Campus offers Passover Seders

Passover is a time for Jewish families to celebrate together, but in the absence of that environment many college students turn to IU’s Jewish community and the on-campus events it offers.\n“The important part of Passover that I think everyone can agree on is bringing the community together,” said Andy Gitelson, assistant director at the Helene G. Simon Hillel Center. “It is your family in the Jewish community providing a home away from home for students who can’t get home.”\nPassover is a festival celebrating the Exodus, which commemorates the freeing of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. Passover started Monday night with various sites on campus hosting Seders, which are celebratory dinners. In addition to enjoying a Seder, the story from Exodus in the Torah is read. For those students who are unable to make it home to celebrate the holiday, there are plenty of outlets on campus for them to celebrate. \nMichael Simon, a sophomore from New York, said that for him Passover is a time of recollection on the past of the Jewish people. \n“It’s a period of time where you reserve what people in the past went through,” he said. “At the same time, it is a joyous holiday.”\nSimon said that for some students it is difficult to get home, especially since the holiday falls during the middle of the week.\n“It’s great that Hillel provides so many options for students,” he said.\nAt 6:30 p.m. today Hillel will be having a Seder open to all students. For those who cannot make the meal at Hillel, Chabad Jewish Student Center, 518 E. Seventh St., is also holding another Seder dinner later in the evening. \nHillel will also be serving kosher lunches through April 10 and dinners through April 9. Lunches will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and dinners from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The price for students who do not own a Discover Hillel Card is $8 and $5 for those who do. \nIn addition to the Seder and the kosher meals, at the end of the holiday everyone gets together for the conclusion of Passover. The event will take place at 9 p.m. April 10 at Buffa Louie’s, 114 S. Indiana Ave. The cost is $5 and the meal is all you can eat. \nFor those who do not understand the holiday, Rabbi Micha Wiesenberg said it is the celebration of the Jewish people becoming a nation. When celebrating Passover, “It is a holiday commemorating social redemption, as well as personal redemption,” Wiesenberg said.\nWiesenberg said Jewish people eat matzo, a bread that does not have a rising element such as yeast. He said the bread is significant because it is a symbol of the ego. \n“People walk around with a lot of ego, it is the source of their slavery,” Wiesenberg said.\nGitelson, the Hillel Center’s assistant director, also said that a new group has been formed on campus and will celebrate Seder together. A group of people have joined forces to create Keshet, a support group for GLBT and Jewish students and their friends. The group will celebrate the holiday with its Seder on today at a private residence. \nFor more information on this dinner, Gitelson asked that students contact the Hillel Center at 336-3824.