Jewish Boston University students who were unable to make it home for Passover had the opportunity to keep homey traditions alive on-campus through Hillel House Dining, trading dining points for unleavened bread, macaroons and the company of friends during the holiday.
The eight-day holiday continues until Thursday night, and Jewish students are taking advantage of Hillel’s religious catering and Matzo offerings.
Dining Services provides a full Passover dinner for Jewish students on campus, Hillel House Student Activities Director Kip Lombardo said.
‘We had a large number of people attend Seders here,’ Lombardo said. ‘We provide Passover material, so for students who want [to celebrate] in their apartments and dorms can borrow from us to do that.’
Passover commemorates the Hebrews’ escape from enslavement in Egypt. The word originates from a story in the book of Exodus in which the Hebrews were instructed to mark doors with lamb’s blood so that the angel of death would ‘pass over’ their doors. By doing this, they could avoid God’s tenth plague, the death of the firstborn.
People have Seders and eat matzo also because of the story of Exodus, College of Arts and Sciences freshman Sarah Shainwald said.
‘Seder in Hebrew means order,’ Shainwald said. ‘It’s a dinner, and it has a specific order. The Hebrews didn’t have time for their bread to rise so that’s why we eat matzo.’
Shainwald, who lives close enough to go home for last Wednesday and Thursday nights, said she enjoyed Passover traditions of wine, prayer and songs with her family.
‘My family has always had matzo ball soup,’ Shainwald said. ‘One of the adult men hides the afikoman, then the kids go find it. Then, we say grace after the meal and, after the third cup of wine, we welcome Elijah into our table. The kids go open the nearest door to let him in, and his spirit comes to tell us when the Messiah is supposed to come.”
Afikoman is a half-piece of matzo that is broken in the early stages of Seder and then eaten for dessert.
This year’s first Seder started off with a special prayer for the blessing of the sun, Lombardo said.
‘Judaism is a lunar-solar calendar, and this year is special because every twenty-eight years the sun returns to its position in the sky,’ Lombardo said.
Lombardo said BU is one of the better colleges for kosher food because it lets students use their meal plans. He said there are also several kosher restaurants near BU’s campus.
‘[Star Market] and Johnny’s Fresh Market have large kosher sections,’ Lombardo said. ‘There are several kosher restaurants nearby in the city.’
Although CAS freshman Sarah Hoskins said she does not make an effort to maintain tradition on campus, several dining halls have provided matzo for Jewish students.
‘I ate a few pieces of matzo at Warren Towers, and they had one box sitting around for a few days,’ Hoskins said.
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