A Farewell to Carbs (Sorta)

Recently, Azerbaijanis alongside Iranians, Tajiks, and other nations in the region celebrated the spring holiday Novruz. Yesterday, I got to celebrate mine- Pesach (or Passover, as most know it).

Passover is more than just a spring festival; in fact, it is a highly important Jewish holiday during which we commemorate the liberation of our people from slavery in Egypt. To make a long story short, the Egyptian pharaohs kept the Jewish people as slaves until G-d sent Moses to set them free and bring them to the promised land. During the eight days of Pesach, us Jewish types do not eat any wheat-based products or anything that rises, really. Examples include bread, pasta, and cookies. There is a lot more to Pesach, however, I am the least qualified party to give such explanations.

In the weeks leading up to this most sacred holiday I must confess I was rather apprehensive. I had no idea where I could get my hands on matzo (one of the traditional foods of this holiday), or how I would have a Seder (the ritual feast on Pesach Eve). Here I am, stranded in Baku, I thought. No matzo for me, no services, no Seder. And then a holiday miracle of sorts happened- I received a call from the chief rabbi of Chabad Baku. He said my mom contact the rabbi in Boston, inquiring about their Pesach activities in Azerbaijan.

Of course, they were happy to receive me into the fold and I was invited to the communal Seder and even received a box of matzo.

Last night was Leil HaSeder, the first night of Passover, so I went to the synagogue to pray and attend the Seder with the rest of the community. Turns out that I live in the epicenter of Jewish life in Baku- between the Sephardi and Ashkenazi synagogues! Anyway, the Seder was an interesting experience; I sat at a table with a group of people I had never met before. I was nervous, because no one spoke English and my grasp on Russian is flimsy.

Despite the language barrier, everyone was very kind. The nice older lady sitting next to me made a point of becoming my Jewish grandma for the evening and kept serving me food. I also found that I could understand most of what everyone was talking about in Russian; a few holes here and there, but I understood a lot, which was encouraging. The conversation got pretty interesting- the lady next to me was telling us about how her family fled Ukraine because of anti-Semitism and chose to move to Azerbaijan instead of Russia because Russians are also very anti-Semitic. Here, she said, no one cares and no one bothers you about your religion or ethnicity. From my personal experience, I have to concur- Azerbaijanis are really good about religious pluralism. I’d be lying if I said there is no racism or animosity at all, but of course that can be said about any country. In times like these, when the world seems engulfed by hated, this is a really encouraging notion.