Chabad Lubavitch UK has teamed up with food delivery service Deliveroo for a second year to bring Seder kits to homes across the UK and Ireland.
Last year, more than 4,000 Lubavitch “Seder to go” kits were distributed through the arrangement to help people celebrate the festival under lockdown.
International students unable to get home are among those who have placed orders this time.
“This year, we wanted to extend our reach even further so that every Jewish person can be part of this special festival,” explained Chabad Lubavitch UK chief executive Rabbi Bentzi Sudak.
He said each kit contained “a full guide on how to conduct a Seder, as well as all the supplies you need to make Pesach possible, including shemurah matzah”.
For Deliveroo, executive vice-president Stephen Goldstein said: “We are honoured to support the community and to play a small part to help those in need, not least the elderly and vulnerable.”
In addition to the Deliveroo service, Lubavitch is running a delivery programme to aid those in smaller communities.
Half the 150 advance orders taken by Lubavitch of Solihull and Solihull Shul in the Midlands for Seder kits and Pesach meals have come from vulnerable elderly people in places such as Stratford-upon-Avon, Ross-on-Wye, Royal Leamington Spa and Shipston-on-Stour.
The shul’s Rabbi Yehuda Pink said: “It’s amazing to think that in Stratford, the birthplace of the author of the Merchant of Venice, matzah and other Pesach supplies are being delivered door-to-door. I wonder what Shakespeare would have made of it.”
The United Synagogue’s Seder in a Box, which includes a three-course meal prepared by 1070 Kitchen, sold out in four days. More than 400 boxes are being delivered to members and non-members this week, with another 200 meals donated to US families in need through the US’s Chesed service.
“Rabbis frequently get calls for help from Jews living in all sorts of locations across the UK,” said Rabbi Yoinosson Golomb, minister of United Synagogue Sheffield, who chairs the Rabbinic Council of the Provinces. “The first thing we do is speak to the nearest rabbi in the area who invariably does his best to offer support — whether delivering mishloach manot for Purim or a Seder box for Pesach.
“We’ve helped people in all manner of places. Sometimes they want to connect with their faith. Sometimes they want to feel part of the wider Jewish community. Sometimes they just want to be heard. Whatever the reason, we’re always pleased to do whatever we can.”
Online kosher food delivery service Sabeny, which is supervised by the London Beth Din, experienced such high demand for Pesach that it had to stop taking orders, although it reopened for a short time this week. It said it was helping people in “really isolated and remote parts of the country”. Around a third of its orders were from outside London with one-in-eight from more distant outposts such as Truro, Penzance, Warrington and Milltimber in Aberdeenshire.
On Monday, it handled orders from Winchester and Walton-on-Thames.
One beneficiary of a Chabad delivery will be Nathan Abrams, professor of film at Bangor University and co-founder of the Jewth!nk website.
As far as he is aware, he and his family are the only Jewish residents of the North Wales city.
Last year, they enjoyed a US Seder in a Box, which was arranged by his brother in London.
But he said that when he tweeted various organisations this year, it was difficult to elicit a response.
Since many Jewish organisations have moved activities online during lockdown, Jews in more geographically remote places have been able to join in events, he noted.
But as far as accessing services such as Seder essentials, “they should make it easier.
“If you want people to try to maintain some religious, cultural Jewish life, the onus is on individuals. But there is a bigger onus on the community.”
The Jewish Small Communities Network said it had consulted with communities about publishing a Pesach guide but found that “it was not practical, unfortunately”.
