Schoolwork, Summer, and Seder

After what felt like a cruelly short Easter Break, I am back at Susquehanna for the last stretch of the school year. Unfortunately, I have a lot of work coming my way during this final month or so of school. Later today, I have a dramatic group presentation in my Women in Biblical Tradition course about the story of Rachel and Leah. I will be playing the role of Rachel and Leah’s father, Laban. Tomorrow I have a term paper on C.S. Lewis due, as well as a draft of an essay due to my whole Travel Writing class. I’ll be relieved once these few assignments are out of the way, though there will definitely be more to replace them soon.

After the academic year finishes, I am looking forward to spending the summer in Selinsgrove. I will be living on campus and working in the University Communications office, which I think will be a great professional experience. I also am excited to spend time with friends here in the summer and enjoy the campus and town as much as I can. I’ve already started thinking about going on walks by the river and taking lots of photographs, neither of which I manage to do during the school year.

Of course, thinking so much of summer is getting a little ahead of myself. I still hope there’s plenty of time for interesting and fun events during the school year. Before Easter Break, I was able to experience  one such event for the first time—Susquehanna’s Passover Seder.

I was somewhat familiar with the Jewish holiday of Passover but I had never experienced the celebration before. Many people attended the event, which was held in the university’s cafeteria. There were almost 30 tables set up. A table with Rabbi Palley, Susquehanna’s Director of Jewish Life, and students from Hillel was elevated so we could follow their lead throughout the Seder.  Rabbi Palley explained that our tables would be our “Passover families” for the night and said that she especially enjoyed the celebration of Passover because it was something celebrated in the home.  Throughout the Seder, we were encouraged to talk to our tables about issues relevant to Passover. For example, we talked about oppression because the Passover celebration is about God taking the Jewish people out of slavery and into freedom.  

The Seder was filled with prayers and singing, much of which was in Hebrew. We read from our yellow Haggadahs, the texts for the Passover Seder, and tried to keep up as much as possible. The most striking aspect of the Seder was how almost every aspect was rich in symbolism. For instance, there was a bowl with a pitcher of water in it. We used that pitcher and bowl to clean each other’s hands and were told to talk about any cleansing going on in our lives. Almost of the food on the table initially had some sort of meaning, which made it important to eat and drink at certain times and in certain ways. Mostly, we followed along pretty well, though there were a couple of times our table got lost during the ceremony. At one point, I realized I drank my second cup of “wine”—for the purposes of Susquehanna's Seder, it was grape juice—way too early, but after that, I managed to avoid making the same faux paus.  

Though the Seder started around 7:30 p.m., we didn’t get to the main meal until past 9 p.m. The delicious food was worth the wait! It also gave me a chance to try foods I hadn’t before, like matzo ball soup. After dinner, the Seder continued with a bit more singing and prayer before letting out around 10 p.m.

I’m very glad I took the opportunity to go to the Seder this year. As someone who studies religion academically, I’m interested in understanding different religions and their celebrations. As a Christian, I think learning about Passover and the Passover Seder gives important context to my beliefs; it also cultivates better interfaith dialogue and understanding.

Events like the Seder bring together the learning and fun, social aspects of my college life, and I hope to experience some more events like that before the school year is over.