By Ken Yoshida T’15
Ken is a second-year student originally from Tokyo, Japan. Prior to Tuck, he worked in the energy division of a Japanese conglomerate. At Tuck, he enjoys all the moments he spends with his classmates, including visiting friends’ hometowns. Last summer he became a big fan of Seattle, and the next place he wants to visit is Alaska.
Finally, the night I was awaiting for so long arrived once more!
Last year, my Jewish classmates invited me to the Passover Seder at Tuck, which was my very first Seder experience. I learned so much about the culture and the pride of the Jewish people. I also enjoyed the tradition and the food. Our reading of the story of the liberation and our singing of songs in Hebrew allowed me to feel, once again, the closeness of the people at Tuck. There was so much love and happiness in the room. The Passover Seder was my favorite dinner at Tuck, and I truly appreciated how the Tuck Jewish Club was willing to share its culture and open its doors to everyone.
As we came closer to this year’s Passover Seder dinner, I was quite excited. This year, we were in a larger room so that we could have more friends around us! We each read a paragraph from the book that presents the traditional story of the Hebrew’s liberation. Our Jewish friends took the lead in singing songs in Hebrew, but it did not take much time for the rest of us to become involved. We ate “matzo.” We drank the four cups of wine which symbolize freedom as we moved on with the storytelling. We had the Seder Plate and everyone asked our Jewish friends questions about what each food represented. The Passover Seder is not a loud music dance party. It is also not a dinner that is too formal or tedious. We appreciated the Jewish tradition, drank wine, sang songs, smiled often, and, most importantly, felt the love of the people around us. I had so much fun at this dinner again this year, and I continue to say that this is my favorite dinner at Tuck.
It is wonderful that I have learned about different cultures from friends at Tuck. I am Japanese and have never had a Jewish friend before Tuck, but now I am enthusiastically writing about the Passover Seder on this blog. It is easy to know someone from a different country, but I think I need to be very close with that person if I really wanted to understand and appreciate the culture at a deeper level. This is because if I have a close friend, I will have more personal attachment to his or her culture, and also I won’t need to hesitate when asking questions. Moreover, since everyone is intimate at Tuck, we are accustomed with people learning from others all the time. We have all lived different lives. We all know different things. Tuck is thus a beautiful crossroad. I think that this is what we mean when we say, “Many journeys. One Tuck.”
(Photo above by Nicole Daniele T'16. Photo at right by Wendy Zhao T'15. Video below by Ken Yoshida T'15.)