Jewish students from OU get help preparing for Passover from Baptist church, OKC synagogue

A Passover Seder for students participating in a Jewish collegiate program came together on Monday through partnerships with a Norman church and Oklahoma City synagogue.

Jewish students and leaders with OU Hillel gathered at Emanuel Synagogue to cook the haroset, matzah ball soup and other dishes for the sacred meal traditionally eaten during the Jewish holiday of Passover, which began at sundown Monday. The event was held at First Baptist Church of Norman with Jewish students from the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma City University and the University of Central Oklahoma in attendance.

Kasi Shelton, OU Hillel executive director, said the special arrangements were made because the OU Hillel building on the University of Oklahoma Norman campus was no longer safe for use — the building at 494 Elm Ave. was demolished only days ago.

"This community has been great to us," she said. "This has been so wonderful for the students because this is a time when we needed a space for them to come together and they needed to be together."

The eight-day holiday of Passover commemorates the Israelites' liberation from Egyptian slavery as told in the Book of Exodus. Traditionally, Jewish families host a Passover Seder in their homes on the first night of the holiday. In some cases, synagogues, temples and other groups host the sacred meal on the first night of Passover.

Over the years, OU Hillel has offered a Passover Seder for students and some members of the Norman Jewish community. The interactive meal features special food and dishes that symbolize a part of the Passover story.

Shelton said they expected up to 300 for the Passover Seder at the church. She said First Baptist-Norman has been gracious in allowing OU Hillel to use its building throughout the academic year for Shabbat and holiday events.

The Rev. Wade Smith, the church's senior pastor, said his congregation wanted to be a help to the students and offered the church's family life center for their use.

"We just felt like it was a great opportunity to be to be a good neighbor," he said. "We felt like this was a good way to, again, be a good neighbor and to help them in this time without their facility."

At a Passover Seder cooking session at Emanuel Synagogue, 900 NW 47, OU student Tiberious Hutchison listened as Rabbi Abby Jacobson gave instructions on how to prepare one of three types of haroset dishes. Hutchison said had been an OU Hillel intern and was glad to learn more about some of the Passover Seder dishes from Jacobson, who is the synagogue's spiritual leader.

Nearby, UCO student Janie Heyman boiled potatoes for another Passover Seder dish. She said she was grateful to the church for allowing the Jewish students to meet there and host their holiday event. Like Hutchison, she also said she enjoyed learning from Jacobson.

The rabbi said she liked the idea of welcoming the students into the synagogue kitchen because she could teach them different aspects of preparing the Passover Seder meal, but also they were helping cook the sacred meal for their event as well as Emanuel synagogue's Passover Seder. She said the food that the students helped prepare would also to go to shut-ins so that they would be able to participate in the Passover Seder ritual.

"So, we are all cooking together," she said.

Jeff Goss, Emanuel Synagogue's longtime youth director, said it was good to have the students in the synagogue for a hands-on inter-generational lesson.

"I love having the students," he said. "Since this is generation to generation, it feels amazing to be able to pass on traditions to the kids, regardless of age."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Baptist church, OKC synagogue help Jewish students prepare for Passover