Many Jewish students received a surprise basket of goodies from their doting parents this week. Unfortunately, they may not be able to enjoy the tempting snacks for another week. Most of the treats, it turned out, were not kosher for Passover.
In observance of the holiday, the CJL gave parents the option of sending students "Passover baskets." Chock full of goodies, the baskets raised money for the CJL while providing a welcome treat for Jewish students celebrating the eight day holiday.
"It provides a nice reminder that your family is thinking about you," said Jason Houke '03 who was a recipient of one of 34 baskets purchased for students this year.
As Sean Ir '03 pointed out, the baskets follow a well-established tradition of sending packages of food or other small gifts to friends and relatives during Passover. The holiday provides an opportunity to remember loved ones who perhaps could not eat the seder meal with you.
Unfortunately, this year's baskets proved tantalizingly elusive for some students, at least for eight days. Though brimming with delectable treats, the packages contained snacks that were not kosher for Passover.
"That's the kind of thing that shouldn't happen," Ir said. "Guaranteed, some people are going to take it very seriously."
The CJL was apologetic to recipients and parents once the mistake was discovered. Prior to delivery of the baskets, they issued an e-mail explaining the situation to students, offering to hold baskets for them until after Passover or refund the parents' money.
Many students, especially those not keeping kosher for Passover at all, were reluctant to part with their care packages. Including some four or five varieties of chocolate, juices, peanut clusters, and mocha latte mix, the packages brought joy and sugary satisfaction to the lucky recipients.
Micah Baskir '03, who is not keeping kosher for Passover this year, praised the baskets for their high-caliber snacks. He compared them to similar baskets delivered during examination periods.
"You have midterm baskets and final baskets," he said. "I think this is a lot cooler — it appears to be good quality chocolate."
Ir agreed that even though some may be offended, he and many others have simply laughed off the incident as "absurd."
Though some students declined to pick up their morsels immediately, choosing instead to wait a week before enjoying them, almost all of the recipients said they still considered the "Passover baskets" a great idea.
Acknowledging that the incident was an unfortunate oversight for observant students, Ir still said the accident inflicted no lasting harm.
"It's no grand travesty," he joked.
Baskir concurred that the incident did not detract from the overall delight he said the basket brought him.
"I don't see any way delivering goodies to students could possibly be bad. It seems like a win-win situation to me."
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