“It's not your average seder. It's going to be interactive and entertaining,” said Rabbi Levi Friedman of FIU's Chabad House, the organization for Jewish students at FIU that will be hosting the Seder.
Chabad's seder is for students of all Jewish backgrounds, even those who have never experienced a seder before. For Jews outside of Israel, the Passover seder takes place the first two nights of the eight-day holiday. So on the night of April 13, students will have another chance to experience the second seder.
Chabad to organize first seder dinner for students
Matazh, red wine and a variety of traditional Jewish dishes will be some of the items decorating the table at the Chabad House on the night of April 12, when the Jewish holiday of Passover begins. This eight-day holiday will start off the celebration with the first Passover seder for FIU students.
“It’s not your average seder. It’s going to be interactive and entertaining,” said Rabbi Levi Friedman of FIU’s Chabad House, the organization for Jewish students at FIU that will be hosting the Seder.
Chabad’s seder is for students of all Jewish backgrounds, even those who have never experienced a seder before. For Jews outside of Israel, the Passover seder takes place the first two nights of the eight-day holiday. So on the night of April 13, students will have another chance to experience the second seder.
Outside of Passover, Chabad is active at both University Park and Biscayne Bay Campus year round, providing Jewish programming for FIU students. Chabad is a worldwide Jewish organization with a presence at over 80 campuses nationally. Chabad is an acronym for the Hebrew words of Chochmah, Binah and Da’at, which mean wisdom, knowledge and understanding.
Passover commemorates the exodus of the Jews from Egypt after 210 years of slavery. Jews celebrate this event with a festive meal and ceremony called the seder, during which they recite the Haggadah, the narrative of this historical episode.
“The message of Passover is one that we can all relate to today,” Friedman said. “It’s a message of liberation from oppression and freedom from all those things that hold us down and keep us from being able to express ourselves and maximize our potential.”
Chabad is located near UP. Students are recommended to reserve their free seat on the Chabad website in order to be guaranteed a spot for the seders. They also offer kosher meals for Passover for all eight days, by reservation.
“The festival of Passover is a Biblical commandment to observe Passover and one of the commandments involved is to eat matzah, which is unleavened bread; in addition, there is a prohibition on eating any leavened product [Chametz],” Friedman said. “So in the days leading up to Passover, we clean our house and rid ourselves of all the leavened products in the house and replace it with kosher foods.”
“Chabad believes that belief in God and being Jewish isn’t enough to follow blindly, it’s something we have to understand and appreciate,” Friedman said. “Through the study and understanding of Judaism and what God wants from us we come to a deeper appreciation of who we are and what it is that we’re doing.”
Their mission is to provide a home away from home for all the Jewish students at FIU, according to Friedman.
Chabad offers classes such as Kabbalah, which teaches Jewish mysticism, at UP on Wednesdays from 9-10 p.m. at the 2nd floor of the Green Library. They explore subjects such as love, good and evil, soul and God and the meaning of life.
Chabad is most popular on campus for its weekly shabbat, which are the Friday night sabbath; dinners, held at Friedman’s house. Once a month they have a themed shabbat in February for example, they had a Panther Pride shabbat.
Jonathan Berney, a sophomore met Friedman when he was tabling. He grew up with a Jewish education and was looking for a Jewish environment at the University.
“It was a cool experience,” Berney said. “No matter what your level with connection for Judaism is, I think it’s important to have a group that you can fit in with.”
Junior Sarah Steinfeld, has been going to Chabad for Shabbat since her first week at FIU.
“I wanted to engage in conversation where people knew what I was talking about. I knew that Chabad had something different to offer,” she said. “It’s very family-oriented and so non-judgmental. Everyone who comes into their house feels so comfortable.”
Jewish students who attend Shabbat dinner at the Chabad house can expect a young family sitting around a huge table with plenty of food and singing. The week’s Parsha is read and that gets the conversation started. Students can also ask the rabbi questions about life or anything or other concerns during the dinner.
“Our doors are always open,” Friedman said. “Don’t be embarrassed, afraid, or worried about coming. We’re here give them an opportunity to connect to other [Jewish] people their age. Total pleasure, zero pressure.”
For additional information, contact Friedman at (305) 226-5533 or via e-mail at rabbi@chabadfiu.com.
