162,210 Attend at FJC sponsored Seders across the FSU

MOSCOW, Russia – Hundreds of thousands of Jews across the Former Soviet Union celebrated Passover in great festive tradition thanks to a mass campaign carried out by the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS. A total of 437 FJC member communities across fifteen former Soviet republics marked this week-long holiday both at home and at over 500 mass public Seders.

The FJC’s Passover campaign, coordinated in conjunction with the Moscow and regional offices of the Ohr Avner Foundation, has delivered about 1.2 million pounds of Matzah and 150,000 bottles of wine to Jewish communities, large and small. This figure has been topped up by donations collected through the FJC’s website campaign and contributions made by local donors.

Jewish communities also received 10 tons of hand-made Matzah shmura.
Numerous Jewish communities have organized Passover camps for Jewish children. Some are being held for the first time ever, while others already constitute an annual tradition. This initiative is helping children and youth to fully observing Passover in a way that, for many families in the post-Soviet sphere, would otherwise not be possible.

300 rabbinical students from the U.S.A. and Israel visited Jewish communities in the CIS and Baltic countries, thanks to a collaborative initiative between the FJC CIS and Lubavitch World Headquarters. In addition to another 150 students attending local yeshivot to bring Passover to Jews far and wide, to the most remote and isolated communities that are without a resident Rabbi.

Avraham Berkowitz Executive Director of the FJC said“ The tales that I heard over the last few days from Chabad Rabbinical students of their visits were very heartwarming ” A student tells of a lone Jew on the edge of Mongolia who celebrated Passover with them for the first time since before World War II or a Jewish soldier who joined the Seder in Siberia, this is the most powerful testimony to the modern day miracles of the Jews celebrating Passover in the biblical days and today all over again”.

The FJC Passover campaign has been made possible thanks to the sponsorship of Mr. Lev and Olga Leviev of the Ohr Avner Foundation, the Rohr Family Foundation of NY and Florida, as well as thousands of North American and local donors who responded to the FJC Passover Appeal.

Through their generosity, hundreds of thousands of Jews throughout the Former Soviet Union will also be able to enjoy the gift and heritage of what is the Passover holiday.