For a list of Passover activities at AU, scroll to the bottom of this page.
This week, students will be tossing out their carbohydrates and forgetting their bagels, breads and pastas. Think the Atkin's diet is taking over AU? Nope. Jewish students all over campus are celebrating Passover.
Passover is one of the most important holidays in Judaism. Jewish students will take part in Seders, or festive meals, andÿeat only particular foods to celebrate the Jews' freedom from Egypt after years of slavery.
"Three thousand years ago the Jewish people were slaves under the new pharaoh," sophomore David Frankel said. "A man by the name of Moses who was connected to the royal family found out that he was Jewish and decided to free the Jewish people ... Passover is all about commemorating the struggle from Egypt and thanking God for what we have today."
This year, Passover will start at sundown this evening and last eight days, concluding on Tuesday evening, April 13.
"It's the holiday where Jews remember when they went out of Egypt in exodus," said Rabbi Kenneth Cohen, executive director of Hillel, the center of Jewish life on campus. "The commandments associated with Passover were the first commandments given to the nation of Israel in the Bible, and they are particularly important because of that. Passover reflects our tradition, and tradition is passed down through families. Jewish people see themselves as part of a larger extended family."
On Monday and Tuesday evenings, many Jewish students will either travel home to be with their families or attend Seders in the D.C. area.
"On Passover you read a Hagadah, which is a book that tells the story of the Exodus," said Melissa Levy, Hillel's program director. "You eat a meal, and there are several other symbolic parts of the Seder.."
For many students, Passover is an important holiday to share with family and friends. It is a time when the Jewish community can come together to celebrate its history.
"What's so wonderful about the holiday is that it is an occasion for entire families and friends to gather together," said Pamela Nadell, professor and director of Jewish Studies at AU. "There are particular roles for the children, particular roles for the senior members of the family. There is a real sense of tradition that is handed down."
Frankel feels that it is meaningful for him to be with his family on Passover. He has decided to skip school to attend his family's Seders.
"It is pretty important with me to be with my family during the holiday," Frankel said. "That's why I am going home. It's something the Jews have to do as a community. It's not like a holiday where you can go to a temple and get fulfillment right away. Passover is a journey for every Jew."
Nadell equates Jewish students not being home for Passover with Christians not being home to celebrate the Christmas holidays.
Many students like sophomore Carly Fabrikant travel home for the holiday because Passover has become an important family tradition.
"I see it as more of a family tradition, to sit at a table and read the Seder book," Fabrikant said. "I enjoy the holiday because no matter what is going on in our busy lives, we all come together and celebrate like a family."
Other Jewish students who are not able to travel home for the holiday make their own Passover traditions.
"It is important to me to be with family and friends during the holiday but I live so far from home that it is hard for me to go home for Passover," said junior Allison Fuller. "We don't have school off, so instead I have spent my last two Passovers here. Me and a bunch of friends are chipping in money and buying everything to make our own Passover."
Cohen recommends that Jewish students attend an AU Passover or a Passover in the city.
"Many students are able to go home, and have the opportunity," Cohen said. "Other students are likely to feel homesick if they aren't able to go home, so it's really best that they get to."
For students without plans for Monday's Seder, Hillel offers alternative plans. Students can either attend an AU Seder, or be matched up with a Jewish family in the area.
"We hold a community Seder the first night," Levy said. "This year we will host about 80 people. We also offer students a home hospitality program. If they let us know, we can match them up with a family for both the first and second Seders. There are also kosher meals for Passover available in TDR."
While some students have spent every Passover holiday with their families, others have spent the holiday in foreign countries, where Jews celebrate the holiday differently.
"I spent a year in Israel where I attended a Seder totally in Hebrew," Frankel said. "A lot of the songs that we sing in America don't exist in Israel and some of their traditions don't take place here. It's a different meaning to have a Passover Seder in Israel because an American Seder always ends with the words 'next year in Jerusalem.' When you are in Israel you say, 'This year I am in Jerusalem.'"
Students of all Jewish sects celebrate Passover in different ways. Some students eat leavened bread, while others keep Passover for eight full days.
"No matter whether you are reform, conservative or orthodox, I think it is important to celebrate Passover to acknowledge the history of the Jewish people," Fabrikant said.
Most Jewish people do not eat leavened bread during the eight days of Passover. Instead, they eat matzos, which symbolizes the food that the Jewish people ate on their journey out of Egypt.
"You are not allowed to eat leavened bread," Frankel said. "You eat matzos, the traditional unleavened bread. You are reliving slavery. When the Jews were escaping Egypt, they only had a certain amount of time to cook their food. We are reliving that by eating the same types of foods they ate."
Fuller will keep Passover by avoiding bread. She plans to eat salads and meat for the eight days.
"I will be keeping Passover for eight days because it's tradition," she said. "The Jewish people suffered for 40 years; I can manage eight days."
Other students will keep Passover because of TDR's Passover meal plan. Some students have never kept Passover before, but plan to try it out this year.
"I am going to try my best to keep Passover for eight days," Fabrikant said. "I've never really kept it before but I am going to try to see what it is actually like."
Most Jewish people agree that being with family or friends is an important part of Passover. Whether students decide to go home for the holiday, or stay at AU, being with a community is an important part of the holiday's traditions.
"Being with family is part of the holiday," Levy said. "And it's not necessarily the traditional family, but being with the Jewish community, and we try to provide that community."
There's matzo things going on at AU for Passover Hillel Community Seder Monday University Club in Mary Graydon Center.
Community Match-Up program Monday and Tuesday Hillel will connect area families with students wishing to attend Seders within the local Jewish community.
JSA Chocolate Seder Thursday McDowell Formal Lounge.
Women's Seder Sunday MGC 200. Explores and celebrates the special role of women in the Passover story during this alternative Seder.
Kosher for Passover meals will be available in TDR for lunch and dinner, beginning with dinner on Monday and ending with lunch on Tuesday, April 13, in the Georgia O'Keefe Room. Pre-registration required.
