YOUTH
A Taste Of Tradition
South Lyon
Brownie Troop 660
receives a lesson
in Judaism.
SUSAN GRANT
Staff Writer
Top right: Joni Renwick
looks at the Shabbat
candles.
Above: Dr. Larry Kaplan
explains the seder.
Right: Erin Waddell and
Deane Thomas make
charoset while troop
leader Susan Renwick
watches.
S liked apples, chopped
nuts, a dash of cin-
namon and a little
grape juice. Stir it and slowly
add in Shabbat candlesticks,
an Israeli flag and a seder
plate.
South Lyon Brownie Troop
660 mixed it all together and
discovered the recipe led to a
lesson in Judaism.
It was all part of the
troop's effort to earn a Jew-
ish heritage badge. When
troop leader Susan Renwick
learned the Northern Oak-
land County Girl Scouts
Council offered the patch,
she decided the group need-
ed a change of pace.
"I wanted the girls to have
a better cultural awareness,"
Mrs. Renwick said. "I thought
the girls needed to know
about different religions?'
Growing up as a Lutheran,
Mrs. Renwick wasn't sure
how to complete the badge
requirements, which includ-
ed preparing a three-course
kosher meal, teaching about
the Jewish holidays, making
an Israeli flag and knowing
the Hebrew calendar. So she
turned to the only Jewish
person she knew, her chiro-
practor, Dr. Larry Kaplan, a
Farmington Hills resident
who has a practice in South
Lyon.
Dr. Kaplan, his wife, Lisa,
and son, Benjamin, spent
Jan. 26 helping the 10
Brownies prepare a Passover
seder, make Israeli flags and
learn about Jewish holidays.
The girls began by chopp-
ing nuts and slicing apples
to make charoset. After ad-
ding cinnamon and sub-
stituting grape juice for
wine, the freshly made
charoset was placed on a
seder plate. Dr. Kaplan
pointed to the charoset,
hard-boiled egg, celery
stalks, matzah, horseradish
and chicken and explained
why each item was on the
plate.
While he believes some of
the six-year-olds didn't fully
understand the seder plate's
importance as a Jewish sym-
bol, it was a meal the girls
will find difficult to forget.
Although they all liked the
eggs and the celery, some
weren't sure about the mat-
zah. Erin Waddell, 6 1/2, said "I
didn't like anything."
Caprice Wagner, 6 1/2, said
the crackers were okay, "but
it didn't have any taste to
it."
One thing they agreed on
was the horseradish. They
all crinkled their noses when
the word was mentioned.
When she tried it, she didn't
think it would be so hot, said
Ruth Hummel, 7. After
Ruth's reaction, Joni Ren-
wick, 61/2, said she didn't
want to taste it.
Most of the girls knew
little about Judaism before
they began working on the
Jewish heritage patch. Ruth
had learned about the Jews
at a church camp and
Caprice recalled a Jewish
classmate.
Before the mock seder,
Mrs. Renwick taught the
girls the differences between
the Hebrew and English
calendars and showed them
flashcards stenciled with a
Torah, shofar, Star of David,
menorah and other Jewish
symbols.
• After pointing to Israel on
a map, Dr. Kaplan showed
the girls a Sesame Street
videotape on Chanukah in
Hebrew and in English
made in Israel. "They were
surprised the show had a big
porcupine, not Big Bird."
When the mock seder was
finished, the troop, including
Mrs. Renwick, had an
elementary education in
Judaism.
❑
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
91