Students celebrate Passover at URI Hillel – URI The Good 5 Cent Cigar
The first night of Passover is filled with symbolism and celebration to Jewish people.
The holiday represents the trials and triumphs of the Jews in Egypt, from the oppressive enslavement they faced to the birth of Moses to the parting of the Red Sea and beyond.
One such celebration occurred yesterday at Hillel.
“Each thing we do symbolizes Jews being slaves and leaving Egypt,” junior Mike Justa, who helped to run the evening festivities, said. Approximately 50 people attended the Seder, which literally means “order.” The pre-dinner service followed a rigid schedule and lasted 45 minutes.
“It’s essentially re-living the past,” URI alumnus Matt Merin said regarding the service. “That’s why I come back [every year].” This was the second Passover service to take place in the newly-renovated building.
“The holiday itself lasts eight days,” Justa said. However, he said Hillel has an event just for the first night. The $15 entry payment covered traditional Jewish food for the service, including matzah and maror, which contains horseradish, beats and lettuce. Also available was haroset, a sweet fruit and nut matzah topping, which symbolizes the mortar the Jews used while they were enslaved in Egypt.
Executive Director of Hillel Amy Olson led the service, making the atmosphere casual and fun. She began by saying that the service could be shortened in order to get to the food more quickly, “depending on how much I skip…I can be bribed.”
The service included reading from the Haggadah, a book explaining the story of Passover. Everyone took turns reading paragraphs from the book with breaks for songs and rituals such as handwashing after drinking wine, which was replaced with grape juice.
The reading depicted the history of the Jews’ plight in Egypt as slaves, the birth of Moses, the Four Children and the Jews’ escape from Egypt via Moses parting the Red Sea. Olson lightened the mood by jokingly mocking one student’s pronunciation of a particularly difficult name by saying, “Gesundheit!”
Olson also made light of the length of the service by saying, “As with all Jewish traditions, we will elaborate.” Her laid-back yet dedicated approach was infectious, as everyone knew when to be serious and when it was okay to relax.
The service’s many symbols included pitchers of salt water instead of fresh water, signifying the tears shed by the Jews of Egypt. Each table also had pieces of matzah, or unleavened bread. At one point in the service, the matzah was broken in half; the larger piece was hidden under a cloth. This, Olson said, was to symbolize that, “…[the Jews] never knew where their next meal would come from.”
Another ritual was to recline and lean to the left while drinking the “wine”; this was to assure proper digestion. Cushions were placed on seats to add comfort; however, the organizers decided to replace these with whoopee cushions, much to the amusement of the attendees.
The service concluded with a reading of God’s Ten Plagues to Egypt. This was symbolized by the spilling of wine onto each plate to show the pain felt by others. The service then concluded with dinner.