Passover 2020: This year, coronavirus heightens freedom themes

By Yossi Kahana, Director, JNF Task Force on Disabilities

As Jewish people around the world prepare for Passover under the pale of coronavirus, we are faced with a host of new challenges and questions. Passover is traditionally spent with family and friends, a celebration of the divine gift of Jewish survival and community. But with coronavirus curtailing travel plans and social interactions, many are facing the prospect of celebrating Passover alone. How to celebrate the seder alone? How will we celebrate the festival of freedom with our movement restricted?

What we are celebrating this Passover?

Looking past the complexities to experience the real Israel

By Alec Greven

I was given the incredible opportunity over this past winter break to visit Israel with Jewish National Fund's Caravan for Democracy program. Our group spent 10 days exploring the culture and history of one of the most remarkable places in the world. Israel is surrounded by polarizing perspectives and it was refreshing to cut through the rhetoric and see the complexity of the people and place directly.

I have found that people are often too quick to pass judgment on Israel. To judge something well, you have to understand what you are judging. However, to really understand Israel, you must recognize the complexity of its contradictions and the beauty that can be found in its rich society. Here are some of the more notable contradictions that I found during my time in Israel.

In the JNF Kitchen: La Boite Israeli coleslaw

By Lior Lev Sercarz

This recipe of the week comes from La Boite, a biscuits and spice shop in New York City owned by Israeli chef and spice blender Lior Lev Sercarz. This is a two-in-one recipe. First we make a tahina sauce, then use it with coquelicot (poppy seeds) to dress cabbage to make a delicious twist on coleslaw.

Living in Israel during coronavirus makes me love this country more than ever

By Akiva Gersh 

Thoughts as we enter our second Shabbat in quarantine:

I moved to Israel in 2004, and since then, there have been events and moments that have reaffirmed the reasons I did.

One of those moments is right now. Now, during these challenging and confusing and unsettling days when the world is being held captive by the coronavirus pandemic.

Like so many others around the world, we in Israel are confined to our homes, but the few moments a day I do manage to get out remind me of why I love Israel so much.

It's the calm I see on people's faces as I push my shopping cart through the supermarket. It's their ability to still smile and even laugh with one another as they stand in line waiting for their turn to pay for the items they want to bring back to their families in quarantine. And it's their ability to still believe that "y'hiyeh b’seder," or "it’ll be OK."