The Jewish holiday of Passover begins at sundown on Wednesday night and students will be offered a chance to participate in the celebrations at the Hillel Center on Embarcadero del Norte.

Hillel, a university-affiliated Jewish organization located in Isla Vista, will be serving a Seder dinner Wednesday for those who want to join the celebration. The kosher meal will be served at 6 p.m. for a fee of $20 per person. A dinner will be served Thursday for the second night of Passover and will cost $5 per person. Hillel will also serve kosher buffet lunches during the eight days of Passover. The lunches cost $12 and will be available April 17 to 24. The meals are intended to give students who cannot spend the holiday with family an opportunity to celebrate the Passover.

“If you’re not going home [for the holiday], there is something here,” said Alex Raminfar, Hillel president and third-year business economics major.

Passover is the celebration of the Jews’ release from slavery in Egypt as recounted in the Torah. The holiday is celebrated for eight days. On the first night the Seder, a specially prepared meal, is eaten, and the story of Exodus is retold during the meal. Certain foods, such as leavened bread, are not to be eaten during Passover. Each of the items eaten during the Seder has a symbolic meaning, such as horseradish to symbolize the bitterness of slavery.

“Passover is the holiday that commemorates the Exodus from Egypt,” said Stephen Schifrin, second-year political science major and Hillel religious education chair. “[It] is one of the most symbolically rich holidays of the Jewish religion.”

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