The Corona epidemic caused thousands of households to celebrate with screens and apps • Doctors and nurses gave up holiday Eve with their families • Passover eve - Photos

Passover tables are laid out, matzos are laid out on the table, all dressed in holiday clothes - and open the Zoom app and screens to celebrate Seder with their families. Such a situation could sound fanciful and taken from a futuristic movie up to a month ago But the Corona epidemic, which has spread around the world, has presented the Jewish people with a new and unique situation that they have never encountered. What did your Seder look like?

Transatlantic night: "I didn't know I had such a big family"

At the Aviv family home in Kibbutz Sa'ar in the Western Galilee, the "Table Editor" is spread across no less than three different countries: Israel, the USA and Panama. On the Seder night, 40 people participated - the oldest of whom was Annette, 75, who lives in sheltered housing, and the youngest - Yanai "Baby was about a year old." It was very dynamic, people kept coming in and out of the zoom, "says Liat Aviv." The children were madly excited, started dancing and approaching the camera as they went. It was funny but it was also hard to maintain concentration over time. "

On the eve of the virtual settlement, which included 14 different families, relatives from Kibbutz Saar, Yehiam, Nahariya, Petah Tikva, Even Yehuda, Miami, California, Orlando, Florida and Panama, Central America took part. Because of the multiplicity of participants, the interaction between family members was divided into several conversations, and to different parts of the Haggadah, from the raising of the glasses to the question of "what will change".

For some of the participants, the "zoomed-in" was the first time they had seen the newborn Yanai, Inbar's son, who had just recently joined the family.

"We sang 'She Standing' and other songs, we read the Haggadah, it was fun and exciting," says Liat. "Obviously we would prefer to celebrate in the usual and authentic way, but we suddenly discovered the benefits of the Seder night out. We have quite a few physically distant relatives, and suddenly we could celebrate the holiday with them. A relative who lives in the US wrote to me later: 'I I want to say thank you very much. My daughters didn't know until now that they had such a big family. This is the first time they have realized it. " I was so excited. "

"Another advantage is that the status is less" restrictive, "adds Liat." One can go in and out without feeling uncomfortable. The atmosphere is more liberated and there is more flexibility. " Do you embrace the possibility of celebrating Seder night with" Zoom "even when the Corona is moving? " There is a situation, "she confesses." Many said they would love to celebrate together, despite the distance. It can be adopted for the holidays later as well. "

Operation Grandma

The Dekel family also took advantage of the opportunity and celebrated the transatlantic celebration of the 5778 Seder. At the holiday table, a total of 24 people, of course, took part in a virtual event, spread across 10 locations divided between London, Canada, Even Judah, Ramat Soldier, Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan and Netanya.

The case of the Dekel family is unique because grandmother Sarah, 91, who lives in sheltered housing, has built for her no less than a special control device on her tablet device to help her easily connect to the family video call.

"Grandma Sarah, Sonia originally, immigrated from Germany in 1934, shortly after the Nazis came to power. When she was a young woman, she took part in weapons smuggling to Jerusalem under siege. After retiring, she volunteered in a mental rehabilitation organization, a woman with lots of energy and vitality. Unfortunately, she lost two of her daughters, My oldest mother is the only one left, ”says Adi, her granddaughter who has been living in London for the past few years.

"We have developed an app that allows remote control of her tablet because she doesn't get along with this technology, so I can talk to her on Skype regularly. We have called it 'Sonia Project.' Especially now, with the quarantine in sheltered housing, it's really important and allows it not to be isolated. We keep her active and in good spirits, I do a twice-a-day sports lesson on a chair through the tablet, watch TV with her and talk to her about her day and mine, ”adds Adi. "Until the closure is over, I believe it is very important to stop its physical and mental deterioration."

Doctors on call around the clock: "Hard without the kids on holiday"

Those who, by virtue of the situation, did not allow him to celebrate the Seder even with their nuclear family, these were doctors and medical staff, who worked in extended format over a regular holiday evening due to the emergency. Dr. Reut Matar, director of the Cytogenetics Lab at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva, has been recruited in recent weeks to fight the virus and works in a disease diagnosis laboratory, such as the corona virus, at Hasharon Hospital, like many hundreds of other medical personnel. Celebrate with her family and have to work overtime as part of the national effort to fight the virus.

"We have been working right around the clock lately, the children I hardly see, coming out before waking up and it is very difficult," says Dr. Meter. "Everything is reversed and I do not always know what day to day it is. But besides the great difficulty, I really think this is the right way to keep everyone. "

Reut's husband, Ronan, and her two children - Omar (16) and Yoav (13), had their Seder home in Tel Aviv, while Reut joined them briefly through a video call. "It's hard to be without the kids on Christmas Eve, so I tried to find a few minutes in between to chat with them, to feel smooth and soak up the atmosphere," Dr. Meter said.

Illustrate pyramids through the screens

The Horn family celebrated the holiday at the focal points that spread across Kibbutz Neren in Baka, Tel Aviv, Givatayim and Kiryat Bialik. Seder participants, which included eight people, decided to use the Israeli holiday gathering, founded by the Shitim Institute. Seder Seder, "for the first virtual Passover holiday in the history of the Jewish people. The 45-page guide has focused instructions on how to manage the Seder, including guidance for the" Seder Leader, "under certain circumstances, from the" Elder of the Tribe " Another family member.

"It was really good, the order took us about 40 minutes and it was pleasant and close despite the distance," says Maayan Yarden of Kibbutz Neren. "The accessed Haggadah told the story of Egypt's creation so that four-year-old Mika, too, unlike any other order we have done so far, had to distract her mainly so as not to interfere. The climax was when we reached the painting where the Afikoman and the ten plagues were hidden, and we all searched for them together The screen. In addition, we also illustrated shapes of pyramids. It was very enjoyable, "she concluded.

It will be interesting to see at Pesach next year whether the precedent created by the circumstances regarding the "virtual celebration" of the Seder will signal and also throw on future family celebrations. What is certain is that the people of Israel have shown that, whether plague or non-epidemic, he will do everything possible to maintain his unity and family atmosphere at the holiday, even if technological means are needed to overcome the distance gaps and ban the gathering.