Strictly speaking: Passover at the Women’s and Maternity Hospital in Sheba

Anyone who has had the chance to be hospitalized on a holiday knows the feeling of the contraction in the heart. The fear of the feeling of loneliness at such a family and festive time, the fear of a non-celebratory and uplifting atmosphere like at home. On Pesach, the concerns even intensify, since Pesach is a holiday in which kosher strictness is at the tip of the iceberg and every family has its customs and excessive strictness, in food and other matters.

At Sheba understand this and do everything to give the women who will be hospitalized in the women’s and maternity hospital – a very high kosher level, along with a homely and festive feeling.

Preparations for Passover at the hospital begin many weeks before the holiday and include preparations for religious and legal training of all relevant departments. The place undergoes a thorough cleaning of chametz and chametz and the kitchen utensils are properly cleaned and trained.

On the holiday itself, the patients and their families who stay with them on the holiday at the hospital, receive everything necessary for the Night Seder in the strict sense of the word. For example, Seder bowls with the signs, bottles of wine and grape juice in abundance, Passover Haggadot and more are distributed. Of course, during the entire holiday, hand-made matzahs ​​and machine-made matzahs ​​will be distributed in abundance.

In order to avoid any confusion or malfunction, a separate Passover serving room with an attached supervisor will operate on all days of the holiday, where food will be served under the supervision of the ultra-Orthodox congregation. Excessive attention is also given to the small details, such as food that is not “cooked” and the like.

“As every year, we make every possible effort to enable our patients and their families to enjoy the best medical care, along with maximum compliance in the halachic and kosher aspect as well,” says Rabbi Rabbi Zvi Porat Shalita – rabbi and halachic consultant at the Sheba Medical Center. “We have made it our goal to allow the public to stay in Shiba during the Passover days while adhering to the matters of the holiday and its laws without compromise, even for the most strict ones. At the women’s and maternity hospital, a full and broad response is provided both in regards to the preparation of the seder night, both in fancy food and in all other conditions for observing Shabbat and the holiday in the wards.”