Over 500 public Seders were attended by thousands of Jews in Russia this year.

In Moscow alone, there were over 150 public seders, including those held at synagogues, Jewish community centers, and nearly thirty different Chabad houses. The Seders were organized by language, age groups, and levels of religious knowledge, so that every Jew could attend a seder suited to their needs.

A seder that stands out is the one that was held in Butyrka Prison, Moscow’s oldest jail, where in the 140-odd years since its founding, many Jews had been imprisoned for the ‘crime’ of observing Torah and Mitzvot. Today, it is the site of a true Passover seder.

The seders around Moscow were facilitated by young men from around Moscow who were sent both throughout capital and to cities across Russia that do not have permanent emissaries.