With most US states under stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines extended through April 30th, Jewish, Christian and Muslim Americans are forced to celebrate significant holidays while quarantined.
Each religion celebrates a different holiday during this time. Those who practice Judaism observe Passover, Muslims celebrate Ramadan and Christians and Catholics recognize Easter.
Passover, the most celebrated of all Jewish holidays, began at sundown on April 8. Jewish families celebrate the festival by gathering around the Seder table, remembering how Moses led their ancestors to freedom.
Rabbi Dov Wagner of Chabad USC is providing Zoom classes to teach students how to host their own Seder at home.
“We are traditional on the holiday itself, as we don’t use a service using technology, so Shabbat service and Passover Seder itself will be at home,” Wagner said. “But we do see a lot of people participating in the preparation.”
The Sinai Temple on Wilshire Boulevard, however, will be hosting virtual Passover services with the main message delivered by Rabbi David Wolpe.
“We went virtual from the moment we realized it was about to be necessary,” said Rabbi Wolpe.
Different sects of Judaism celebrate the holiday differently. That’s why Chabad at USC, which practices Orthodox Judaism, is not using technology during Passover. Meanwhile, at the Sinai Temple, more progressive in its practices, it is using Zoom.
USC junior and student-worker for Hillel, Sami Rosenblatt, said that this Passover has been very different for her and her family. Her tradition of spending one night with her mom’s side of the family and the next night with her dad’s side was cancelled. Her family, instead, used Zoom to have virtual Seder with the extended family.
Despite this, she doesn’t think it had much of an effect on the holiday.
“I didn’t find that [the coronavirus] ruined the integrity of the religious aspects of the holiday; it just was less fun,” Rosenblatt said.
Rosenblatt’s family lives a fairly non-religious life compared to some other Jewish people. Because of this, she thinks this Passover is harder for other Jewish people.
“For other Jews who are more observant and do not have access to technology because of their specific religious beliefs, I'm sure the holiday felt very different,” Rosenblatt added.
Meanwhile, Muslim students are preparing to celebrate Ramadan, which begins April 23. The holiday is a month-long celebration during which Muslims fast, pray and renew their focus on spiritual life. However, the COVID-19 outbreak is forcing them to adapt.
During Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. The fast-breaking meal after sunset is known as Iftar.
Kareem Khalifeh, a junior studying human biology, said he had to change his plans to meet with his some of his family members for Iftar.
“We had plans to visit some family and break our fast with them and have a huge breakfast at sundown,” Khalifeh said. “Just because of the quarantine and because you can’t really go to other places and meet with other people, we’re very limited with what we can do.”
Even though there are options for worship gatherings through Zoom, Khalifeh said he isn’t likely to participate. Instead, he plans to worship with his other family at home.
“The family aspect of it is really important. I still plan to have prayers with my family,” Khalifeh said. “If that means not going to the mosque to do prayers, at least I can be around family and pray together.”
USC’s Muslim Student Union (MSU) often holds religious gatherings, weekly Friday prayers and Arabic language classes. It is also trying out flexible ways to continue observing their faith during this time of limitation.
“We have done our best given the circumstances, and even have transitioned our weekly Halaqahs online," said Hamzah Ahmed, former president of MSU at USC. "As this is new to all of us, we are trying to assess what we can do as new information comes, which unfortunately means it’s probably safest not to gather.”
For Christians and Catholics, Easter is one of the most important holidays, as it is the day they believe Jesus returned to life after being crucified.
Madison House, a Catholic student who is studying health promotion and disease prevention, is similarly planning for the changes as Easter approaches, but also anticipates a different tone for the holiday.
“We definitely don't have the same energy and excitement for Easter just because of how limited we are, but we will likely watch or stream some sort of church service,” said House.
House and her family still plan on safely holding their traditional activities within their home, including egg hunting and a family dinner, and she continues to remain hopeful for the future.
“I think the change makes me realize how much I value connections with so many different people and how powerful it can be to gather a big group of people together,” continued House. “It's making me much more excited for when we're all able to reconnect again.”
The Caruso Catholic Center is holding Sunday masses and other religious events through Zoom so students can continue attending services.
Though the shift to virtual meetings may be difficult for some, junior Rebecca Tapanes believes the Catholic Center is doing a great job adapting.
“I commend what they're doing and I also appreciate it because I love sitting on my couch and watching mass with my family with a priest that I know,” Tapanes said.
The church is usually packed for mass, Tapanes said, so being at home with her family makes the atmosphere different.
“It’s a packed church, but it doesn't feel like a packed church when you're sitting on your couch with a cup of coffee in your hand wearing sweats,” Tapanes said.
Acts2Fellowship, a Christain group on campus, was planning on hosting an Easter Sunday service on campus. Stephen Chen, the student president of the group, said it was cancelled because of the coronavirus.
Chen said the meaning behind Easter is significant to the Christian faith as it is one of its main beliefs.
“It’s the hallmark and kind of the most important holiday in the Christian calendar,” Chen said. “It’s core to our faith about Jesus’ resurrection.”
Although USC’s Acts2Fellowship can’t celebrate Easter together, their sister groups at other campuses will host a virtual Easter.
Chen said with classes online and not being able to meet in person, it’s been harder to maintain personal relationships.
“It has definitely impacted just our ability to connect with students and be with students,” Chen said.
JP Velasquez, a leader at Greek Life Crossing, said it’s been hard for him to practice his faith at home.
“At school, throughout the week I had these reminders about Bible study and services and different things,” he said. “[At home], there’s no set routine or set rhythm of what faith looks like.”
Though Judaism, Islam, and Christianity diverge in their religious beliefs, all three faiths are finding solidarity in having to adjust their usual celebratory services so that they can continue observing their faiths.