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Passover Greetings
HOLIDAY GREETINGS
ACME AWNING CO.
Bauman-Roggin .
Agency .
Canvas - Metal - Fiberglas
Estimates Cheerfully Given
16400 W. 12 Mile, Suite 205
Southfield 48076
18326 Jchn R TO 9-6000•
4•■•■■ •••• ■ •••• ■•••■■•■••■■•••■■ •INN•
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■•■••■
Don H. Appel and .Ben Roggin
BECKER BROS.
PRINTING CO.
ADVANCE GLOVE
MFG. CO .
901
W.
II (she., ft,r_ilti ,
Hi',
Passover Greetings
Office and factory Forms
Commercial and Office Stationery
Established 1915
Lafayette
21820 Wyoming, Oak Park, Mi.
544-2544
WO 2-3444
HAPPY PASSOVER
El? (;1?1...I.,11\(;.•
I'
AUTO CITY
GLASS CO.
BLUESTEIN BROS.
Auto Glass Installed
Insurance Work
Glass Tops — Mirrors
Dealers in Scrap Materials
3195 BELLVUE
WA 2-2720
16431 W. 7 Mile R.d.
Detroit, Mich. 48235 VE 8-5745
Happy Passover To All
Our Friends and Customers
MODERN BAKERY
MR. AND MRS. MARTIN WEISS AND FAMILY
13735 W. 9 Mile Rd., Oak Pork
26060 Greenfield--.-Lincoln Center
Closed Passover Week
HAPPY PASSOVER
OPTICAL CENTER
Ferndale
930 E. LEWISTON
B est
41•
■■ •111.
JO 4-6313
■ =1•111 ■ 11111111. ■
ish es on a ssover
PARQUET FLOOR CO.
897-9514
8170 LIVERNOIS
iirtipy Holiday
STEVE PETIX
• For Men Who Demand the Finest
C'D
Custom Tailoring
Detroit-Birmingham
Passover Greetings
.
SUPERIOR OLDS
15000 W. 7 Mile Road
342-7000
11110
perry
PER Y
Drug Stores
Wishes All
Their Friends
and Customers
A HAPPY
PASSOVER
50—Friday, April 5, 1974
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Israel Coin, the Pidyon HaBen,
r
Honors Rite f or First-Born Son
By ROBERT MESSING
(Copyright 1974, JTA, Inc.)
(Editor's note: Robert Mes-
sing is a member of the board
of trustees of the American-
Israel Numismatic Associa-
tion, the parent organization
of 26Israel coin clubs across
the United States that. meet
on a monthly basis.)
The tradition of redeeming
the first-born son, pidyon
haben, one of the oldest cere-
monies known to the Jewish
people is the name of a coin
minted in Israel in honor of
this rite. As the children of
Israel were departing. from
Egypt on their way to be-
coming a free people, they
were bidden by the Almighty
to "sanctify unto me all the
first-born whatsoever openeth
the womb among the chil-
dren of Israel" (Exodus:
13, 2).
The reason was that in
order for Israelites to leave
Egypt, 10 plagues had to be
inflicted on the Egyptians.
The 10th plague was the
killing of the first-born of
the Egyptians while sparing
the first-born of Israel. As a
result, God acquired a spe-
cial ownership over the first-
born. (Numbers: 13:13).
With the building of the
sanctuary, and the formation
of a class of priests—koha-
nim and Levites from the
tribe of Levi—God appointed
new servants of the temple
in the place of the first-born
sons. To accomplish this ex-
change, Moses was enjoined:
"Number all the first-born
of the males of the children
of Israel from a month old
and upward, and take the
number of their names."-.
(Numbers: 3, 40).
When the list was made of
all the first-born and of the
chosen Levites, Moses found
that the first-born numbered
22,273, exceeding by 273 the
count of the Levites where-
upon it was commanded that
273 first-born sons be re-
deemed, each with five of the
silver pieces, the unit of
weight known as shekalim.
But how could Moses
righteously s e 1 e c't from
among the first-born sons
those individuals to be re-
deemed? Tradition' has it
that he mixed together 22;000
ballots on Which he wrote
"Levi" and 273 ballots on
which he wrote "five she-
kalim." All the 22,273 ballots
were put in one container
and each man drew his lot
from it. Every man that
drew a ballot of "five she-
kalim" had to. be redeemed.
