This year, KU Hillel welcomed more than 60 students for the first-night Passover Seder for the first time in its new space.
Included in the student-led seder were poems and prayers reminding students that the Passover story of freedom is especially relevant this year.
Most prominent in the minds of students and their parents are the anti-Israel protests happening on campuses around the country. Jewish students at universities like Columbia, NYU, Michigan, and Emerson College are faced with the decision of whether it is safe for them to celebrate Passover on campus.
Junior Ella Atlas was one of the students who helped craft and lead the seder.
“It has never been more important to come together to tell the story of Passover,” Atlas said. “The empty Seder table commemorating the hostages was a constant reminder of why we were there.”
Senior Sammi Grofsky also helped lead the seder and said, “Having the opportunity to lead my last Passover Seder at KU was especially meaningful to me. I can’t wait to take what I’ve learned leading Passover Seders at Hillel into the next chapter of my life after graduation.”
At the Seder, Hillel staff member Ben Novorr shared some of the themes and readings from the Jewish Community Relations Bureau | American Jewish Committee Unity Seder, which he had attended a week before.
“The themes of resiliency and unity in our community that were present in the Unity Seder Haggadah mirror the feelings that so many of our students are experiencing during this unprecedented time,” Novorr said. “These readings were not only welcome additions to our Seder but also created crucial defining moments of connectivity.”
Other than first-night Seder, KU Hillel offered students free daily homemade Passover lunches, Passover snacks on campus and a special Passover Shabbat meal. On the third night of Passover, KU Hillel’s Jewish Women in Greek Life group hosted a Chocolate Seder for Jewish women and their friends at the sorority Kappa Alpha Theta.
More information about holiday celebrations at KU Hillel is available on its website, kuhillel.org or by contacting .
