Until 1995, Alexander Vladimirov had never attended a Passover seder.
“I knew absolutely nothing about Pesach,” says Vladimirov, a sociology major at the Jewish University in Moscow.
Today, the 20-year-old is in charge of the Passover Project at the Moscow Hillel Center.
And he’s not alone. Vladimirov is just one of hundreds of young activists who have been trained to conduct Passover seders for the Jewish community.
The 3-year-old project includes an extensive network of seminars organized by Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.
This year, a special grant from the U.S.-based May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation will allow some 400 Hillel activists — many of whom are participating in a seder for the first time — to conduct more than 500 seders in more than 200 communities.
The result: Passover is the most widely celebrated Jewish holiday in the countries of the former Soviet Union.
During the few weeks before Passover, training seminars prepare student volunteers to conduct the seders in areas as far-flung as Siberia and the Far East.
Some of the seminar leaders are Israelis. But some are local students who led seders for the first time last year. Other teachers this year were expected to be North American Jewish students who would travel to the former Soviet Union to participate in this project.
The students who lead seders grew up in typically assimilated Soviet Jewish backgrounds, says Vladimirov, adding that before his first seder he knew more about Russian Orthodox holidays than about Passover.
But after they receive training, students know more about Passover than almost all members of local communities.
Leading the seders is not always easy.
“We often come to a community, and people look at us as if we were aliens from another planet,” says Masha Golberg, a 21-year-old math student and a Moscow Hillel activist.
Eugenia Mikhaleva, Moscow Hillel Center’s executive director, says that the seders demand a combination of tradition and the students’ creative innovations. Because of the special needs of the Jewish community in the former Soviet Union, for example, the seders are conducted throughout the week of Passover — in the morning, afternoon and evenings.
“Students try to apply different approaches to different audiences. The elderly appreciate more storytelling and Yiddish singing. Kids want to play, and a mixed gathering would be a grateful audience for a short performance based on the Passover story,” says Vladimirov.
Wine is still scarce in many communities and students often have to carry backpacks with Passover kits that include matzahs, bottles of wine and Haggadot, the book that guides people through a seder meal.
“If we want to get rid of vodka on the Pesach table, we should bring kosher wine,” says Mikhaleva.
Activists always have to call in advance to tell local community leaders what should appear on the tables.
“Usually, people come to eat, drink and talk. This isn’t their fault. This is their understanding of a holiday. Our task is to change this attitude,” says Vladimirov, sounding like a Jewish activist in the West.
“We are bringing a small revolution into these people’s life. But we have to do it delicately, to introduce formal things step by step. We shouldn’t frighten them.”
Why do students whose ages range from 17 to 34 join a project that requires a substantial investment of their time and energy?
The reward comes in different ways.
Students enjoy Jewish camaraderie, traveling — and digging deep into their Jewish roots. Mikhaleva says that the Passover Project is an effective way to recruit new people to Hillel’s activities.
For many, the participation in the Passover Project also represents one of the first serious accomplishments in their lives.
“This is one of the major tasks for Hillel — to give people an opportunity for self-realization,” says Mikhaleva.
Vladimirov remembers the first seder he conducted for a group of Jewish elderly in St. Petersburg.
“They had not had seders since childhood and did not remember much,” he recalls. “Suddenly, I realized that I was only helping them to release their own memories.”
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