PASSOVER 2023 at UAlbany
Shabbos House will be VERY open for Passover! Quite a few students will be home/away for parts or all of Passover, but we will be here throughout, all meals and Seders and prayers at Shabbos House – see below:
Two options for each of the two Seders, Wed 4/5 & Thurs 4/6 nights: Either come for full student-friendly traditional Seder from 8pm-11pm+ or the abridged 1-hour “Seder-within-a-Seder” 9:30-10:30pm with the basic core-essentials. Either way students can come/go as works for them.
Holiday and Shabbat meals and prayers: lunches Thursday 4/6, Friday 4/7 & Shabbat 4/8, and Shabbat dinner 4/7 – in addition to the Seders on the first 3-day weekend of Pesach.
There will be KOF Passover dinners by swipe on the two in-between weeknights: Sunday night 4/9 and Monday night 4/10. There’s no charge to opt-in for a Kosher ad-on to your meal-plan, munch-money or discount-dollars account, email IDcard@albany.edu to also be allowed to swipe at Shabbos House on KOF dinner nights. And it helps boost Kosher numbers, too! If you don’t have ability to use your UAlbany card for this, speak to us, we’ll work something out.
On one of the in-between Passover weekdays, Monday or Tuesday, we hope to have an on-campus table with Matzah and Shmears, stay tuned!
The last two holiday days of Passover resume on Tuesday night 4/11 and run through Thursday evening 4/13 when Passover ends at 8:18pm. Shabbos House will be hosting holiday dinners and lunches, Tuesday night 4/11 into Thursday 4/13 including a light end-of-Passover farewell meal on Thursday evening.
RSVPs are not required for Passover at Shabbos House, but (if you haven’t already) your response on this Passover 2023 at UAlbany Form is very helpful and appreciated – as it helps us get a sense of how many to prepare for at each part of Passover. The form also has a slot to request a Holiday Religious Letter for your classes (we already emailed out two sets of those) and whether you know of any Jewish faculty who’d like to receive some round handmade Shmurah Matzah as our holiday courtesy.
SOME COLLEGE PASSOVER FAQ’S
How can I sell my Chametz? Whatever Chametz to be sold should be set aside in a closed area out of sight & use during Passover and then use this online Chametz Sale Authorization Form on Chabad.org
What might be some Chametz that I’m not thinking of? Beer is Chametz as are almost all vodka and whiskeys. In addition to the obvious cookies, cake, pizza and bread, things like twizzlers have flour binders inside, soy sauce is fermented chametz, vinegar is often chametz, even vitamins in almond or rice milk can be made of Chametz sources. Cheerios are made of oats, ramen are pasta. Many vitamins are Chametz, especially chewables. Turns out that Passover Coke not only avoids the corn-syrup Ashkenasic forbidden Kitniyot but citric acids made of real Chametz, too.
I’m leaving before Passover, do I search for Chametz? Yes, ideally you should do so on the last night-time you are up here before Passover, after-dark, using a phone flashlight and without the blessing, and no need to put out the 10 pieces of bread – unless you are doing it the night before Passover. But you should still (clean up first and then) search the place you “own/rent/live-in” to ensure there’s no remaining Chametz (aside for what may be stored away out-of-sight to be sold).
My roommate has his/her Chametz out visible everywhere, is that a problem? No. Not your Chametz, not your problem, says the Talmud.
Is there Kosher for Passover food for sale around here? First of all, we will be hosting 14(!) Kosher for Passover meals over the course of the holiday – only 2 of them by swipe. Please join us! And the 518Market on campus will have prepared & packaged Kosher for Passover Lunches but those need to be pre-ordered by the opt-in system. In addition, the Colonie Price Chopper (1892 Central Ave) has a large Kosher section with lots of Passover items. Even Wal-Mart has a small selection of Passover items, as does Shop-Rite on Central Ave.
When do we stop eating Chametz? This year its on Wednesday 4/5 at 10:47am (Albany time).
I am a first-born and need to hear a Siyum on Erev Pesach? Are you up here that morning? Come with us. There’s an annual Siyum, morning prayer and Chametz Breakfast Nosh at the local Maimonides School on Wednesday morning.
My Professor doesn’t understand that I need to take off for Passover! First of all, see the Passover 2023 form above, there’s a spot there to request a rabbi’s letter and we will email that to you. If any further issues, please let us know as well as the Dean’s Office. It is both UAlbany Policy and NYS Law to make these religious allowances without penalty (though you do have to make up the work and are responsible for the study material). They will back you up 100%.
PS: Interested in preparing mentally and spiritually for Passover? Lots of resources online, especially at Chabad.org/Passover. You can also browse Mendel’s Haggadah Tweets, or this listing of some nice & varied links and posts of our Passover Inspiration Collection online on our website.