The Seder night has forged iron clad links in the
chain of our Mesora for over 3,300 years. The
indelible imprint of this night fortifies its participants,
young and old, for the entire year. The message of the
Seder has been carried in Jewish heart throughout the
centuries: "Vehi she'omdo la'avoseinu velonu," providing
the endurance to combat some of the most hellish tortures and
pain imaginable.
For some, the Seder experience has proven powerful
enough to last a lifetime. For many Russian immigrants it
remained the only thread connecting them to their heritage
and people.
An elderly Russian woman burst into tears in the middle of
the Return/Shuvu Pesach seder in Carmiel. "My father
used to do this. This is exactly how it was in my family
too."
Another Russian lady was placed in a family seder in
Jerusalem by Return/Shuvu personnel. She attended with her
middle-aged daughter. As the seder progressed the
reserved lady interrupted. "This is Grandmother's holiday!"
she exclaimed excitedly. "I haven't seen this since I was six
years old. I never even knew that this was called Pesach. My
parents never told me, lest I go to school and unknowingly
slip up and inform on my family."
These are not new scenarios for Return/Shuvu. It happened
last year and the year before. And it happened this year
again at the model seder in the Return/Shuvu school in
Hadera, during the matzo distribution in the
Return/Shuvu school in Tel Aviv and after the Return/Shuvu
community seder in Petach Tikvah.
Throughout Israel, thousands of additional Russian immigrant
children continue to enroll in Return/Shuvu schools and
affiliates, and each year they bring their parents and
grandparents back to their roots, back to the seder
night and beyond. Yes, this is the power of leil
haseder. Even after lying dormant for seventy years, the
spark of Yiddishkeit ignited by a young child's seder
experience cannot be extinguished. But it takes considerable
effort -- and patience -- to fan that spark back into a
blazing fire. Return/Shuvu is investing the effort.
This year, Return/Shuvu distributed packages of
Kimcha Depischa consisting of matzos, wine, grape
juice, Russian Haggodos and a Pesach handbook to 4,950
Russian immigrant families including approximately 17,000
individuals. The distribution took place in a record number
of thirty-three locations in conjunction with Pesach seminars
and model sedorim designed to help these families put
all that their children learned in school into practice. And
the families were overjoyed.
In Hadera, a parent's meeting was underway. New parents who
had registered their children in the Return/Shuvu School for
the coming year came to hear about the school. They listened
attentively to all the school had to offer until some noise
outside disturbed the meeting -- it was the delivery of wine,
grape juice and Haggodos for the upcoming Pesach
seminar. The parents went out to see and could not believe
their eyes. "The stories we heard about this place are real.
Return/Shuvu truly cares for its families!" They happily
accepted invitations to join the Return/Shuvu pre-Pesach and
Pesach activities with their families.
In Sderot, seven hundred families walked up and down the
aisles of a Pesach Shuk. They received potatoes and
beets and Return/Shuvu's package -- and their Yom Tov was
well on its way.
In Rishon Letzion, the packages were attractively wrapped in
cellophane. After an animated "crash course" for the upcoming
chag the families went home with their beautiful
gifts. The smiles on their faces testified to the program's
success.
Return/Shuvu did not forget the children in the pre-Pesach
rush. Special pre-Pesach camps were designed to occupy these
children during the week before Pesach when schools are
closed and their parents are at work. These camps thoroughly
prepare the children for Pesach with arts and crafts, trips
to the matzo bakery and fun learning activities. This,
in conjunction with all that the children learned in school,
bring Pesach to life for the children.
85 year old Michael Povlovsky is a Russian
immigrant in Beit Shemesh. He spoke to the children about
what Pesach used to be like in Russia -- before Communism and
during. He told them about matzo baking and his annual
"sick leave" which he took before and during the chag.
He told them how even during the years when he couldn't
get matzos he didn't eat chometz.
The Return/Shuvu seder program was no less ambitious.
2,300 Russian immigrants -- school children, their parents,
grandparents, aunts and uncles -- attended Return/Shuvu
community sedorim in sixteen locations throughout
Israel. Hundreds of additional immigrant families were placed
with Yom Tov observant families for the seder night
and thousands of other Return/Shuvu students made sedorim
at home with their families -- or for their families.
And how was leil haseder? What impression did the
night leave? Return/Shuvu offers the reader some feedback
heard from the participants:
A fifty year old woman who attended Return/Shuvu Pesach
seder in Yeruchom. "This was the first seder of
my life. Tonight was the first time I ever felt like a
Jew."
A young man who attends the Return/Shuvu high school in
Jerusalem proudly announced, "Last year I was the simple son,
now I am well on my way to being the wise son! Return/Shuvu
has shown me what being a Jew is all about."
Two boys from the Return/Shuvu school in Ashdod made a
seder for their parents, aunts, uncles and elderly
grandmother who just arrived from Russia to Israel. After
witnessing her nine and thirteen year old grandsons run the
entire seder step by step the grandmother exclaimed,
"This is the nachas that I have been waiting to see my
whole life! The whole hardship of coming to Israel was worth
it just for this night."
A student in the Return/Shuvu school in Tel Aviv attended the
seder in her teacher's home in Bnei Brak. After Yom
Tov her mother called the school. "After hearing about
Larissa's seder experience we [the parents] are sorry
that we chose not to participate. This year we sent our
daughter away for the seder, next year we will make
the seder together at home as a family!"
A fourth grader from the Return/Shuvu School in Rishon
Letzion made a seder for his family. "Usually the
children ask the questions at the seder -- tonight my
parents are asking me." And his father responded. "Next year,
I hope to have the answers for you!"
And so ends the busy Return/Shuvu Pesach season for the year.
And the challenge begins. Return/Shuvu aims to hold on to the
hearts that were touched by the seder, to harness the
inspiration which the Yom Tov had to offer and carry it for
the year to come.
