Passover is a favorite Jewish holiday and, for many college students celebrating this spring festival at school, the seder brings back childhood memories and becomes symbolic of their own Exodus from home. 

On campuses across the country, students from St. Louis eagerly help plan and participate in seders as a way to continue family traditions and explore their Jewish identity. And, let’s face it, you’re never too old to search for the afikomen.

The Jewish Light talked to students and campus groups as they made their plans and preparations for Passover seders and celebrations. 

Students such as Daniel Sheinbein at Washington University, who live close to home, get the best of both worlds. On the first night, he joins the seder at his family home in Ladue; on the second night, he celebrates with extended family – his fraternity brothers at Sigma Alpha Epsilon. 

“For me, the Jewish holidays have revolved around the traditions that have been passed down through many generations in my family,” said Sheinbein, a sophomore in the school’s philosophy-neuroscience-psychology program. “My family, especially my mother, has made it a priority to celebrate all of the Jewish holidays and make it special for all of us. As a college student and as I grow older, it is important to keep those traditions going and not let those traditions be lost.” 

With about 5,500 undergrads, 1,400 of whom are Jewish, Washington University offers many opportunities for students to continue their Passover traditions. St. Louis Hillel offers a “Do Your Own Seder” kit and a family-style first night seder. It also matches students with local families for seders.

Chabad on Campus-Rohr Center for Jewish Life offers four seders with varying levels of interactivity, from the largest, with 240 people at College Hall, to a parallel graduate student seder at the Chabad House that has a more intellectual, spirited discussion.

At the College Hall seder, which lasts just over two hours and features communal readings with 60 people at each long table, everyone joins the fun.

“The singing is majestic,” said Rabbi Hershey Novack, who co-directs Chabad on Campus with his wife, Chana Novack. “The room pulsates with energy and reverberates with joy.

“This is a night where students are missing their families, and we attempt to stand in to the degree that we can,” said Novack, who has hosted seders at Wash U for the past 12 years. 

Seders include Passover comfort foods, the Novacks’ secret charoset recipe, “and, of course, handmade round shmura matzah to observe the mitzvah,” he said.

For students looking for an intimate Passover experience, Rabbi Doron and Trudy Lazarus of the Jewish Learning Experience (JLE) at Wash U plan to welcome about 25 students — or as many as can fit — into their home this year. 

“Since the students eat all their meals in public venues during the week, they really appreciate a home-cooked meal in a smaller, more intimate atmosphere with real family life and interaction,” said Rabbi Lazarus, who has two daughters, Shira, 3, and Chana, 1.

Passover allows students to kick back and relax while they learn something valuable.

“College is a time when, indeed, they are away from home, and they start making their own decisions – who they will marry, what are their values, and why is Judaism important,” Lazarus said. “The college campus is the precipice deciding the future state of the Jewish people. The Passover seder is a powerful exchange that can have a very real impact on these decisions.” 

At the University of Missouri-Columbia, where about 800 students are Jewish, Hillel and Chabad for the first time planned to jointly host a first night’s seder at the AEPi fraternity house, with about 150 students were expected. Similar to St. Louis Hillel, the Mizzou Hillel also offers a “Seder in a Box” for students interested doing their own thing, or Hillel will place them with families in the community.

“Our seder is a unique combination of a large community seder and a family-style environment,” said Jeanne Snodgrass, director of Mizzou’s Hillel. “We have multiple tables and student leaders that guide each table through the Haggadah. … Students actively participate and have a chance to have seder with friends and meet other Jewish students.”

Passover is also a favorite time of year for Jewish students at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill. At the Chabad Student Center at Bradley, about 75 students, mostly from St. Louis and Chicago, planned to celebrate a seder with a meal, kosher grape juice, songs, storytelling and games. Of the 6,000 undergrads at Bradley, about 200 are Jewish. 

“Everyone always looks to have a home feeling, a family gathering, and we try to create that feeling at the Chabad Student Center, whether it’s Friday night dinner, a program or class or a Passover seder,” said Rabbi Eli Langsam, who hails from Brooklyn, N.Y. and has lived in Peoria for 13 years. 

His wife, Sarah, originally from London, England, welcomes students with her warm accent and decorates the long tables with its own seder plate as well as fancy plates and napkins. 

“My favorite part about Passover is meeting new Jewish students each year,” she said. “On Passover, they all come out, and the holiday brings back memories for them. Not even Hanukkah makes them come out like that.” 

At the Alpha Epsilon Pi house at Bradley, the nostalgic seder is a highlight of the year, said Jonathan Perera, a sophomore television arts major who is helping to plan the event this year.

The hourlong seder is sponsored by some of the fraternity members’ home synagogues and the national AEPi organization. The seder, Perera says, is “like the ones we grew up doing, but with our friends, in a much more fun environment.”

At schools with a small number of Jewish students, the Passover seder can bring everyone together and even can serve to teach non-Jewish students. Maddie Edwards Ray, a freshman special-education student at Missouri State University in Springfield, looks forward to being on the planning committee and hanging out with her Jewish friends at campus Hillel. 

“I think it is important to celebrate my religion,  because there are not many Jewish students in Springfield. With events like the seder, we are able to spread word about the Hillel and be able to show people who are curious about our traditions.”

Simon Nogin, president of the new Hillel of Southwest Missouri, said Missouri State has approximately 100 Jewish students within its total student body of 22,000. The  organization’s interfaith seder on Sunday drew students from a variety of faiths and attracted local media, who interviewed participants about the shotings earlier that day at two Jewish institutions in Overland Park, Kan. 

Nogin said he hopes the seder would help facilitate interfaith dialogue, establish relations with other religious groups on campus, and eliminate negative stigmas and misconceptions among faith groups. 

“The idea of the community seder is to show non-Jewish students in Springfield that there are Jewish students here and we are just like everyone else,” he said. “We are in your classes, we are in your organizations, and we have our own customs and beliefs. It’s a learning experience, but also an awareness experience.”