JERUSALEM (AP) – A year ago, Giordana Grego’s parents spent Easter at home in Israel, alone but grateful to have escaped the worst of the pandemic in Italy. This year, the whole family will gather to celebrate the Jewish holiday of liberation and release from the pandemic.
Israel has vaccinated more than half of its population of 9.3 million people, and as coronavirus infections have plummeted, authorities have allowed restaurants, hotels, museums and theaters to reopen. Up to 20 people can now gather inside.
It’s a strong change from last year, when Israel was in the first of three national closures, with businesses closed, checkpoints set up on empty roads and people confined to their homes. Many could only see their elderly relatives on video calls.
“For us in Israel, really celebrating the Feast of Freedom has a completely different meaning this year after what we experienced,” said Greek, who emigrated to Israel from Italy. “It’s amazing that this year we can celebrate it together, also considering that in Italy everyone is still closed.”
Easter is the Jewish holiday that celebrates the deliverance of biblical Israelites from slavery in Egypt after a series of divine plagues. The week-long spring festival kicks off Saturday night with the Seder’s highly ritualized dinner, when the story of the Exodus is told again. It’s a Thanksgiving-like atmosphere with family, friends, parties and four cups of wine.
Throughout the week, observant Jews refrain from eating bread and other leavened foods to commemorate the difficulties of fleeing Egypt. Instead, they eat unleavened matzah.
Preparations for the holidays involve a thorough spring cleaning to remove even the tiny crumbs of bread except from homes and offices. Boiling water boilers are installed on street corners to boil kitchen utensils and many burn discarded bread, known as chametz. Supermarkets line the hallways with fermented products, wrapping shelves in black plastic.
Most Israeli Jews, both religious and secular, pass the Seder with an extended family. Last year’s Easter was a great break in tradition.
Government-imposed restrictions forced the closure of synagogues and limited movement and meetings to curb the spread of the virus. Some performed the ritual meal with their nuclear family, others by videoconference, while a few unfortunates kept the Seder alone.
Another blockade was imposed during the Jewish holiday season in September, again avoiding family reunions, and a third came earlier this year with the appearance of more contagious variants of the virus.
In the third blockade, Israel had launched one of the most successful inoculation campaigns in the world after the government got millions of doses of Pfizer and Moderna. Israel has now vaccinated more than 80% of its adult population.
It is too early to say that the Israeli coronavirus crisis is over, as new vaccine-resistant variants could emerge.
The Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza vaccination campaign has been slow to take off, and Israel has been criticized for not sharing more supplies.. Israel has vaccinated more than 100,000 Palestinian workers working in Israeli and West Bank settlements and sent a couple of thousand doses to the Palestinian Authority.
Palestinians have imported more than 130,000 doses on their own, but it could be several months before they are available disparate for the vast majority of the nearly 5 million Palestinians in the territories. Experts say this could pose a risk to Israel’s own public health efforts.
For now, however, Israelis enjoy what feels like a post-pandemic reality, giving special importance to Easter.
“Not only is it symbolic that it is a holiday of freedom, but also a family holiday,” said Rabbi David Stav, chief rabbi of the city of Shoham and head of the liberal Orthodox organization Tzohar.
“This year, families are coming together. People who were so alone, especially the elderly, who broke away from their families, suddenly discover the freedom and joy of being together.