On this occasion, eighth graders from Williston Park’s neighboring Jewish and Catholic private schools found common ground in an ancient ritual that resonates in both religious traditions.
The occasion was the interfaith Passover Seder in which Schecher School of Long Island students playing host to their peers from the St. Aidan School and, according to its participants, a happy one.
“I think it was a wonderful experience for them. They learned about the similarities in our religions with Passover and Holy Week coming up,” said St. Aidan School principal Eileen Oliver. “There are a lot of crossovers in our faiths and they certainly heard that.”
This year’s interfaith Passover Seder, which was the second between the schools, had an added twist for Schechter students as they were allowed to write most of the Haggadah – the text used to guide participants through the ritual elements of a Seder.
“In their own words, they wrote the parts of the talk feast,” said Cindy Dolgin, Schechter head of school. “It was really a great opportunity for our kids after all these years.”
The story of the Jews’ flight from oppression in the Book of Exodus is considered to be revealed truth by both Jews and Christians. And the last supper that Jesus celebrated with his apostles on Holy Thursday is traditionally considered to have been a Passover Seder by Christians.
Schechter Rabbi Josh Rabin wrote the explanation of the Kadesh, the blessing over grape juice, and the symbolism of the four blessings during a Seder based on God’s promises to bring the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt and deliver them into freedom in Israel.
But students of the private Jewish school wrote the rest of the Haggadah, explaining all the aspects of the Seder to the private Catholic school students, working with Schechter social studies teacher, Jaime Pitschi, and Esther Dubow, bible teacher.
The students also had to come up with discussion questions for sections of the Seder and the Seder rituals that are specific to each of the families.
“It was a great searching experience for 14- and 15-year-olds,” Dolgin said.
The eighth graders from St. Aidan outnumbered their Schechter hosts, so six St. Aidan students sat at each Seder table with two Schechter students. They discussed what their favorite religious holidays were and why in those small groups and had an opportunity to socialize.
In exploring the meaning of freedom, the Schechter students’ Haggadah used the example of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s definition of the four freedoms in his 1941 State of the Union speech. Roosevelt famously enumerated the freedoms as “freedom of speech and expression,” “freedom of everyone to be able to worship god in their own way,” “freedom from want,” and “freedom from fear.”
The students also contemporized the struggle for freedom by recounting the story of Burmese political activist Aung San Suu Kyi , who was put under house arrest or in jail for 15 years for speaking out against a brutal dictatorship in her country. She eventually was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, won election to the Burmese Parliament and now chairs the National League for Democracy.
“The peer relationship is so important here. So to hear it from their peers was very effective,” Oliver said. “What I did like is that the students did most of the preparation and the discussion. They really led it.”
And as they listed the miracles God performed according to the Exodus account, the students all sang the refrain, “Dayenu,” meaning “it would have been enough.”
The Haggadah also included the Birkot Hamazon, the Jewish blessing after meals, including the Hebrew script with anglicization of the words an English translation.
Back at the St. Aidan School, Father Kevin Dillon of St. Aidan said he talked with the students about the importance of remembering, as the Jewish students demonstrated about their Passover tradition. Dillon collaborated with Rabbi Rabin on the idea of the interfaith Seders and Thanksgiving observances the schools have shared.
“I tried to make that parallel that much of what we do in the Catholic tradition is rooted in the Jewish experience. They are our older brothers and sisters in a sense,” Dillon said.
Reach reporter Richard Tedesco by e-mail at rtedesco@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204. Also follow us on Twitter @theislandnow1 and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.
