Rabbi Berl Goldman said he remembers when he had to host Passover Seder in a tent.
But on Monday night, he held one of Florida’s largest public Seders at the newly built Lubavitch-Chabad Jewish Student and Community Center, located at 20201 NW Fifth Ave., for more than 560 people seated together as a family.
“We were enslaved together, and we were redeemed together. So Jewish unity and community is vital,” he said.
Goldman said the 15-step dinner service, which details the ancient story of Passover, the birth of the Jewish people and their exodus from Egypt, parallels much of what happens in modern daily life.
“Each (step) represents a physical exodus of personal enslavement and a spiritual one as well,” he said.
Ayelet Faerman, a 27-year-old UF alumna and Coral Springs resident, said the Seder gives Jewish locals the opportunity to have a spiritual experience during the weeklong holiday.
She said Goldman does everything it takes to make an environment kosher for Passover so others don’t have to.
“It’s more convenient for students to be able to come to one location for all their meals,” she said.
Kosher lunches and dinners are available at the center all week, along with other activities made possible by a $55,000 budget donated by alumni, parents and others close to the center, Goldman said.
UF materials science and engineering senior Allison Silverstone, 22, attended the Seder with her brother and several friends. She said the event enabled her to celebrate the holiday.
“Even being away (from home),” she said, “it’s nice to get back to your Jewish roots.”
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 4/15/2014 under the headline "Jewish center’s Seder draws 560"]
Students and residents gather at the Lubavitch-Chabad Jewish Student and Community Center for Seder on Monday evening. The event celebrated the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover.
