During Passover, being far from home and not having much kosher-for-Passover food available is a reality for many college students. For the past 16 years, KU Chabad has been changing that for Jewish students at the University of Kansas by hosting large Passover Seders, providing a kosher-for-Passover meal plan, and distributing hundreds of boxes of matzah and supplies.
During the KU Chabad Seders, over 200 participants attended an uplifting program and holiday meal hosted in a family-style environment with home-cooked food. For students who were in quarantine due to COVID-19, a special Seder-to-Go program was launched to provide for their needs.
In addition to the large Seders at the Chabad House, Seders took place at two Jewish fraternities at KU: Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) and Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT).
“It was so incredible to have close to 50 brothers singing, celebrating and enjoying the holiday together,” said Logan Rosengard, the current Master of the AEPi house, about KU Chabad’s Seder there.
At these “Greek Seders,” everyone participated in the songs and rituals. There was matzah and a brisket dinner, and there were discussions on the relevance of the story of the Exodus in modern times.
"Working with Chabad keeps us focused on our Jewish values and roots. We were excited to host the ‘Zeta Beta Seda,’ as it provided the brothers the opportunity to connect with each other over our shared Jewish heritage,” said ZBT Heritage Chair Evan Berkowitz.
KU Chabad also offered a complete week-long kosher-for-Passover meal plan.
Thanks to a generous sponsor, KU Chabad distributed over 540 boxes of Matzah for KU students and Jewish households to enable them to have a true Passover experience.
During the week-long holiday, various events took place around town to celebrate the holiday, including matzah pizza parties at the dorms and a “Macaroon Fiesta'' at Wescoe Beach on campus. KU Chabad's JGreek program also distributed matzah to every Greek house on campus where there were Jewish members.
KU Chabad extends its appreciation to the many donors from the local Kansas City Jewish community who partnered with it to bring the joys of Passover to KU students, and it gives special thanks to Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City.
“It is so inspiring to see how many students make the effort to celebrate passover while in college, although it isn’t always easy,” said Nechama Tiechtel, co-director of KU Chabad. “As we stood at the Seder and observed the tens of students who had joined, it reinforced our strong faith in the future of the Jewish people, as, after all, these are the new Jewish leaders of tomorrow.”
For more information about KU Chabad programs, contact Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel at 785.832.8672 or at
