JERUSALEM – Each year, Patricia Sheetrit and her family gather with in-laws for the first night of Passover, bringing together some 20 people for the holiday’s main event, the festive meal known as the Seder.
But like most Israelis, Sheetrit and her husband will be stuck at home this year — holding a bare-bones Seder for two. “Everyone is sad and alone, and everyone is worried about one another,” Sheetrit said.
As a modern pandemic afflicts the globe, Israeli Jews are being forced to scale back or cancel beloved traditions and rituals marking Passover, the holiday celebrating Israelites’ freedom from Egyptian bondage and referencing biblical plagues.