Page 13 - Issue 23

New sandals have already been measured, and white
shirts chosen from stores. The shirts will probably be
worn again on all that year’s holidays. Hundreds of
tables and thousands of chairs have been arranged.
Families know their designated place for the Seder.

The food will not be particularly hot, and, due to the
quantities required, it will probably be quite simple.
Despite that, Seder night on kibbutz cannot easily be
forgotten.

"The chalutzim felt that they had left Egypt"

According to Muki Tzur, a historian and author on the
kibbutz movement from Kibbutz Ein Gev, the kibbutz
Seder got its start from public Passover celebrations in
the years before the founding of the State of Israel,
when waves of Jewish immigration had already begun.

"In all kinds of centers in the country – Tel Aviv,
Rehovot, moshavim, people used to meet for a big
public celebration with dancing and singing, after the
Seder,” he said. “This was a confirmation of change
from the Diaspora, where Jews used to keep their
holidays modest, and each family celebrated inside their
home, in fear of their neighbors.”

"Later, many attempts were made to find a new way to
celebrate this major holiday. It was a time of year when
the young pioneers felt intense homesickness. This very
homesickness sometimes led to the repression of
Jewish tradition, because reading the traditional