Tuesday, March 19th 2024   |

Israeli Defense Minister Bennett forbids Passover seders with grandparents

Emphasizing the heightened danger to the elderly from coronavirus infection, Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett urged Jews around the world not to welcome grandparents to their homes for Passover seder.

Naftali Bennett (Photo via screenshot)

Bennett’s stern decree was promoted in a video greeting released today, Monday, March 30. Despite the tradition of gathering all family members to recall the Exodus from Egypt, Bennett insisted everyone refrain from large gatherings with the elderly present, who might be put into harm’s way by the spread of the virus that leads to COVID-19 disease.

“You do not do it this year with grandma and grandpa,” he stressed, emphasizing, “There will be no Passover seder with young people and old people together, because that’s the single most lethal combination.”

Health officials have warned that the danger of coronavirus infection is much less to children and young adults, who are more likely to be asymptomatic and unaware they are carriers of the virus.  The high mortality of 20 percent in those over 60 years of age is what is most unsettling..

Bennett stated that his own family is planning to join a video call on the afternoon before the festival begins in order to enjoy the seder with grandparents and other relatives unable to join them. That way, he said, they can fulfil the traditions of the holiday while adhering to safe social distancing while sheltering in place.

“That’s my recommendation,” said Bennett, adding his stern admonition, “But I forbid every Jew in the world from doing a Passover seder with grandma and grandpa. Even if you think you can isolate them doing it from 20 feet away, you can’t, they will get the coronavirus. There’s no way to have a two- or three-hour Seder without your mother and father getting the virus, and it is lethal.”

He concluded, “Since we love our grandma and grandpa, we’re going to do the Pesach seder from far away.”

To download the entire video, click here.

Share Button