Spring Break
Pass the matzo
Hillel celebrates with special Seder in honor of Passover
Hillary Brady
Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: News
04/09/09 - University of Rhode Island students crowded around the Seder table yesterday to help celebrate Passover with Hillel.
Passover, one of the holiest and most important holidays in Judaism, commemorates God's "passing over" of Israelites' houses during the 10th plague, and the Jews' exodus from slavery in Egypt.
More than 80 students, professors and local families came together for the three-hour meal and ceremony last night.
While the meal only lasted the evening, the preparation started early in the morning when Hillel staff began cooking the traditional foods needed for the ceremony. By early afternoon, students were crowded in the kitchen, listening to The Beach Boys and chopping vegetables for salads.
Many of the foods being prepared had a special symbolic meaning during the Seder ceremony.
"You can sort of taste the holiday," Amy Olson, director of URI Hillel, said.
The foods became not only part of the ceremony, but part of the process of sharing the story of the Israelites' exile.
"A lot of Jewish holidays are 'someone tried to kill us, so let's eat,'" Lisa Friedman, program director for Hillel, joked.
Matzo, one of the most popular foods served during Passover, is a homage to the Jews being unable to take leaven bread with them during their escape to freedom. Matzo is still served, and observing Jews don't eat anything risen for the eight days of Passover, Olson explained.
One traditional dish made of apples and cinnamon called "charoset" is symbolic of the mortar of the bricks Jews were forced to make while they were enslaved. Charoset is served with maror, a bitter horseradish, to show how the bitterness of the Jews' struggle was eventually made sweet.
These foods were presented on a Seder plate, along with a fresh green vegetable, as a symbol of spring.
The symbolism of the meal contributes to the Haggadah, the book that gives the outline for the Seder and details the Exodus story.
Passover, one of the holiest and most important holidays in Judaism, commemorates God's "passing over" of Israelites' houses during the 10th plague, and the Jews' exodus from slavery in Egypt.
More than 80 students, professors and local families came together for the three-hour meal and ceremony last night.
While the meal only lasted the evening, the preparation started early in the morning when Hillel staff began cooking the traditional foods needed for the ceremony. By early afternoon, students were crowded in the kitchen, listening to The Beach Boys and chopping vegetables for salads.
Many of the foods being prepared had a special symbolic meaning during the Seder ceremony.
"You can sort of taste the holiday," Amy Olson, director of URI Hillel, said.
The foods became not only part of the ceremony, but part of the process of sharing the story of the Israelites' exile.
"A lot of Jewish holidays are 'someone tried to kill us, so let's eat,'" Lisa Friedman, program director for Hillel, joked.
Matzo, one of the most popular foods served during Passover, is a homage to the Jews being unable to take leaven bread with them during their escape to freedom. Matzo is still served, and observing Jews don't eat anything risen for the eight days of Passover, Olson explained.
One traditional dish made of apples and cinnamon called "charoset" is symbolic of the mortar of the bricks Jews were forced to make while they were enslaved. Charoset is served with maror, a bitter horseradish, to show how the bitterness of the Jews' struggle was eventually made sweet.
These foods were presented on a Seder plate, along with a fresh green vegetable, as a symbol of spring.
The symbolism of the meal contributes to the Haggadah, the book that gives the outline for the Seder and details the Exodus story.
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