A holiday understood only later

In an interview with Laisha, Elmira Weiss said that her grandmother, a Ukrainian Jew, concealed her Jewish origins. Elmira’s mother grew up in Kazakhstan and only as an adult realised that the festive meal prepared by Elmira’s grandmother was a Passover seder.

Elmira was born in Almaty. In 1996, when she was three, the family moved to Israel. Her maternal grandmother had left earlier, and her father initially worked there in construction. The family lived first in Jaffa, then in Givatayim. Elmira’s parents had met while both were studying art, and after moving they took various jobs. Her mother later learned graphic design.

Elmira recalled arriving without knowing Hebrew and crying a great deal during her first year at kindergarten. Later, military service helped her feel Israeli. By the time of the interview, she had visited Kazakhstan four times, where her father’s relatives still lived.

During her most recent trip with her parents, Weiss visited her paternal grandmother’s grave in a Kazakhstan village. The following day, she said, she learned that she was pregnant. She did not plan to return to live in Kazakhstan, but said that she noticed changes in the country on every visit.