Why was quarantine Passover different from all other Passovers?

Passover with Nikki and Shoshana During the Coronavirus
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At SDSU, Hillel mounted two Instagram Live cooking shows — one on how to make matzo ball soup and another on how to make matzo brei. About 20 students attended from all over the U.S. and Israel and so did former Israel fellow Gal Winrebe.

40 students received DIY Passover kits full of most of items needed for a seder plate, a Haggadah created by Shoshana and Nikki, and candles. The Zoom Seder was lively and fulfilling. And a Passover-themed Jewish learning session with Shoshana and Nikki explored “What is Freedom?” It focused on the different ways we define freedom as well as how freedom is illustrated in the Passover story. Then we dove deeper to discuss the relationship between freedom and responsibility;  do we have any obligations regarding what we should do with our freedom?

We read a story about a Rabbi’s wife who believed that as a Jew with American citizenship and a home — impoverished but still enjoying all the basic freedoms — it was her duty to volunteer to take in refugees. A student pointed out that in our texts, it always says “freedom to” rather than “freedom from.” More than celebrating that we’re not enslaved anymore, we should be focusing on what we can do in our liberation. Another student concluded maybe this is why we retell this story every year: it’s not to simply appreciate our freedom, but to remember what it felt like not to be free in the hope that the feeling drives us to better fulfill our responsibilities as free people.

At UC San Diego, Tritons for Israel led a cooking class featuring Passover recipes for key Passover foods including even matzah pizza. 30 students requested and received DIY seder kits replete with craft supplies to make a disposable seder plate, charoset spices and recipe, horseradish root, beets, candles, a homemade Haggadah created by our Springboard Fellows, and a shopping list and easy instructions for everything needed to prepare a seder

The Passover Seder was led by Nikki and Shoshana. We had a Prince of Egypt watch party. And the Passover Discussion, led by Springboard Fellows, on “Are We Free?” focused on the Passover seder as a journey: every year we ask the same Big Question, “Are we free?” By gathering together, we are part of a tradition that has been asking these questions, telling this story, and reflecting on its meaning for thousands of years.

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