Jewish Club hosts Passover seder

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Illustration by Sophia Evans

An illustration depicts foods that are eaten on Passover.

Jackson Mayer

The Jewish Club hosted a Passover Seder at the school on April 19. Passover is a Jewish holiday celebrating the Jews’ escape from enslavement. The Seder is a ritual feast traditionally eaten on the first day of Passover.

Club President Alanah Dakar ’22 said attendees discussed the significance of the foods eaten at Seder, and the importance of Passover in the present day.

“We discussed the traditional Seder plate and the symbolism of each piece of food on the plate,” Dakar said. “For example, there is a piece of bitter herbs on the plate, which symbolize the suffering the Jews endured as slaves in Egypt. We also discussed the story of passover and whether it is important to simply retell the story of the past, or integrate the story of exodus and freedom from oppressive forces into the present day and our own lives.”

Club member Whitney Enenstein ’24 said the event was enjoyable due to the holiday spirit, and different from other Seders because it was less formal.

“This event was special in comparison to other ones the Jewish Club hosts because it was festive, since we were celebrating the Jewish holiday of Passover,” Enenstein said, “This Passover Seder was unlike others that I have attended since we were eating cafeteria food in a classroom at school, rather than sitting around a table saying prayers, eating traditional food, and reading the Haggadah (the book that tells the story of Passover).”

Club member Dillon Ring ’24 said the event taught him how to apply the lessons learned in Passover.

“Although this Seder was more informal, it still hit home the important points of the holiday and left us with an idea of how to use the lessons it teaches us in our daily lives,” Ring said. “The Seder was a community discussion about Passover, its impact on us, and our Seders at home.”

Club member Jacob Lutsky ’24 said the discussion was intellectually stimulating, as it is in other club events.

“We talked through the significance of everything on the Seder plate and Passover itself during the meeting,” Lutsky said. “I enjoyed it in particular because we had a lot of interesting, thought-provoking conversations about Passover within the Jewish community and how [it is] viewed by others. I enjoy Jewish Club in general because, though I don’t speak much, I enjoy listening to a lot of fascinating ideas brought up by fellow Jewish students, and it is a fun environment.”

Club member Sammy Glassman ’24 said attendees found there was overlap between how they celebrated Passover.

“I think that this meeting was special because we got to share personal stories with one another,” Glassman said. “We realized that many of us have the same Passover traditions. Overall, going to Jewish Club is awesome because I am able to converse with other Jews in a completely safe space about ‘Jewish’ things.”