Left to right: Aron Reyder, Eli Reyder and Dovid Reyder

Did you know that there are Jews living in Pristina, Kosovo? I did not—that is, until I spoke with Aron Reyder on Friday morning.

All I ever heard about that place had to do with the the wars they were fighting over Kosovo and the war crimes Slobodan Milosevic was accused of committing.

I knew there was a lot of strife among the various religious—Orthodox Serbs, Catholic Croats, and Muslim Bosnians—but I never thought there were Jews in the mix!

While we are doing some trivia, here is another one: Did you know that Cartagina, Colombia, is a popular tourist destination and that many Israelis go there on vacation?

So why am I asking all these questions? How is all of this connected to Passover or to Sharon, Massachusetts?

This year, 600 Chabad rabbinical students set out to some 280 cities worldwide for the first days of Pesach!

Some of these communities do not yet have a permanent shaliach and Chabad House. The students who traveled to those destinations had to arrange and lead the public seders all on their own. In other situations, the students provided assistance to the local Chabad rabbi and helped the local shluchim run their seders.

We are proud that of the 600 students who joined this effort, there were several students from the Chabad of Sharon community.

It is particularly impressive to see three young members of the same family all join is this holy endeavor—leaving their comfortable home in Sharon to help others celebrate the Passover seders in different corners of the world.

Eli Reyder, 20, led a seder for some 100 people, mostly Israelis vacationing in Cartagina, Colombia.

Aron Reyder, 19, helped run a seder in Pristina, Kosovo. There are actually very few Jews living there; about ten people attended the seder. It is truly amazing that these few religiously isolated Jews were not forgotten and were able to celebrate Pesach.

Dovid Reyder, 18, assisted with a seder in Gurnee, Illinois.

Yosef Truxton from Sharon also joined the effort. He helped with a seder in College Station, Texas, bringing the joy of Pesach to Jewish students there.

All year round many of us look forward for the Passover break to be able to spend time with our family and friends. As we all know too well, during the year we live life in the fast lane, constantly trying to catch up with our daily chores and responsibilities. We have little time to enjoy our families.

In many families, children who are studying in yeshivos in Israel or abroad come home for the holiday. And married children and grandchildren who live a distance away come home, too. It's a special time to look forward to—celebrating Pesach as a whole family unit, the gantze mishpacha.

While the planes, buses, and trains are all filled with people traveling home to their families, we are witness to this phenomenon of Chabad students going in the other direction—they are leaving home!

They go to foreign countries and cultures to search out the forgotten and spiritually neglected. They bring them all the staples needed for a royal seder: wine, matzo, and sumptuous Yom Tov meals. They bring them the joy of the holiday both physically and spiritually.

So while Miriam and Aryeh Leib Reyder, the proud parents, definitely missed having their children at their family seder table in Sharon, their hearts were filled with joy knowing that their children were out there taking part in the work of our holy Rebbe.

They are delighted to have KAH raised children who care about others, not only when it is convenient—but who are ready to make sacrifices to help make someone else’s Yom Tov celebration possible.

Over the years many young members of our Chabad of Sharon community have spent Passover seders in various places around the globe.

After morning services on Friday, I asked the people who were in shul to share with our readers the places they have traveled, to either make or help with a public seder. Below are some of the responses.

 

Pesach Wolosow 
Ternopil, Ukraine 2008 
Rybinsk, Russia 2009 , 
Ghana, Africa and Lagos Nigeria, 2010

 

Yosef Truxton 
2011 - Collage Station, Tx 
2010 Ternopil, Ukrain

Yossi Redlich 
Hallandale, FL 2010

Rabbi Levi Wolosow 
Irkutsk, Siberia - 2000

 

Rabbi Mendel Plotkin 
byron bay Australia - 2001, 2000

 

Rabbi Schneur Zalmen Marshal 
Novograd-Volynsky, Ukraine - 2010

 

Rabbi Ben-Zion Elisha 
Ithaca, NY - 1999

Rabbi Moti Wilhelm 
Coffs Harbour Australia - 2002, 2003