"When the candles were lit and the Easter Prayer began, I felt shivers in my body", remembers Larissa Sudakova. "My daughter, Olga, and I, together with Ira Berseneva and Nastia spent Seder together. We bought all necessary produce at the synagogue and cooked kosher dinner by the candle light. At the moment this celebration is only a game for our girls. They watched what we did and said. I listened to Irina reading a blessing and I felt excitement as Easter is the main celebration of the Jewish people, my people.

Previously I celebrated Pesach at a Hesed. This time it was my first unassisted Seder and I was worried that I would mix the order of the ceremony, but we were given an excellent lesson in Tradition. Now I can do Seders at home and without assistance. Other young families who visit the Jewish Community Centre (JCC) "Rimon" also attended the classes and learned the traditional ceremonies of Seder and other Jewish celebrations.


"We decided to help young people and invited the Jewish Traditions teacher Natalia Rynkovskaya to give classes on traditional ceremonies," said Inessa Chugaynova, Director of JCC. "This interaction was in our opinion very useful, and a lot was learned. The visitors learned and wrote down the rules of Seder ceremony, and were given further reading on the tradition." Marina Arepyeva said, "We have non-Jewish friends who asked us about Pesach and what is chametz. We were able to explain why we have to make our house free of yeast, and why on this day we eat a ‘poor man’s bread’ - matzah. We related this to the Jewish holiday of Passover, the freedom of Jewish people from Egyptian slavery."

The produce was also bought at the synagogue. We prepared horseradish back in the autumn. Everything went happily and majestically, however we were still afraid of making some mistake. My and Sasha’s daughters tried to dip everything in the salty water, even bread. We patiently explained to them what has to be done, and when. And when everything turned out as planned, we were very proud of ourselves.

For Sudakovs and Arepyevs this was the first unassisted Seder. The Trohimchuk family, however, are well acquainted with the Jewish traditions.

"All the family contributes to the preparation of the celebration, especially our daughters," said Natalia Trohimchuk. "This year Haggadah was read by our girls. The seven foods necessary for the ceremony were laid out on the table: fried chicken legs, charoset, salads, eggs, potatoes, matzah and horseradish. Instead of wine we drank grape juice. We were excited, but not worried. We had conducted Seder at home before, but there were some deviations from the tradition. This time everything was done by the book. We were proud that we did everything right by ourselves.

Briefing on Realization of the Seder helped many families in Almaty to correctly execute the Pesach ceremony. It is not important whether we used ‘single use’ cutlery. What is important is the understanding of the reasons behind the ceremony and its knowledge, and that this celebration makes families closer and stronger," said the organisers of the tradition classes.

Anna Naumova