Sundown Wednesday night marked the first night of Passover, the Jewish holiday that commemorates Moses delivering the Jews from slavery and bondage in Egypt, said Joel Schwitzer, executive director of the Hillel Foundation at the University.

Over 300 people were expected to attend the various seders, or traditional Jewish Passover meals, offered by the University Hillel, 503 E. John St., for the first two nights of this eight-day holiday.

“A seder in general is one big meal basically where surrounding the meal is the telling of the story of the Jews’ exodus from Egypt and the freeing of the slaves,” said Josh Richman, co-ritual chair for Hillel and sophomore in LAS.

At a seder, a Haggadah is read. A Haggadah is a booklet, normally 70-100 pages long, which is designed to teach Jewish families and communities about the holiday and commemorate the exodus of Jews from Egypt, said Robin Arbiter, former assistant director for the Hillel Foundation.

Jewish students had the choice of attending one of five seders Wednesday evening. Students could choose from a timesaving “quickie” seder, a full traditional seder, a family-style seder or a graduate and professional seder.

These were all held at the Hillel Center. A seder was also hosted at Allen Hall.

Tonight features a Greek seder at Alpha Epsilon Pi. Home-style and graduate and professional seders will be offered again Thursday evening at the Hillel Center.

“The whole idea of the Passover seder is to remember the exodus,” said Samantha Staley, co-ritual chair for Hillel and sophomore in LAS.

More students are expected to attend the seders this year compared to last year because it falls in the middle of the week, Staley said.

This Passover also holds a special meaning because this will be the last Passover held in this Hillel building, with groundbreaking for the new Hillel Center scheduled for this summer.

“(Passover) will be very meaningful,” Richman said. “It is going to be sad to give up this building, especially because this was the first Hillel in the United States. It will be tough to see it go but in a few years we will have a much bigger building to accommodate our needs much better.”