Each month in this space,
L'Chayim will look back into issues
of The Jewish News to see what
was happening in the Icr•al Jewish
community or in the Diaspora 10, 20
and 40 years ago.

TEN YEARS AGO

The study of the Holocaust
became compulsory in all high
schools in Israel.
The dedication of the Beth
Israel Congregation of Ann Arbor
marked the completion of that city's

first synagogue building.

20 YEARS AGO

A letter sent by Moses
Maimonides from Egypt to
surrounding North African
communities in the year 1170 C.E.
was found as the first recorded
fund-raising appeal.

Two top Israeli economists and
leaders of the private sector of the
Israel economy, Baruch Ber and
Col. Peleg Tamir, addressed a
special American-Israel Chamber of

Commerce and Industry, Detroit
Chapter.

40 YEARS AGO

Israel was accepted into full
membership in the International
Wheat Conference. This was the
first international trade organization
that admitted Israel with complete
equality with other nations.
Completion of the school
building section of Northwest
Synagogue was celebrated. The
congregation shared the space with
United Hebrew Schools.

(

CA14 kr Parshat Tazria
Aims At Peace
DC

Regarding the Torah portion for
this Shabbat, Tazria, was Ahron
morally right in distorting the truth in
order to bring about peaceful
relationships between people?
Is it enough for us to celebrate
our Exodus from slavery without
working to free those who remain
enslaved today?
Is it enough for us to recite
"Let all who are hungry enter and
eat" without feeding the hungry in
our own community?
—Submitted by
Rabbi A. Irving Schnipper,
Congregation Beth Abraham
Hillel Moses

THE KEEPING

B PA

JARC Seeking
Seder Leaders

The Jewish Association for
Retarded Citizens needs individuals
to help lead sedarim at the Haverim
Homes and its other residential
programs. JARC staff will work with
individuals to accommodate their
own families' seder schedules and
will also tailor the seder to the
JARC clients' interests and abilities.
Call Bonnie Cohn, JARC
volunteer services coordinator,
352-5272, to lead a seder for the
developmentally disabled.
Since its beginning in the
1960s, JARC has established 11
Haverim Homes in southern
Oakland County which provide
individuals the opportunity to reach
their maximum potential in a warm
and caring Jewish atmosphere.
JARC also operates the Maas
Supported Independence Program
and the DeRoy Independent
Apartment Program which helps
developmentally disabled individuals
live in their own apartments
throughout the community.
Support to over 250 individuals
and their families waiting for
placement in a JARC residential
program is provided by the Family
Assistance Program.

L 4

-

FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 1989

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Check your synagogue
library for availability.

Passover And The Number 4

Continued from Page L-1

"According to the knowledge of the
child, so does the parent instruct,
beginning with the shame (of the
enslavement) and concluding with
the glory (of deliverance)." In
recognition of the varying levels of
intellectual capacity and emotional
maturity, it became customary to
recount "Arba'ah Banim — Four
Children:" "Chacham — the wise
one," eager to learn, understand
and participate; "Rasha — the
wicked one," aloof and indifferent;
"Tam — the simple one," who lacks
even basic knowledge of the
proceedings and their significance;
and "the one who does not know
how to ask," who cannot yet even
question or inquire. Each child must
be taught in an appropriate way, a
reminder that every real young
person must be guided and

instructed in the manner suitable for
him or her.

Above all else, there are four
things which must be done at the
seder. One is the magid — the
narration of the Passover story. The
other three (according to Rabban
Gamliel, Pesachim 10:5) are
explanations of the Pesach: the
paschal offering, of matzah — the
unleavened bread, and of maror —
bitter herbs. Each of these items is
held up and described during the
course of the seder.
As Pesach begins the "Seder
Quartets" are utilized in conjunction
with other symbols, sights and
sounds (prayers, songs, etc.) to
engender special ceremony and to
elicit the curiosity and engage the
attention of youngsters. The

Haggadah which contains these
"Seder Quartets" (and a wealth of
other materials) thus is the
guidebook which enables us to fulill
the obligations and the opportunities
of identifying ourselves with the
experience of Yetziat Mitzrayim —
the Exodus, and of transmitting to
future generations the celebration of
the liberation and the birth of our
People.
As we have been taught (in
Pesachim 10:5), In each generation
every one should feel personally
redeemed from Mitzrayim (Egypt),
as it is stated (in Exodus 13:8),
"You shall tell your child on that
day: This is what Adonai did for me
when I came out of Mitzrayim' "

Rabbi Steinger is the spiritual
leader of Temple Emanu-El.

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