The Daily Orange

Media Credit: Mackenzie Reiss

The clock neared 6 p.m. Wednesday. Sundown was approaching - and the students started to pour into Hillel. The count had already reached 293 when a dozen more stragglers walked through the door.

"We're not turning anybody away," one organizer shouted to his cohorts.

More than 300 students swelled into Syracuse University's Winnick Hillel Center to celebrate the first night of Passover. The Jewish holiday, which commemorates Moses leading the Jews out of ancient Egypt and away from the bonds of slavery, began Wednesday night.

To honor the Exodus, the holiday asks followers to not eat leavened bread for eight days. Products that contain yeast, or a similar substance, are forbidden.

Students packed the upstairs and downstairs dining room at Hillel, so they turned the library into a third dining hall. The students marveled at the Seder tables, lined with matzah (the traditional flatbread eaten on Passover), Gefilte (the traditional fish) and Manischewitz (the traditional, ahem, wine). The students relaxed in their chairs. They chatted. They joked.

Four students stepped to the microphone to lead the night's service. They stumbled. They mumbled through an introduction. Forgive them: It was their first time in front of such a large crowd. Then Kara Landsman, a sophomore magazine journalism major, announced it was time to open the service with the Kiddush (the traditional blessing over the wine).

Hundreds of students prayed together. They prayed as one.

Despite being away from home, in college and nearing the end of the semester, students crowded the Hillel center for one of Judaism's most sacred holidays.

"I'm a little surprised that there are so many people," Landsman said. "But when we have things like this, a lot of people come for big holidays."

Still, it's a sacrifice, and it can be a struggle to maintain the Passover diet away from home.

Passover-approved food is not always easily accessible on campus. Plus, the holiday often comes during the stressful time of the year right before exams. Then there's always the temptation of beer, and while some students admit that they don't keep the holiday as strictly as they should, many want to prove they can survive these eight days, even away from home.

Continued...

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