PASSOVER STORIES

Alspaugh Midnight Seder

For the second night of Passover, a few freshmen and I organized a late night seder to be held in our dorm.  Since we would be a way from our families, we thought it would be a nice way to celebrate Passover with our friends and other freshmen.  Dubbed the "Alspaugh Midnight Seder" (Alspaugh is the name of our dorm), the seder's goal was to create a social and religious environment in a fun, intimate atmosphere, and to help us get to know each other better.  We put the entire thing together ourselves, from baking food to writing our own Haggadah, and advertised using facebook and word of mouth.  Jewish Life at Duke helped us by providing us with a seder plate and eggs.  Thirty freshmen ended up attending the seder, and everyone had a blast.  We made the seder more interactive by rapping out the passover story and by reenacting the ten plagues.  In addition, a lot of us became friends with Jewish students we had never met before.  The night was a huge success, and we plan on doing it again next year.

-Kevin L. T’12

My First Duke Passover

My family is small but we have always been together to celebrate three Jewish holidays - Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and what has always been my personal favorite --Passover. When I think back to our Passover seders, what I remember most is a long, enjoyable family dinner. As Passover approached this year, I knew that for the first time I would not be able to be with my family. I was very upset and wanted to go home but I had a midterm and was not able to do so. I knew Passover was a time I wanted to eat and hear the Passover story with those closest to me, so I asked a group of my friends to go to the seder at the Freeman center with me. As the sun went down we got on the bus and headed over, I was on the phone with my mom and certainly missing home. However as we arrived at the Freeman Center, and I saw that it was filled with other students and faculty I realized that this was also my family. The table was set in traditional seder fashion and the food was delicious. It was nice to be able to sit with my close friends, but the seder, led by the rabbi, encouraged everyone to participate. My friends and I left feeling so satisfied. Not only had we enjoyed a delicious meal but we also were able to join with the Jewish community for celebration. In my opinion having a seder which the entire Duke Jewish community can attend is very important - it allows those who do not always feel connected to see that they are part of something and that it is easy to get involved.

-Jen R. T’12

Delta Gamma’s Seder at the Freeman Center for Jewish Life

This year, Delta Gamma sorority had a private Passover Seder at the Freeman Center for the third year in a row. On the second night of Passover, they had a special Seder meal served in the library at the Freeman Center. Though Delta Gamma is not a Jewish sorority, many of its members are Jewish, or at least have a desire to learn more about Jewish traditions. This year about 20 women attended, 5 of whom were not Jewish.
 
This private Seder provided a chance for Delta Gamma sisters to bond over a delicious meal, to observe Jewish tradition, and to teach non-Jewish members about Passover. Many of the attendees had participated in previous years and plan to again. In this way, the Freeman Center served as a forum for Jewish celebration, teaching, and interfaith friendship at Duke.

-Stacy C. T'09