Celebrating Passover this year has posed a challenge to many in the United States, but the festivities must go on nonetheless.
I New York, rabbinical authorities have allowed the selling of chametz (leavened bread) online rather than in person, to make sure that they uphold the age-old dietary rules of the holiday even as they observe the social distancing guidelines aimed at reducing community spread of COVID-19, the disease linked to the novel coronavirus.
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The various Jewish federations across North America have gone out of their way to support various communities in this difficult time: in Tampa Bay, online lessons for baking matzah are offered; in Boston, a new version of Ma Nishtana includes actual questions posed by Jewish children on the coronavirus.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), the advocacy body of the Jewish Federations of Canada, said that it has "consulted with all suppliers, importers, distributors and retailers of meat, poultry, dairy and dry goods foods and all have expressed full confidence in the continuing ability to ship and stock everything normally accessible for everyone's Passover needs in the same quantities as previous years."
In France, which has Europe's largest Jewish community, the leaders have organized various initiatives to make sure older people would have enough food during the holiday. "We are very optimistic because we feel a sense of togetherness; the solidarity in this particular period is a very human and Jewish gesture," Rabbi Moshe Sabag of the Great Synagogue in Paris said.
In India, the local Chabad chapter in Mumbai managed to get a special delivery fo matza and wine from Israel (they could not buy it locally because of the lockdown). From there it would be distributed to other Jewish communities around the country.
The World Zionist Organization will sponsor an online Seder of the Jews of India who have traced their roots to the lost tribes of Israel, comprising some 50 families.
Zoom will also be a prominent feature in the Seders in São Paulo, Brazil, where there are about 70,000 Jews. "This will be an unforgettable Seder," said David Meir Mizrahi, a leading organizer in the youth movement Bnei Akiva.
The Jewish Agency for Israel sent through diplomatic mail some 16,000 matzot to help the local Jewish community in Gondar, Ethiopia, where many Jewish residents await their aliyah.
Some 400 liters (105 gallons) of wine will also be distributed, as will haroset. Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog told Israel Hayom: "For every Jew in Ethiopia, let us wish 'Next Year in Jerusalem'."
