Every year, the University of Chicago stages a debate on the merits of latkes versus hamantaschen.
But on Tuesday, Elias Abadi will be pitting the virtues of two other foods against each other — Ashkenazi gefilte fish versus Sephardi chraime, a Moroccan dish of fish in a spicy tomato sauce.
The chef of Helsinki’s Jewish school will be presenting a cooking demonstration online.
And though aimed at the Scandinavian communities, he is doing it in English so Brits can also follow.
It is one of the activities supported by Educating for Impact, an international group of Jewish educators who were helping communities across Europe before the current health emergency.
The 19 cities on its books include Leeds, which is supported by one of the UK’s most experienced Jewish educators, Esther Colman.
“We are trying to support the strategic communal and educational provision done in different communities,” explained the London-based EFI consultant Nic Abery, who is responsible for Helsinki, Warsaw and Berlin.
The Finns and Danes will also join forces for mock Sedarim both for young adults and for teens, also in English, next week.
They have been putting together Pesach boxes with grape juice, matzah and other food to send out in advance.
Meanwhile, Leeds will be preparing for the festival with an online demonstration Seder for year five and six schoolchildren and a Pesach singalong.
“People are trying to come up with lots of different projects,” Ms Abery said.
“There’s been rugelach and challah-making in Prague and a video question and answer with a rabbi in Dusseldorf.”
To meet the challenge of the times, communities are establishing virtual connections as never before.
“There’s been everything from charoset-making to how to support parents and kids in times of crisis,” Ms Abery added.
The EFI team were due to meet in Sofia a fortnight ago for a conference but convened online instead.
