How to Celebrate Passover in College
Tips for College Students Spending Passover away from Home
Jan 23, 2009
Passover is the first of three major holidays in Judaism: Pesach, Shavu'ot, and Sukkot. The holiday is celebrated in remembrance of how the Jews broke away from slavery in Egypt, "passing over", to create their own Jewish nation. During the week of Passover all yeast products (referred to as “Chametz” in the Torah) must be completely removed from the celebrator's diet and home until the holiday has ended.
Since the holiday normally takes place during the month of April, it 's not always possible to travel home. Being away at school during a holiday can be very difficult, especially for first time students. Here are some tips on how to celebrate Passover while in college.
First Seder on Campus
One of the best ways for students to celebrate Jewish holidays is by visiting the Hillel House. The Hillel House is an organization that acts as a guide for Jewish students on the campuses of universities all over the United States and Europe. They welcome all Jewish students to celebrate the Jewish holidays with them and hold several events for students throughout each school year, including Shabbat services with dinner every Friday.
The Hillel House can be found in over 500 campuses nationwide, and is considered to be the largest Jewish Campus Organization known today. The organization welcomes all students with open arms to take part in its events and no membership is required to join them for their festivities. If a student is seeking a traditional holiday on campus, the Hillel House is the perfect choice. It is also a great way to meet other students who are going through similar adjustments in being away from home for the first time. The Hillel House offers an exciting new twist to the familiar holiday traditions from home.
The Passover Diet
The most challenging aspect of celebrating Passover is the diet. Whether the holiday is celebrated at home or away, the diet is particularly difficult on all of its participants. Celebrating the holiday away from home, without home cooked meals, may seem impossible for first-time college students.
The average college diet is based upon getting the most food for the least amount of money. Because of this, over time, certain foods have become staples of the college diet: pizza, beer, Ramen noodles, frozen dinners, ice cream, cafeteria food etc., the majority of which are completely prohibited during Passover.
The best way to cure junk food withdrawals is to substitute the college diet favorites with Kosher for Passover alternatives, i.e Matzo Ball Soup instead of Ramon Noodles.
Another difficulty student's face during the holiday is how expensive Kosher for Passover food is to buy for the holiday. Since the average college student cannot afford such added expenses, here are a few tips on how to cut costs when shopping for the holiday:
- Find out if there is a Hillel House on campus or a similar organization. If there is, this would be a good way to get some home cooked meals during Passover that not only would taste great, but most likely cost little to nothing.
- Try to accomplish the bulk of food shopping for Passover in advance; the closer it is to the holiday the more expensive everything becomes.
- For non perishable items, shopping around on the Internet for bargains will help a lot in cutting down some of the added cost of the holiday.
The most important thing to remember about Passover is that no matter how the holiday is celebrated, whether with family or away at school, its festivities should be filled with joy.
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