On the first night of Passover, the song “Four Questions” rang out from Jewish homes and congregations around the world. That included an unlikely site of conflict: the epicenter of pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University and other universities where demonstrations are taking place.
As evening fell Monday at Columbia University's tent encampment, about 100 students and faculty gathered in a circle around a blue tarp piled with boxes of matzo and food prepared in a kosher kitchen. Some students wore kaffiyeh, a traditional Palestinian headscarf, while others wore Jewish skullcaps. They distributed handmade Haggadahs (Passover prayer books) and read prayers in Hebrew, observing the traditional order.
But there were also changes and additions, like the watermelon on the Seder plate representing the Palestinian flag. There was repeated reference to the suffering of the Palestinian people and the need to ensure their liberation. The sobriety camp began last Wednesday and is now in its sixth day despite a police crackdown last week.
The question asked every year, “Why is this night different from other nights?” has resonated with new meaning.
Similar scenes unfolded at other pro-Palestinian encampments and protests this week. Some of the organizers and participants in the protests were anti-Zionist Jewish students, and at Columbia University, approximately 15 of the students suspended for involvement in the camps were Jewish. organizers said.
At Yale University, several hundred students gathered in Cross Campus, the university's main quad, just before 6 p.m., sitting around seats painted to symbolize seder tables. The action was organized by groups including Jews for a Ceasefire, the Yale University group, and the New Haven chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace.
There, the Seder marked the end of a day that began with the early morning arrest of 47 students in a tent encampment on Beinecke Square. The students then occupied a local intersection for nine hours, demanding that Yale University divest from the weapons manufacturer.
Surrounding the Seder River, students held up banners that read: “Our Seder plates stop hunger in Gaza'' and “Another Jew for a free Palestine.'' References to the suffering in Gaza and the pro-Palestinian student movement were woven into the ceremony.
“Tonight, we stand alone with the Palestinian people, not in spite of our Judaism, but because of it,” said Miriam Levin, 22, a Yale University student who helped organize the seder. spoke to the crowd on a microphone. “Tonight we declare that our liberation is intertwined.”
Levine discussed 10 epidemics and asked participants to identify “what is plaguing our universities.” Responses from the crowd included “restricting free speech,” “policing New Haven,” “apathy,” “misinformation,” “ignorance,” and “capitalism.”
Toward the end of the seder, the students swayed with their arms around each other's shoulders and sang, “If we build this world out of love, God will build this world out of love.” Ta.
A more traditional scene unfolded at Chabad Columbia, a branch of the Orthodox Jewish movement headquartered off campus, with students seeking a sense of community amid campus tensions.
Chatter and laughter filled the center's rooms as people connected with friends old and new. There were 5 security guards standing outside as an extra security measure.
Rabbi Yehudah Drizin, 33, and his wife Naomi serve as co-directors of the group. Rabbi Drizin said more than 100 students are expected. “This is actually our biggest Seder ever,” he said.
“Our motto is, ‘Jewish home and family on campus.’ So for students who can’t go home, who can’t go home, or who are here, they are part of our family. ” he added.
“My message to all the Jewish students who come here is to find a way to get through it and try to get through it,” Rabbi Drizin said, adding: You know, just being Jewish, not reacting to anything, not reacting to anything, just because that's who you are and that's all. ”