studies, as well as being a role model for bnei anousim all over the world. Milgrom was special guest, and before Shabbat, told her remarkable story of proving her Jewish roots, in spite of her conversion. On Sunday, she led a hands-on genealogy workshop based on her methodology.

Spain

Rabbi Nissan Ben-Avraham’s students in the Spanish city of Granada held a community Seder at the home of Jose Manuel Romero Camarero. Eleven people attended – three families including four children. In Alicante, a group of 10 people made Seder together at the home of Yaakov Hernandez.

Italy

The students of Rabbi Pinchas Punturello held a community Seder in Palermo, Sicily. The Seder included four young Bnei Anousim who were in Israel recently.

With all of the activity around the globe Israel Returns is making a huge impact on the jewish communities that would otherwise likely be unconnected to Judaism or Israel. It is through programs and activities like these that these Jews will remain connected and hopefully find a home in Israel soon.