JOIN USAt Israeli spring festival, hugs missed
The Israeli consulate in Bengaluru celebrates Passover with Jewish families every year. This year, the celebrations went online.
Dana Kursh, Consul General of Israel in Bengaluru, has spent her last four Passovers in the city. This was the first year the festival was so low-key. “Overall, it was hard. We are warm people who like to hug,” she told Metrolife.
Passover was observed for a week starting April 8.
She believes Indians and Israelis are alike in the way they celebrate their festivals. “Our celebrations are about family and food. We, at the Israeli consulate, also celebrated Ugadi,” Dana says.
The city used to have a lot more Jewish people, but many have migrated to Israel, where Jews get citizenship easily.
An often-overlooked corner in the city is a cemetery near Mysuru Road, with the tomb inscriptions in Hebrew. “One month ago, I had paid my respects at the funeral of a 101-year-old Jewish person who had passed away. What struck me was that people from all communities came to her funeral. She lived next door to Hindus and Muslims. When she was sick, she was taken care of by Hindu, Muslim and Christian nurses. Everyone co-exists in India; there is no antisemitism here,” she says.
Dana says Passover is spent with family, and social media saved the day this year. “We celebrated with our teams at our respective home. We are thankful to the Karnataka police for helping us get our food,” she says.
Passover is one of the most important holidays in the Jewish calendar. It is believed to mark the period when God helped the Jews escape slavery in ancient Egypt.