Fritz Klug
News Editor
For everyone else, it was a normal Monday night, but for Matthew Kaminsky it was Passover.
A holiday that celebrates the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt that followed the ten plagues, Passover is customarily observed in the home.
Kaminsky celebrated it for the first time in his college home – Sigma Phi Epsilon.
Western Michigan University’s Jewish student group, Hillel, hosted a passover seder Monday, March 29 in the Sigma Phi Epsilon house off of California Avenue.
During the 14 step service, there was toasting of grape juice (wine is the tradition), parsley dipped in salt water, and a hillel sandwich — horseradish and charoset (a dark paste made of fruits and nuts) between two pieces of matza, unleavened bread.
JamieRose Peters and Anna Graham read the service, in Hebrew and then in English.
Attendance was mixed between Jews and fraternity brothers. The meal consisted of chicken, vegetables, a cucumber and Gefilte – a large fish paste that resembles a large sausage.
Alex Golembiewski, president of the fraternity, said he didn’t know much about Judaism before the seder.
“Honestly, I didn’t know anything about Judism besides what their people went through in World War II.”
One part of the fraternity’s Balanced Man program is to introduce a new member to a religion that is different from their own. Golembiewski said for many of the brothers, this was the first time they experienced a different religion.
“At first, I thought the coolest thing was that the books were backwards,” he said.
Peters didn’t know what to expect, either, but at the end of the night said she was glad it was hosted where it was
“A lot of people asked us why we are having it in a Frat house.”
For Kaminsky, the evening was a profound experience.
“I joined Greek life for a family away from home,” Kaminsky said. “In Jewish culture, family is the key.”
As a freshman at WMU, Kaminsky said he was shocked moving to Kalamazoo from West Bloomfield, where schools would be closed for the high holidays.
“Freshmen need help in the transition,” he said.
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