From UVa to Beth Israel, Charlottesville Celebrates Passover

Jews around the world participate in the Seder, which means “order” in Hebrew, on the first night of Passover to tell the story of the Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt, as described in Exodus, the second book of Hebrew and Christian. bibles.

Truman H. Brody-Boyd, deputy director of development at the Brody Jewish Center, told the Daily Progress on Friday that Seder is often a time when family, friends and worshipers come together.

“One of our core values ​​as Brody Jewish Center is to be our students’ second home,” Brody-Boyd said. “For us, that means when the Seder falls in the middle of the week, like a Wednesday, we give them that Seder experience and give them all the comforts they would have had at home.”

The students, who had just returned from spring break a few weeks ago, had the opportunity to partake in a real Seder meal on Wednesday night, Brody-Boyd said.

On a traditional Passover Seder table, there is a Seder plate, where each food item is symbolic of some aspect of the Passover holiday.

A roast lamb shank represents the paschal lamb sacrificed at the first Passover; an egg represents spring and the circle of life; the bitter herbs represent the bitterness of slavery; charoset, a mixture of apples and cinnamon, represents the mortar used by the Jews in Egypt; greens, often parsley, represent spring.

Also on the table is matzah – unleavened bread resembling crackers, which represents the bread the Israelites took with them when they fled Egypt.

On Wednesday, students also participated in the storytelling aspect of the Seder, taking turns reading about the Israelites freed from slavery in Egypt from a pamphlet that included excerpts from the Bible and instructions on when to eat each item on their Seder plates and the meaning of each of the foods.

The meal included everything from whole Seder plates to “tons of amazing delicious breasts that Rabbi Jake made,” Brody-Boyd said.

“We tried to make it as welcoming and warm as possible,” Brody-Boyd said. “So whether we’ve seen this student 10 times this year, just once this year, or this is his first encounter with us, he feels integrated into the community and feels welcome and included. It’s really vital for us to provide them with that space, and it’s really meaningful for us to be able to be that second home for our students.

After nurturing and educating UVa’s Jewish student population, leaders of the Brody Jewish Center launched the “Passover Around Grounds” program, providing students with their own Seder kits to share with their own communities of friends, roommates and peers.

“It’s a really meaningful way for them to take control of their Jewish identity and start forming their Jewish tradition,” Brody-Boyd said.

Beginning Friday, the Brody Jewish Center will provide students with kosher meals for lunch and dinner until Passover ends at sundown Thursday. Center leaders will host Passover meals at the center at 1824 University Circle.

Meanwhile, in downtown Charlottesville, Congregation Beth Israel, Virginia’s oldest standing synagogue, held its first Seder celebration at the temple on Wednesday since before the pandemic made meeting in person unsafe.

“We have someone who cooked for us every year, and singing and praying, the rabbi played guitar for the congregation for the Seder,” a congregant who asked not to be named from the congregation told the Daily Progress. Beth Israel. “So it was a celebration of the exodus from Egypt, which is the essence of Passover, and it was wonderful to bring our community together. It was absolutely beautiful.