Students balance religious traditions with classes

Easter is just around the corner, Lent is about over and Passover is just beginning. With… Easter is just around the corner, Lent is about over and Passover is just beginning. With these holidays come enlightenment, joy and … major lifestyle changes.

Passover – an eight-day holiday, if celebrated outside of Israel, which commemorates the exodus of the Jewish people from ancient Egypt – began Wednesday night at sundown.

For participating Jews, this means that eating leavened and non-kosher foods is prohibited for the next week.

Chabad House President Max Gelman said many people don’t realize that leavened foods are not just breads and starches; they are also foods containing corn syrup, which include manufactured foods from hot dogs to candy.

And while it’s challenging enough for the average Jewish child or adult to follow these traditions, it’s hardly a breeze for college students to abide by them as well.

Gelman, a Shabbas observant, added that while the restrictions are not extremely difficult for him to stick to, the holiday does fall around one of the busiest times of year: final exam week.

His religion prevents him from being able to do everyday activities – including cooking, using electricity, using cell phones, driving and doing homework – from Friday to Saturday night every week.

“I can’t take exams on these days because you’re not allowed to write,” he said. “I can do a lot of things, just not really school-related things. I have to coordinate changing all of my exams.”

But there are a few exceptions.

“You theoretically could do reading for classes,” Gelman added. “That would be about it. However, most people won’t. I won’t do that type of secular reading on those days.”

Hannah Abelman, Chabad House’s vice president, agreed that academic restrictions are some of the hardest to follow.

“What’s really difficult is that I can’t go to class,” she said.

A Sutherland Hall resident, Abelman can’t eat any food on campus during Passover.

“I can’t eat bread, I can’t eat cookies, I can’t eat cake,” she said. “I just go home and eat what we have there.”

Abelman said that the Giant Eagle in Squirrel Hill is great for buying kosher food, but it’s not always the most convenient.

“They don’t take your Panther Card,” she joked.

Hillel Jewish University Center manager David Streeter said that he plans to try to follow the Passover tradition this year.

But like Abelman, Streeter is a campus resident and is concerned with how he’s going to deal with it.

“Judging by what I’ve seen at Eddie’s, it’s going to be tough,” he said. “The only specific Passover food that they’re selling is matzo, and it’s a brand I’ve never seen before.”

And, while the food choices are hindering, students can kiss partying and the usual weekend of drinking goodbye altogether.

“Going out is going to be tough,” Streeter said. “I’m not going to be able to drink alcohol this weekend, other than a sip of wine and vodka that’s only made from potatoes.”

But Streeter said that he doesn’t usually go out a lot anyway.

He added that those things are basically luxuries and sum up what believing in Passover is all about.

“We wandered through the desert and didn’t have the luxuries,” he said. “We didn’t have the time to make the actual bread.”

Abelman agreed.

She said that despite its difficulties, Passover’s positive aspects make the holiday enjoyable.

“It’s tradition, and it’s been going on for thousands of years,” she said. “If you think about how much we’ve been through to think that we’re still following the tradition, it’s pretty amazing.”

But Judaism isn’t the only religion with food- and activity-restricting holidays.

For the past 35 or so days, Christians who partake in Lent – the 40-day period between Ash Wednesday and Easter – have sacrificed meat on Fridays and an activity of their choice that they feel will demonstrate their commitment to God.

“I don’t think it’s difficult on a college campus,” Catholic freshman Matt Carulli said. “But what’s difficult is trying to give something up that you want all the time.”

He added that he has Catholic friends who follow the same beliefs, so when they go to eat at Eddie’s or the Union, they make a conscious effort not to eat meat on Fridays.

But Father Bill Hausen of Christ Hope Church explained that there’s more to Lent than simply prohibiting one’s self from eating or doing certain things.

“It’s not the act of eating meat or not eating meat,” he said. “It’s how you use that to raise your consciousness.”

Carulli’s main problem is trying to pick something to give up for Lent.

“It’s hard to pick something because you don’t want to pick something trivial,” he said, adding that the best choice is something that will make you a better person.

Sarah Hrisak, manager of Campus Crusade for Christ, gave up coffee for Lent.

“Whenever Lent rolls around, I kind of want something that’s going to show my devotion to God,” she said.

She added that she has support and motivation around her to remind her of and refocus her attention back to her relationship with God.

“I think the most important thing, which is the same for just about anything you do, is to make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons,” Hrisak said. “It’s difficult if you’re doing it out of obligation or just because somebody else is telling you to do it.”