RKYHS students who have been participating in the Interfaith Exchange Program throughout the year joined together with students from St. Benedict’s Preparatory Academy in Newark for a model Seder via zoom. Led by RKYHS junior Eli Novick, the group went through some of the key parts and themes of the Seder. The groups discussed the timeliness of some of the concepts of the Seder such as order and freedom and how people’s sense of order and ability to be “free” is restricted under the current circumstances and the effects that is having on them. They talked about their current feelings of being out of their regular order and routines.

The presentation also went over some of the key symbols of the Seder and the lessons and messages that we can take from them into our own lives. They discussed dipping marror, which is bitter, into charoset, which is sweet and the symbolism of mixing the bitter with the sweet, and to try to find what is good amongst the bitter, such as some of the silver linings of the quarantine and time at home. The matza was described as broken down to the most basic and simplistics of ingredients and how this can relate to the quarantine, in terms of realizing what the basic and most important things are in life.

The two groups have each had an opportunity to visit each other’s schools, to sit in on classes, and dialogue with each other to learn more about their faiths, religions, practices and customs.