Here at JCoS we’ve been busy preparing for Pesach, running community sessions in Glasgow, Dundee, and Edinburgh.

In Glasgow, our monthly Rosh Chodesh group met to learn about the month of Nissan, as well as the holiday of Pesach. It was a beautiful evening, so we gathered outside to bake our own matzah over a campfire. Participants learned the halachot (Jewish laws) about matzah and chametz, and discovered different ways of baking matzah, including how the process became mechanized, and the various challenges that came along with that. 

The home-baked campfire matzah was delicious, and enjoyed with cream cheese and wild garlic pesto. It was lovely to be joined by some members of the 5th Giffnock Guides who were busy preparing for Pesach as well!

We also travelled to Dundee to host our first in-person gathering there since the Covid lockdown. Sixteen members of the local community crammed around the table as we shared our own Pesach memories and traditions.

It was so lovely for community members to reconnect with those they hadn’t seen in a while, and to meet new people. One person remarked that they had thought they were the only Jew in Dundee, and was surprised to meet so many others. We’re looking forward to holding many more events in the Tayside and Fife region. 

Those in Edinburgh also had an opportunity to connect at our Teva Toad Day when we explored the Pesach story by learning about the plague of the frogs, and helping with the toad migration project in Holyrood Park. 

And right now we're preparing for our Community Pesach Seder with Giffnock Newton Mearns Synagogue ...!

Click here to read about more about this year's Pesach events  ...