Judita Gliauberzonaitė, 42, chairwoman of the Vilnius Lithuanian Jerusalem Jewish community, recalls how her grandmother Cilė Žiburkienė every spring before Passover would cleanse the entire house so that, God forbid, not even a grain of flour would remain, which would mean leavened bread remained in the house, a sign recalling the enslavement of the Jews in the land of Egypt.

Jews around the world who count their history in millennia begin celebrating their Passover holiday on the 15th day in the month of Nisan (March or April), lasting for seven days in Israel and eight elsewhere in the world. Secular Jews who keep to tradition usually celebrate the first and last days of Passover, gathering as families for dinner.

Judita Gliauberzonaitė says more religious Jews attend synagogue every day of Passover.

Passover often coincides with Catholic Easter. This year it began on April 8 and continues till April 15.

In earlier times Jews in Lithuania received matzo bread at synagogues where it was made. Nowadays few if any make it themselves and there are large shipments of matzo which arrive from Israel. “We are very happy that an entire container-load of matzo reached Lithuania, ordered by the Lithuanian Jewish Community, before quarantine was declared. Each member of the community was allocated a one-kilogram box of matzo. So the container was very large,” Judita said on the eve of the seder.

Grandmother’s floimen tzimmes:

Full article in Lithuanian here.