Mat-Su Jewish Community Center Chabad hosting Passover celebration

The Mat-Su Jewish Community Center Chabad is hosting a community Seder on Saturday April 12 and Sunday April 13 for the Passover Holiday. Members of the Jewish community are encouraged to attend for an evening of celebration, good food and camaraderie.

“It’s going to be an extremely inspirational and interactive experience, with songs and jokes and meaningful and thoughtful conversations and dialogue,” Rabbi Mendy Greenberg said.

Passover is a fundamental Jewish holiday that begins on the night of April 12 and lasts for eight days. It celebrates the freedom of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt over 3000 years ago. The Passover celebration is filled with many symbolic events, including the eating of certain seder foods like matzah, the drinking of wine and reading from the Haggadah. Rabbi Greenberg explained that the Passover Seder doesn’t just celebrate the actions that happened many years ago, but relives the story.

The freedom of the Jewish people from Egypt wasn’t just physical, Rabbi Greenberg explained. He said their freedom was one that would eventually lead each person the opportunity to live to their true potential. Each person could now receive their true purpose and mandate on Earth.

“Passover says, get out of your limitations. Get out of your boundaries,” Rabbi Greenberg said. “You have something much higher, you’re able to go much higher. You have infinite powers, infinite capabilities. When we celebrate the holiday of Passover correctly, when we eat the foods, when we do the Seder, when we eat the matzah on the night of Passover, we literally tap into that freedom energy.”

The Hebrew word for Egypt is Mizraim, which means to have limitations and boundaries. Rabbi Greenberg explained that while the word references the physical Egypt from which the Jewish people were freed, it also represents the spiritual Egypt that lives within each and every person. He said that the negative feelings inside that invade people’s thoughts and affect how they achieve their dreams and goals is a personal limitation and boundary.

“The Jewish Mystics say that every single year on the night of Passover, God brings into the world energy of freedom,” Rabbi Greenberg said. “And when we observe the holiday properly, we actually could tap into infinite powers of freedom and we could be freed from our own personal bondage.”

Being able to offer the community Seder reflects the mission of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. The Rebbe is a highly influential and one of the most highly revered members of the Jewish community in recent times. It was the Rebbe’s goal to provide members of the Jewish community the opportunity to participate in the Passover Seder wherever they are in the world. Rabbi Greenberg said he is privileged and honored to be able to offer that opportunity.

“Imagine if you’re not only able to do it for yourself, but you’re able to help 40, 50, 60, 70 people also experience freedom and redemption, how rewarding and how amazing,” Rabbi Greenberg said. “There’s nothing more cool and more uplifting than that. It’s the honor and privilege of my life that we are able to provide that opportunity for so many people here in the Valley.”

Those wishing to attend this year’s event can reserve a spot for the April 12 Seder at 8:30 p.m. or the April 13 seder at 10:30 p.m. on the Mat-Su Jewish Center Chabad website.