Then Moses took the five
shekels from the 273 men,
called shekels of the sanc-
tuary or holy shekels, and
gave them to Aaron the high
priest.
The first pidyon haben
took place approximately
3,200 years ago in the Sinai
wilderness. From that day
on, the redemptive injunction
is a duty of every Jewish
father of a first-born son
except for the priests and
the Levites.
The redemption ceremony
takes place on the 31st day
after the child's birth: if
that day falls on a Sabbath
or on a holy day, it is de-
ferred until the next day.
Sages and scholars hold
that, to match the original
silver shekalim, the five
coins should together amount
to between 93 and 100 grams
of pure silver. The Bank of
Israel, however, to avoid the
slightest doubt, has chosen
to mint five coins weighing
'together 130 grams, 117 being
pure silver, and thus the bid-
ding is more than wholly ful-
filled.
A handsomely decorated
certificate in Hebrew, signed
by the two chief rabbis of
Israel, and with an English
version, comes with the set,
attesting officially that the
coins are fit for the ancient
rite.
r
BRENT'S
HAIR FASHIONS
GEORGE W. GRAY I
I, INSURANCE I
um a lluppw
P l.'-'i)I 1.3?
18326 Woodward, Detroit I
15411 W. 9 Mile Rd.
Oak Park
543-2211
Should a father fail to re-
deem his first-born son with-
in the stipulated _period, he
may redeem him later, but
should he neglect the duty
entirely, the son must him-
self repair the omission once
he comes of age. ,
Every priest has com-
petence to carry out the
ceremony and may, if he
wishes, return the coins to
the father as a gift, after-
ward.
In Israel, the Bank of Is-
rael has minted a coin which
is called pidyon haben —
redemption of the first-born
son — and this modern cur-
rency has given back to an
ancient and meaningful cus-
tom its pristine Hebrew char-
acter.., Minted annually, it
show the year of issue, and
not only authentically an-
swers the requirements of
the prescribed religious ri-
tual, but becomes a treas-
ured collector's item.
p IN.'-01 1,1?
Thr
17u. l'omp/p/r/1
883-1900
Pos.sw.er
Holiday Good Cheer
Our Frictiih unit
CHARLES M.
CLAPSADDLE
GURWIN'S AUTO
BODY KLINIC
33 Vernier Rood
Grosse Pointe Shores
TU 4-3980
7 711 W. 8 Milt: Rd.
\ 4-810
int.!
LN
4-;ISI
I
/or tt
HOLIDAY GREETINGS
Edith Eckstat, R.E.
Pri.s.so •er
KARL GUTMAN
CUSTOM TAILOR I
and
Albert Wolgin, R.E.
Hair Removed Forever
WO 3-3047 WO 3-0922
1309 David Broderick Tower
I
27031 Southfield Rd.
L Lathrup Village, Mich.
352 2555
-
Best II iNhes For
Holiday Good Wishes
The
P(tssorer
FEDERAL
ALLOYS CO.
Herman Jaffe
Photography
2930 .Denton
Southfield at 13 Mile Rd.
646-8484
Passover
reetings
Passorer Brs1 II iNhes
JOS. FRENKEL CO.
JEFFERSON STEEL CO.
WAREHOUSE
1221 Twelfth
23250 SHERWOOD 539-3700
Warren, Michigan
Detroit, Mich.
,
Happy Passover to Our
—1
Friends and Relatives
MORRIS FRIEDMAN
AND SONS
Plumbing — Heating Contractors
L
I
24605 John R, Hazel Park
LI 4-2454
566-1547 ...I
glit
Leo tKni•
c
Notograpky
• Weddings
• Bar Mitzvas
• Movies
• Portraits
26571 W. 12 Mile Rd.
Southfield
352-7030
Holiday Good Cheer
GLOBE PARCEL
SERVICE
INC.
Gift Parcels For
Overseas Countries
PEKIN PAVILION
RESTAURANT
7437 East Jefferson, Detroit
331-9262
824-2464
4:arr. - I
111111111
--- (.1usier
Liquor
Beer and V. in,.
6460 Michigan TO 5-7560
■ 1111111111•111 ■ .
--
BEST'
WISHES=
for
HAPPY
=
...
PASSOVER 7
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NORTHLAND
CENTER
MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION
a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
SUNDAYS: NOON to 500 p.m.
CENTER HOURS: 9:30
Northwestern at Eight Mile and Greenfield Roads
IMP
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