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More than 100 people crowded around tables at the Jewish Congregation of Marco Island reception hall to celebrate the Passover Seder on Saturday evening.

The crowd featured people both young and old, members of the congregation and guests from around the country visiting Marco Island.

But for the duration of the service and the dinner that followed, the people in that room did not act like strangers.

“The minute you walked in here you became family,” said Phyllis Borr, president of the Jewish Congregation of Marco Island Sisterhood, just before the beginning of the service.

Sundown on Saturday marked the first day of Passover, a week-long holiday that celebrates the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt.

“Passover is a celebration of freedom as the Jews escaped slavery in Egypt,” said Borr.

The Seder tells the story of the exodus.

Cantorial soloist Hari Jacobson led the service at the Jewish Congregation of Marco Island on Saturday.

The attendees at the Seder participated by giving voice in the responsive readings and songs. Participants of the service also ate and drank symbolic foods and wine.

During the service, participants ate matza — unleavened bread or bread without an agent that causes it to rise — because the Jews did not have time to leaven bread during their escape. They ate bitter herbs to remind them of the bitterness of slavery.

“Everything is symbolic,” said Jacobson during the ceremony.

But Passover does not just commemorate the hardships the Jews went through to gain freedom from slavery. Passover also marks the 10 plagues, which according to the Torah, God unleashed on the Egyptians to compel Pharaoh to free the Jews.

Passover will end at sundown on Sunday. Until that time participating Jews will refrain from leaven.

Joan Thompson, a member of the Jewish Congregation of Marco Island, begins the Passover Seder by lighting candles.

Cantorial soloist Hari Jacobson sings to the crowd gathered at the Passover service. Jacobson lead the service with songs and readings that told the story of the Jewish exodus from Egypt.

Ayla, 4, dips parsley in salt water — one of the many symbolic rituals of the Passover Seder.

Harry Weiland reads along in his prayer book during the Passover Seder. Audience participation of reading and singing were encouraged throughout the service.

A plate containing the traditional herbs used in the Passover Seder sits on a table before the service begins.