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Rabbi Justin Kerber, director of UGA Hillel, watches Gregory Broughton rehearse with the African-American Choral Ensemble at UGA Hillel Sunday. The Ensemble performed at Hillel's "Freedom Seder" on the second night of Passover.

Hillel cleans up for Passover

Univ. offers acceptable Passover meals

By: CAMERON HUBBARD

Posted: 4/21/08

In observation of the Passover holiday, the University's foundation for Jewish life, Hillel, will be offering Passover-friendly meals throughout the week. Hillel also provided Seder meals on Saturday and Sunday to mark the beginning of Passover.

"Passover is the holiday that celebrates the exodus from Egypt, and it also commemorates the spring harvest," said Rabbi Justin Kerber, 38, director of Hillel at the University.

To prepare for Passover, the members of Hillel had to clean the house's kitchen thoroughly. Cabinet doors were tied shut to prevent the use of non-Passover tools and other utensils. Also, all leavened foods, chametz, were removed from the home.

According to Kerber, chametz is far more than just loaves of bread. Pasta, pretzels and even corn syrup all must be discarded at Passover.

"The reason for not having leaven is because it says in the Torah ... that the Israelites had to leave Egypt in a single night," he said.

"It says you shall eat hurriedly because your ancestors ate hurriedly. The kicker is they had no time for their bread to rise. Therefore, we eat matzo."

Kerber said it is traditional to send children around the home to look for any bread crumb or other trace of leavened food. The chametz is then given away, as Hillel did with most of their leavened foods, or burned.

"The smoke from the burning chametz sort of symbolizes that we're all done with it. It's gone," Kerber said. "By burning it, we are turning it into the dust of the earth."

After the chametz is removed, the Seder is eaten. A traditional meal eaten at the beginning of Passover, the Seder contains six different parts.

"No matter what Seder you go to, there will be a plate with six different small foods to signify different parts of the holiday," said Emily Rosenblum, 22, a senior from Marietta majoring in biology and international affairs and the student president of Hillel.

During the week, Hillel will host a meal plan for Passover. Nonetheless, Rosenblum recognizes that until recently, it was sometimes difficult to observe Passover on campus.

"It can be hard to eat appropriately on campus. I know my freshman year when I was in the dorms, not everybody can necessarily afford to [go] off campus for lunch," she said.

However, since her sophomore year, Rosenblum said Hillel has worked with the University to provide Passover-friendly meals to students in the dining halls. The dining halls will offer matzo and ingredients of the various dishes so students can determine if something is acceptable to eat during Passover.

At the end of the week, Hillel also has planned a "carb fest" to celebrate the end of Passover, said Rosenblum.

"People usually go a little crazy - eat a whole loaf of bread."