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KEEP GEORGIA GREEN
• GROW MORE TREES
STOP FOREST FIRES
UNION BAG - CAMP PAPER CORP.
SAVANNAH, GA.
Savannah, Ga.
Waiter Mercer — Nick Mamalakis — Wm. N. (Bill) Jones
Hugh Rimes
IlNSURANC E~ AGENCY. Inc. B
7 E. Bay St. Phone AD. 2-5105
SAVAWAII, GA.
W. J. BREMER, Inc.
Est. 1914
READY MIXED CONCRETE
BUILDERS’ SUPPLIES
FACE BRICK A SPECIALTY
753 Wheaton Street Savannah, Georgia
232-6155,
SMITH 'S SHOE SHOP
1328 Newcastle St.
Brunswick, Georgia
Seders being held in Amster
dam. The largest of these ac
tually had plenty of seats, and
food was na problem. But,
laughed Peter, “I guess we
Jews are pretty much alike
everywhere.”
He told us that, on the pre
ceding year, the congregation
had sold some 300 seats for
dinner, the entire capacity of
their social hall, but that the
room didn’t have a loud speak
er and the people who were out
of range of the rabbi’s voice,
not being able to follow the
service, had created such a
racket that they had almost
drowned out the reading of the
Haggada. The rabbi, in a fury,
had sworn that he would ndver
again allow them to sell any
seats that were out of the range
of his voice.
The second group, having
taken the overflow of the first
group, had filled their hall to
capacity for both evenings, bu f
there was a third group com
prised of a number of Jews who
got together yearly under the
leadership of a Dr. Van Diefer
and had a small family type
Seder. They held their Seder
wherever they.could find a hall
to accommodate them. This was
the group to which we had
been given tickets. All that re
mained was for Peter to give
us the direction on how to pick
up our tic'/ets and get there.
The evening of the Seder,
Jerold had borrowed a funny
fur hat from our puzzled
Dutch hosts, who couldn’t un
derstand our explanations as to
why he needed a hat to go to
church.
We arrived at the church i”
time for the beginning of the
Yom Tov service and were
thrilled when Jerold performed
a mitzva when, as the tenth
Jewish man to enter the make
shift sanctuary, he completed
the minian or quorum neces
sary to begin a Jewish cere
mony.
Now I recognized that the
services were drawing to an
end as I heard 'the familiar
words “Yis-gad-dal v’ys-kad-
dash sh’meh rab-bo.”'''
The services came to an end.
The men joined the women,
and everybody went upstairs
where the rest of the women
were putting matzo, wine, har-
oses, eggs and bitter herbs on
the festive table.
Jerold and I introduced our
selves and showed them our
tickets. We met Dr. Van Die
fer, who led the Seder, and he
in turn seated us at a table with
his son Hans, who spoke ex
cellent English. Dr. Van Diefer
also brohght a special English-
Hebrew Haggada since the
rest of the group used Dutch-
Hebrew Haggadas.
I asked Hans Van Diefer if
the Jews in Holland had been
holding communal Seders very
long. “Only since the • war;”
he replied. He went on to tell
us that, before Hitler, Amster
dam had a large and thriving
Jewish population but that now
the Jewish population was
small and few men remained
who could conduct a Seder
properly. As a result, ihose
who no longer had families got
together in groups in order to
celebrate Passover and to tell
the story of the exodus from
Egypt to their children. “My
father,” said Hans Van Diefer,
“isn’t a rabbi. He is a physi
cian, but he fias been leading
European vacation aivay from the pots and pans? Well, cost
was a factor .on her continental visit and she and Jerold put up
ta a hostel to have funds for important things. And of course
everyone at a hostel takes a turn at the chores so Mrs. Norman
Frankel and her son have a go at doing the dishes.
he Southern Israelite