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65-year-old Jew participates in her first Passover celebration
Holiday seen as celebration of liberty
Stephen Lin
Issue date: 4/10/09 Section: News
It was her first Passover. For many Jews, the first Passover is an important experience, but for Mickey Ramirez the occasion meant so much more.
That is because Ramirez is 65 years old.
Ramirez grew up in a Jewish home, and she has never celebrated Passover.
"There was no inspiration to do it," she said. "We were kind of on the edge."
So, after witnessing the kindness of a Jewish visitor from Toronto, Ramirez said she decided to attend Chabad of Northern Colorado's Passover celebration for the first time.Â
Fort Collins residents like her as well as students from the Jewish community gathered in the North Ballroom of the Lory Student Center and enjoyed their traditional Passover Seder dinner on Wednesday, the first day of the celebration.
According to the Torah, God spared the Jews from the tenth plague of the killing of the first-born son, so the curse literally passed them over, hence the name Passover.Â
Passover begins on the fifteenth day of the Jewish month of Nissan, and Josh Samet, the director of Hillel at CSU, said that it is a celebration of the Jews' escape from slavery in Egypt.Â
The night was punctuated with prayer and song, wine and food, the symbols of Jewish slavery and eventual freedom.
Children ran around the ballroom, playing hide-and-seek while Rabbi Yerachmiel Gorelik shared the story of Passover and the meanings behind the rituals and symbols.Â
Many of the traditions of Passover are steeped in Jewish tradition and history, he said. Jews eat unleavened bread because, when the Pharaoh released the Jews from Egypt, they didn't have time to wait for the bread to rise.
After a few bites from her matzah bread, Ramirez said, "It tastes like cardboard."
"Not that I've ever eaten cardboard," she added with a smile.
Max Brodsky, the president of the Chabad Jewish Student Organization, summed up Passover as an opportunity "to experience freedom in the community as a whole."
That is because Ramirez is 65 years old.
Ramirez grew up in a Jewish home, and she has never celebrated Passover.
"There was no inspiration to do it," she said. "We were kind of on the edge."
So, after witnessing the kindness of a Jewish visitor from Toronto, Ramirez said she decided to attend Chabad of Northern Colorado's Passover celebration for the first time.Â
Fort Collins residents like her as well as students from the Jewish community gathered in the North Ballroom of the Lory Student Center and enjoyed their traditional Passover Seder dinner on Wednesday, the first day of the celebration.
According to the Torah, God spared the Jews from the tenth plague of the killing of the first-born son, so the curse literally passed them over, hence the name Passover.Â
Passover begins on the fifteenth day of the Jewish month of Nissan, and Josh Samet, the director of Hillel at CSU, said that it is a celebration of the Jews' escape from slavery in Egypt.Â
The night was punctuated with prayer and song, wine and food, the symbols of Jewish slavery and eventual freedom.
Children ran around the ballroom, playing hide-and-seek while Rabbi Yerachmiel Gorelik shared the story of Passover and the meanings behind the rituals and symbols.Â
Many of the traditions of Passover are steeped in Jewish tradition and history, he said. Jews eat unleavened bread because, when the Pharaoh released the Jews from Egypt, they didn't have time to wait for the bread to rise.
After a few bites from her matzah bread, Ramirez said, "It tastes like cardboard."
"Not that I've ever eaten cardboard," she added with a smile.
Max Brodsky, the president of the Chabad Jewish Student Organization, summed up Passover as an opportunity "to experience freedom in the community as a whole."
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RJ
posted 4/23/09 @ 7:17 PM MST
Go Rabbi Gorelik and Chabad of Northern Colorado - you guys are the best!
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