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Kibbutzim seek to revive declining community tradition - Passover seders By Eli Ashkenazi Tags: Passover Over the past few weeks, Hannah Fein of Netzer Sireni has been running a "marketing campaign" to bring back a treasured tradition that vanished from her kibbutz some eight years ago: the communal seder "in all its old glory." Fein, the community's cultural director, wants to celebrate the Passover holiday "the way we used to." She says her determination worked, and some 60 families signed up - for a total of 300 people. Due to financial woes, many kibbutzim have been privatized over the past few decades, and this has meant that many of the communal activities that characterized them have been losing strength - including the communal seders. Despite this, kibbutz officials say most kibbutzim will still hold joint seders on Passover eve. The largest such event is set to be held at Kibbutz Naan, where more than 1,200 people and their guests will dine together. Advertisement Traditionally, kibbutz seders used the kibbutz Haggadah. This version of the traditional text tells the story of the Exodus from Egypt and emphasizes peaceful relations between Israel and its neighbors, prayers for the State of Israel, abundant rain for crops and the safety of Israel Defense Forces soldiers. Fein remembers how it used to be at Netzer Sireni: "Each and every person helped make the gefilte fish and matza balls, sang in the choir and went to endless rehearsals." But privatization and social change have brought new behavioral patterns, and many families now celebrate Passover privately, at home. "They stopped having seders because of the changes," meaning privatization, Fein says. "In some ways, it also changed the community's mores; values were privatized. For a few years we tried to hold a seder and hung a notice on the board, expecting people to sign up, but fewer than 10 families did. That's how things are now, after the change. It has affected our values. A community's culture should manifest itself in celebrating holidays together." Indeed, Fein is not the only one determined to rekindle the kibbutz tradition of communal seders. In the Lower Galilee kibbutz of Beit Keshet, Moshe Sadovsky is hard at work organizing the community's annual seder, which he helped revive a few years ago. Sadovsky, a graduate of an ultra-Orthodox yeshiva in Jerusalem, moved with his wife to the kibbutz four years ago after finding work there as a kashrut supervisor. "I wanted to get to know secular Jews, and I wanted them to get to know me," Sadovsky explains. At the kibbutz, Sadovsky has marked Jewish holidays and has tried to get members involved. "It was Rosh Hashanah, and nobody celebrated," he says. "I decided to mark Yom Kippur, and they said no one would come and that it was pointless. But eventually kibbutz members began coming and showing an interest. They said to me: 'That was nice, we no longer mark holidays here, maybe we'll do something together.'" Then they asked him to organize a communal seder, Sadovsky says. "I was wary of doing so. I told them I'd never organized such a thing, but my wife encouraged me and prepared the food with her friends. About 90 people showed up. We sang, told stories and rejoiced. Members told me it brought back memories of togetherness." As an ultra-Orthodox Jew, Sadovsky planned his seder based on halakhic tradition, rather than the kibbutz tradition. Still, the following year 150 people signed up to participate. This year, there will be only 50 participants. Meanwhile, at Netzer Sireni, Fein is ebullient as the seder approaches. "We'll celebrate the way we used to with ceremonies, a choir, a display of 60 years of seders at Netzer Sireni, and it will touch people," she promises. "It'll take us back to the kibbutz's springtime." Bookmark to del.icio.us   Passover in Damascus Syria's 100 remaining Jews say they feel free to celebrate Passover openly. Shanghai surprise A Jewish couple in Shanghai weds inside a synagogue for the first time since WWII.   1.   The Egyptians played a role in God`s revelation of deliverence 00:31  |  for all mankind 20/04/08

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