Young rabbis planning local Passover Seder celebration

SYDNEY BROWN, Evergreen reporter

Quality Inn Paradise Creek will host Passover Seder, a Hebrew event, to celebrate the end of enslavement of the Jewish people in Egypt over 3,000 years ago.
Levi Greenbaum, a rabbi who helped plan the event, said remembering Exodus is a significant event for Jews and even many other people.

The event will take place tonight at 7:45 p.m. at the Quality Inn. The time is specific to the event because Greenbaum said some of the rituals, like the drinking of one of the four cups of wine, must be done only after nightfall. On Saturday night, the event will take place at 8 p.m. because they are not allowed to set up before the end of Shabbat, a Jewish day of prayer.

After eating some of the traditional meal options, including the sacred cracker matzah, the group will drink four cups of wine as a sign of redemption. They will then tell the story of Exodus, when Moses led the Jews from Egypt as newly freed people. They will take time to answer any questions, especially those from local children, because Greenbaum said it’s important that all aspects of the celebration are fully understood.

“Passover isn’t just a nice, traditional thing about remembering something that happened 3,000 years ago,” Greenbaum said. “It’s celebrating the freedom of all people. People should be able to think, to not be held back, to be free. It’s a reminder of something that happened a long time ago, but it’s definitely applicable to today.”