Traditional Seders in Exotic Places

By Karen Schwartz, Chabad.org

Chani Lifshitz co-directs the Chabad House of Kathmandu in Nepal, where putting a seder together for 1,500 anticipated guests definitely means planning ahead. With no electricity 12 hours a day, it’s not an easy task, but one that’s well worth it, she says.

Some 2,000 bottles of wine, boxes and boxes of matzah, and 500 chickens await throngs of backpackers and other tourists who have pointed their compasses toward the world-famous annual event.

Another 400-person Chabad seder will take place in Pokhara, and one more will welcome between 100 and 150 people in Manang, a multiple-day hike into the mountains.

Rabbinical students known as Roving Rabbis are in place to help organize and facilitate the seders. In total, 500 rabbinical students were dispatched to 82 countries under the direction of Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice-chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch.

They were expected to reach 50,000 Jews in some 190 different communities around the world. Those headed farthest away have already left, walking the trail after being helicoptered partway in with the matzah and wine.

Like emissaries all over the world, Lifshitz and her husband, co-director Rabbi Chezki Lifshitz, are preparing to greet Jews of all backgrounds to holiday meals, where the narration of the Passover story will be punctuated by good food and company.

Kathmandu and Cuzco, Peru, hold two of the largest communal Chabad seders, with the buzz of anticipation preceding them as travelers get set to enjoy the festivities. These meals have become the subject of legends for the crowds they draw and the impact they have on attendees.

It’s powerful to see so many people singing together, says Chani Lifshitz. But more than that, she adds, the seders serve the purpose of fostering Jewish unity in remote parts of the world, which was the vision of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory.

“I always feel so proud to be part of the shlcuhim, and the amazing unity of the Rebbe,” she says. “It’s so nice to see people sing these songs and eat matzah. I always have tears in my eyes at this part of the seder.”

On the other side of the world, Chabad Rabbi Yosef Konikov and a team of eight students head to a cluster of vacation villas in Orlando, Fla., to blow torch and kasher kitchens for Passover. Four teams fan out to the homes, covering the counters in tin foil and lining the fridges to prepare them for the guests traveling near and far for a holiday stay.

The short-term rentals will, in a matter of days, become one of the area’s epicenters for celebrating Passover, which begins the evening of Monday, March 25. One villa is transformed into a synagogue for classes and services, says Konikov. On Saturday night, they host a concert and barbecue. “We kosher all these places, and then people just basically leave their houses and move into these. It’s very beautiful.”

Meanwhile, Chabad of Orlando will hold a seder in the ballroom of the Crowne Plaza Hotel. To cater to an audience that includes a number of Israelis, organizers will incorporate menu items that make them feel right at home. Guests will be seated at long tables and go around asking the traditional “Four Questions” in the languages of whoever is present, not limited to English, Hebrew, Yiddish and Spanish.

“That’s always a lot of fun,” says Konikov.

About 200 people have reservations, but that number should climb to 300 as tourists visiting Disney World seek to celebrate. It happens every year, says the rabbi, as folks get nostalgic for the holiday, even in the middle of their spring vacations. And he relishes the combination of people from around the world sitting together, singing and connecting as they recall the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt.

Konikov says he hopes people leave the seder — and more widely, Orlando — feeling like they came to see more than just the amusement park: “I want the memory to be the Chabad Center. I want them to walk away saying, ‘That was a great vacation because of Chabad.’ ”

In Thailand, Rabbi Nechemya Wilhelm preps for Passover at Chanukah time. Chabad there expects 1,000 guests in Bangkok; up to 1,200 in Koh Samui; 700 to 800 in Phuket; and another 700 to 800 in Chiang Mai. A container of supplies from Israel has already arrived. In the past, attendees have said they plan their entire trips around these seders.

In Bangkok, the function room in the Chabad House can hold a bit more than 1,000. They will celebrate in a new building in Koh Samui — the seder was previously held in a big tent — and in Phuket, Chabad reserves hotel space.

“In general, the seder is a big challenge,” says Wilhelm, “but it comes out beautifully.”

The Haggadah is read in its entirety, with each table undertaking a chapter in what he says becomes a very active telling of the Passover story. For many, this will be the first time they have sat through a seder especially one that lasts so long, says the rabbi —drinking the four cups of wine, telling the story, learning about and remembering the Paschal offering, and eating matzah and the bitter herbs.

And every year, he adds, they get comments about how much it all means to them all.

Says Wilhelm: “The unity that you can feel in the room is unbelievable.”