Reaching out on Virtual Seders at Jewish Care this Pesach
Whilst this Pesach will be very different for all of us this year, Jewish Care are doing everything they can to ensure that residents, independent living tenants and the Jewish Care and wider community can celebrate Pesach this year by attending a Seder, all be it a virtual one.
A virtual Seder will be available for residents across care homes to see in the afternoon and to participate in a Seder before the festival begins on first night Yom Tov. The link will also be available for the whole community online and is accompanied by a condensed Haggadah in Hebrew, transliteration and English, as well as a Montessori Haggadah for residents to read out to tell the Passover story.
There will also be links so the whole community can listen to Pesach songs with access to a Pesach Kumzit (campfire) sing-a-long with Eitan Freilich and songs by Jonny Turgel.
In other years, volunteers from across the community have visited Jewish Care's ten care homes to lead Seders on each floor of the home, to ensure that all the residents can celebrate Pesach. School children have also previously visited the residents to sing.
This year, children from schools across the community have sent e-cards that will be printed and given out to residents before Pesach.
Individual Seder plates and meals will be available for Jewish Care's Independent Living tenants. Kosher for Pesach, frozen meals will be delivered to the growing numbers of people who need them this year in the community from Redbridge to Stanmore and Stepney to Southend. They will be delivered by Jewish Care's Meals on Wheels delivery drivers before Pesach.
In Jewish Care homes, redeployed Jewish Care staff continue to assist carers to set up Skype and video calls with residents to keep in touch with their relatives on iPads.
Daniel Carmel-Brown, who joined the virtual Seder, Jewish Care Chief Executive said, "We know Pesach will be very different for us all so it is even more important that we enable our residents and tenants to celebrate the festival as fully as we can. Being able to participate in a Seder is what makes Jewish Care special so we are pleased to share the virtual Seders in our homes and with the community.
"We would like to say a huge thank you to all of the school children and members of the community who are sending their thoughts, good wishes and songs to our residents and everyone in the Jewish Care community. Whilst we are not able to be together physically this year, we are reaching out and connecting with each other spiritually and emotionally as one community this Pesach."