Passover begins

While many families in West Orange were preparing their homes and tables for the start of Passover with the traditional seder at sundown, there was at least one place in the township which began the ceremony a few hours early.

In the assisted senior living and rehabilitation center Daughters of Israel, staff members were preparing all the necessary elements for the festival of freedom, which residents and members began soon after 5 p.m. that evening.

Rabbi Zvi Karpel, chaplain at Daughters of Israel and who conducted his 27th seder there that night, said there was a lot of hands-on preparation in order to get the seders ready.

Not only were there the traditional foods to prepare, such as the matzoh, bitter herb and charoset, but it was necessary to review the "Haggadah," the designated reading for a seder, said Karpel. The word "Haggadah" itself comes from the Hebrew word which means "to tell," which is done at the start of Passover every year by retelling the story of how the Israelites were freed from Egypt.

"It is a wonderful family experience because seder is a very rich tradition that is done around the family table," added Karbel. "It is rich in ritual and participation."

"We are looking forward to the whole experience," said Barbara Quinlan, activities director at Daughters of Israel, as she was getting one of the auditoriums ready for the seder. It gives the residents and members an opportunity to participate in something they have been doing since they were children. They will be able to read and follow along tonight as they have done in the past.

Because of the large number of residents and members at the assisted living home and their visiting relatives, there would be four simultaneous seders going on at once throughout the building.

In addition to staff members, the senior living center had the help of a fewvolunteers. Andrew and Alex Israeli and Evan Schwarzbaum, college sophomores, volunteered to help with the setup of the seder meals that afternoon, and later, each lead one of the seders. This was the first time these three students had volunteered at the senior center during the Passover seder.

"Each one of us is assigned to one of the seders going on," said Andrew Israeli. "We will be helping the residents tell over the story, and going through the whole Exodus from Egypt, ... and getting the traditions passed on to the next generation. The main mitzvah, or commandment, of Passover is the mitzvah of telling it over to the next generation, to the children. To hear it from the older generation is a great opportunity."

"The seder is one of the highlights of the Jewish year," said Schwarzbaum. "It is a family experience, and about being in a community with your family sitting around a table, and singing the songs of the seder, and eating the special food and being with the people you care about. Just because people are in a home or in rehab, they still deserve to have that experience that I have and they have had throughout their lives.

"To come here," continued Schwarzbaum, "to just provide that experience for them, I think is a way I can make a difference in a small way."