As droves of Jewish students and locals alike gathered for Passover in Gainesville on Monday night, the holiday meant something different for each.
For Jayna Goldstein, it represents a sense of community. The 20-year-old UF nutrition junior attended the annual Lubavitch Chabad Jewish Center Passover seder. She has attended since freshman year.
The seder is a ritual dinner marking the first night of the holiday. Tables included food like matzo, a hard boiled egg and saltwater — all ingredients telling the story of the Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt.
While Goldstein misses spending the seder with her family back home in West Palm Beach, she enjoys the Chabad celebration, too. About 600 people attended Monday, and about 300 to 400 are expected for the second seder today.
“It’s a home away from home,” she said.
At Chabad, Gabriel Ruiz sat with his six children, ranging from ages 6 to 14, and his wife at a round table with matzo and a seder plate. For the next eight days, Jews around the world will refrain from eating flour and other grains in memory of when their ancestors couldn’t wait for bread to rise when leaving Egypt in a rush.
Ruiz, a UF Health Shands Hospital information technology analyst, said he was glad he came to Chabad for the first time this year.
“I just wish we got here earlier,” Ruiz said.
Chabad began preparations for the holiday more than two months ago, ordering about 310 pounds of matzo from Israel, said Rabbi Berl Goldman, a director of the center.
His wife, Chanie Goldman, co-director of the center, prepared her special matbucha salsa. To pay for the Passover services and meals, Chabad raised $61,182 in donations. Their goal was $76,000.
Rabbi Goldman said the holiday is about overcoming struggle and adversity in life, no matter what your faith is.
“We need to know everything is possible, and Passover teaches us that,” he said.
Five blocks away from Chabad, about another 350 people also enjoyed the first night of Passover at UF Hillel.
Rabbi Adam Grossman said the event was livestreamed on Facebook, where nearly 600 additional people watched. Grossman said the organization aimed to raise about $10,080 to serve 300 dinners, with each meal costing $36 to create. Both organizations’ dinners were free to students and community members.
“For us, there is no price tag for celebrating a holiday,” Grossman said.
Jeffrey Zimmerman, a UF physics and economics junior, said this was his first year spending Passover away from his family. The 21-year-old said he couldn’t go home to Pompano Beach because of schoolwork.
“It would definitely be easier if it was a holiday at UF,” he said. “I just don’t think there are enough Jews here for that.”
CHABAD PASSOVER BY THE NUMBERS
Source: JewishGator.com
- Matzo: 310 pounds
- Wine: 45 cases
- Grape Juice: 35 cases
- Haggadahs (Passover seder text): 500 books
- Seder meals: 800
Contact Jimena Tavel at jtavel@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @taveljimena
Rabbi Berl Goldman, a director of the Lubavitch Chabad Jewish Center, speaks to about 600 people before officially starting Passover at about 8 p.m. on Monday.
