The 15th annual Freedom Seder was presented by a joint committee of members from the Black Student Union, Muslim Students Association, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Bahá’í Club and the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life on Monday evening,

This Seder was adapted from the traditional Passover Seder to include educational aspects of multiculturalism and acceptance. Seder is a Jewish ritual feast that marks the beginning of Passover.

The event took place on the 11th floor of the Campus Center, where round tables were set up for people to gather. Each place setting came with a yellow slip of paper. Using an idea borrowed from the Race Card Project, each slip had something meaningful written on it about an experience with race.

“I am not Anglo, I’m human,” said one card. “Your nationality is not your race.”

“It’s important that we are all here to fight oppression because if one of us is oppressed, we all are,” said Sarah Reynolds, a representative from the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship in an interview.

A microphone was passed around the room to allow for each guest to read a paragraph from the Haggadah, a book that in Hebrew means “The Telling.” It includes stories, quotes, songs, and descriptions of rituals.

“I started the Freedom Seder fifteen years ago because there were serious conflicts between cultural groups on campus. The Seder is a positive way to bring communities together and celebrate differences,” said Larry Goldbaum, director of the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life in an interview.

University of Massachusetts Catering cooked a buffet of ethnic foods originating from the homelands of the different cultures represented at the Seder.

Goldbaum and his committee started planning the event at the beginning of the semester. The event was free and attended by people of all ages.

Karen Podorefsky can be reached at [email protected]