The Hillel and Chabad organizations will each host their own Seder celebration, reliving their Jewish ancestors' exodus from Egypt
Whether they consist of students celebrating their first Passovers away from home or older people remembering Seders from their childhoods, Seders bring generations of memories into one room, said Lauren Goldberg, assistant director of Hillel at Ohio University.
The eight-day Passover celebration will begin Friday at sunset and will end at sunset April 30. Chabad and Hillel, the two Jewish organizations on campus, are each holding their own Passover celebration called Seder. A Jewish Seder is a celebration held during the first and sometimes second night of Passover, where traditional Jewish foods are served.
“The idea of the Seder is to relive the slavery of our ancestors in Egypt and to relive the exodus from Egypt as well,” Rabbi Levi Raichik said, who runs the Chabad organization at Ohio University with his wife Chanee.
Levi and Chanee brought Chabad to Ohio University this fall, and said they are excited to experience their first Passover on a college campus.
“I’ve led Passover Seders all over the world from Ukraine, Santa Fe, New Mexico (and) my hometown in Los Angeles, and they have always been a wonderful experience,” Raichik said. “I’m looking forward to my first Passover in Athens. We’re expecting a big turnout.”
Hillel will be having their own Seder Friday at 6 p.m. at•21 Mill St. that consists of students eating traditional Passover foods and remembering their ancestors’ triumphs and struggles.
“The Passover Seder in recent history has been reimagined to mean many things,” Goldberg said. “It can be literally talking about freeing others who are still enslaved today. It can be about freeing ourselves from unhealthy habits. It can be about injustice, and it can be about rebirth."
The Chabad Seder starts at 8 p.m. Friday and 8:30 p.m. Saturday at 100 Morris Ave., where the same traditional foods are eaten both nights. However, each night has a different discussion focus.
“We speak about different things each night to try and experience the Seder from different perspectives,” Raichik said. “The first night we might talk more about the actual slavery, but on the second night we might focus on the exodus.”
The meal at the Chabad Seder will consist of matzo, horseradish, brisket and four cups of wine. Each food has a specific meaning behind its inclusion in the Seder.
“We eat horseradish or other bitter vegetables to remind ourselves of the bitterness in Egypt,” Raichik said. “Matzo is bread and water that has not risen at all. That was the poor man’s bread, the food of slaves in Egypt ... Also we drink four cups of wine to commemorate the four times God promised Moses that the Jews would be taken out of Egypt.”
Hillel understands how busy students are going to be with finals and projects, Goldberg said. So, this year the organization will be having an event Monday at 6 p.m. called “Take a Steak Break,” where they will grill foods that are kosher for Passover, including steak and vegetables.
While each Passover experience can vary, the message remains the same.
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“The Jewish Sages have taught that we must always look at ourselves as we have left Egypt,” Raichick said. “We all have left Egypt ... if our ancestors would not have left, then we would not have become a nation.”
